There is a "worrying" gap between the Scottish Government's level of commitment to cutting carbon emissions and the scale of the problem, according to its own independent advisory body on sustainable development.
There is a "worrying" gap between the Scottish Government's level of commitment to cutting carbon emissions and the scale of the problem, according to its own independent advisory body on sustainable development.
Carbon emissions have been falling by less than 1% a year in recent years, and actually rose last year, according to the Sustainable Development Commission Scotland (SDCS), which says cuts of at least 3% per year are necessary to achieve the target of an 80% reduction by 2050.
The commission praised the Scottish Government for showing leadership in proposing the Scottish Climate Change Bill, but said it must show how it plans to achieve its goals.
"A step change in performance is required to achieve the ambitions of the bill," it says in its second report card on the Scottish Government, published today.
It also calls on the government to spell out clearly how its ambitions for economic growth will "support rather than undermine" those to reduce emissions.
The commission said it supported government initiatives such as the "carbon balance sheet" for transport and "carbon assessments" to sit alongside government budgets showing the climate cost, alongside the cash cost, of public sector activity.
But it is critical of the government's transport policy, which includes several road-building projects.
It is also sceptical about whether that the Scottish Government's newly announced measures to tackle fuel poverty will be enough to eliminate the problem by its 2016 target. The Energy Assistance Package announced last week will replace the warm deal and free central heating programmes.
The commission welcomed the new measures but added: "When one-third of Scottish households are now in fuel poverty, more information is needed about whether the additional funding provided by government will be sufficient to remove fuel poverty by 2016."
"There remains a worrying mismatch between the level of commitment and the scale of the sustainable development challenge Scotland faces," said Professor Jan Bebbington, the commission's vice-chair.
It calls on the government to spell out how it will deliver sustainable growth; make clear how the climate change bill will bring about a low carbon economy; build the right infrastructure to make it possible for people to make greener choices, especially in transport; and ensure the public sector at all levels makes sustainable choices when spending public money.
Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, said the report gave the government "food for thought".
He said: "There remain a number of challenges to be faced in the coming months and years and we will continue to work with the Sustainable Development Commission as we move towards increasing sustainable economic growth for Scotland."
