CALLS have been made for the Scottish Government to step up efforts to tackle climate change following George Osborne's decision to scrap a £1 billion contest to develop carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.

Liam McArthur, the Orkney MSP, repeated his call to scrap the £10 million Saltire Prize for marine energy and instead hand the funds directly immediately to struggling wave and tidal power companies.

The Saltire Prize was announced by the then-first minister Alex Salmond in 2008 and is due to be awarded in 2017.

However, as The Herald revealed earlier this year, none of the companies competing for the prize is capable of meeting the original qualifying criteria by the deadline.

Industry body Scottish Renewables is currently drawing up new rules.

In a letter to Energy Minister Fergus Ewing, Mr McArthur, he accused the Scottish Government of failing "to step up to the plate when it comes to tackling climate change".

He added: "The Saltire Prize was designed to make Scotland a world leader in wave and tidal power.

"However, rather than immediately investing in an industry key to meeting the reductions required in greenhouse gas emissions, the Scottish Government has allowed £10m to sit unused in the Saltire Prize bank account."

He claimed the government was not on course to meet key targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions and added: "The Scottish Government does not appear to be doing everything possible to get us back on track and is withholding vital funding that could provide additional support to the marine renewables sector now."

Mr Ewing defended the prize when he was challenged to free up the fund earlier this month.