THE SCOTTISH Government's independent climate advisers have warned that plans to meet legal targets will be missed without more co-operation with Westminster by SNP ministers.

The Climate Change Committee, which advises both the UK and Scottish government, has warned that SNP ministers need “a stronger grip” on how it will lever in more than £30bn of investment needed to decarbonise homes.

The Scottish Government has pledged to improve the energy efficiency of one million homes by 2030 but has admitted it will cost up to £33bn–- with only £1.8bn of public finance so far committed.

But the CCC has warned that without a proper strategy for heat pumps and how private sector investment will materialise, the 2030 target to cut 1990 levels of emissions by 75 per cent will not be met.

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Lord Deben, the chairman of the CCC, has called for a “very close association” between ministers at Holyrood and Westminster, adding that a lack of progress on tree planting has been “very worrying”.

Chris Stark, the chief executive of the CCC, warned that the 2030 target is “very, very, very challenging” for the Scottish Government to achieve.

He added that there are “gaps in the plan” for Scotland to hit its climate change aims.

Mr Stark said there was a “two-way flow” between the two administrations.

He added: “The UK is not putting place the conditions for Scotland to achieve its 2030 target but neither is Scotland delivering what it needs to achieve the UK targets.

“I think there’s criticism for government north and south of the Border.

“At the moment, I'm very pessimistic, frankly, about the achievement about the targets in Scotland for 2030 unless there is a change in the circumstances.”

Mr Stark said that SNP ministers have “done an admirable job” on putting a number on the level of investment need to decarbonise homes, but added there has been “an interesting divergence between the Scottish Government’s approach and the UK Government's approach”.

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He said: “The UK Government is very clear that decarbonising buildings is the majority a challenge for the private sector and that they are here to put conditions in place so that private investment drives almost all of that.

“The Scottish Government hasn’t said that. Our view is that they probably need a stronger grip on what it is they are doing to steer that investment – that means regulating, putting legislation in place.

“It is simply not credible to expect that £30bn-plus would be covered by the public sector alone. I think there are deficiencies on both sides of the border.”

Mr Stark added: “It would be great if there were greater cooperation between Scottish ministers and UK ministers on this issue, which is something we have notably not seen.

“Unless there is that strong cooperation, a strong willingness to put those policies in place in Scotland using their own legislative powers, then we are simply not going to make the targets that the Scottish Parliament set.”

Turning to oil and gas, Mr Stark said that the windfall tax and tax incentives for the North Sea is “unlikely to make much of a difference” to efforts to cut emissions.

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He said: “We don’t like oil and gas but we think it’s an important thing to phase out as quickly as possible.

“It’s difficult to be critical of the Government when they have leaned in so heavily to things like offshore wind. But we are watching what’s happening in the North Sea with a great deal of interest.

“The tax changes are not going to have any impact at all.”

The oil and gas sector supports more than 82,000 jobs in Scotland, according to the industry’s leading trade body, Offshore Energies UK (OEUK), Its research also found the oil and gas industry contributes £16 billion Gross Value Added (GVA) to the economy of Scotland.

Overall, OEUK said the industry continues to meet some 75% of the UK’s energy needs.

And with Aberdeen being regarded as the UK’s “energy capital”, the trade body said companies in Scotland play a “critical role” in maintaining Britain’s existing energy supplies while also building new, low-carbon alternatives.