Meeting of the Parliament 01 June 2016
No. I am sorry, but I have no time—I have a lot to get in.
Let us not forget that, had it not been for successive increases in the baseline since the targets were established, Scotland would have met and exceeded its target last year and in the three previous years. It is extremely disingenuous of Opposition members to try to pin the blame on the Government when they know, or should know, that we are on track to reduce our carbon emissions by 42 per cent by 2020. The latest statistics—for 2014—show that Scotland has already reduced its emissions by 38 per cent. The statistics for 2015 will come out later this month and, given our direction of travel, it would not surprise me if those statistics showed that we had met our 42 per cent target five years early. Even if they do not show that, it is now clear that Scotland will meet that world-leading target before the target date of 2020, which has prompted the increase in the target to 50 per cent.
Members might have noticed that Christina Figueres, head of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, visited Scotland in March. During her visit, she met the First Minster and Richard Lochhead, the then Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and the Environment, to discuss Scotland’s leadership in tackling climate change. She also spoke publicly about what Scotland is achieving. Speaking on BBC Scotland, she said that Scotland is “exemplary”, “impressive” and “very committed” on climate change and renewable energy. She also said that Scotland’s leadership on climate change is “very important” and that she recognised our “huge political commitment” to continue that leadership. Although members would expect me to praise Scotland’s role in this area, one really cannot get higher praise on Scotland’s ambition and action than that which was received in early spring from the head of climate change at the UN, one of the key architects of the historic deal at last December’s Paris climate talks, which were attended by the First Minister and Aileen McLeod, the then Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform.
There is no doubt that Scotland’s 42 per cent target was a stretch target. It certainly has not been easy, but the progress that we have made shows the excellent work that has been done by successive SNP climate change ministers. Prioritising climate change at cabinet secretary level highlights how committed this Government is to continuing to lead the world by example. The approach—including the manifesto commitment to bring forward a new climate change bill and a new target to reduce emissions by more than 50 per cent by 2020—shows the priority that the SNP and the Scottish Government give to tackling climate change.
There is no doubt that, to reach our goals on climate change, we need consensus in this chamber. Consensus has been shown before, in the development of the climate challenge fund, which continues to deliver. It supports excellent initiatives the length and breadth of the country and has given £75 million to 873 projects in 588 communities.
I was delighted that the First Minister used her visit to the Paris climate talks to announce a doubling of the Scottish Government’s climate justice fund to £3 million a year for the next four years. That money is used to help the world’s poorest communities in countries such as Malawi and Zambia to adapt to climate change. The initiative has been praised by former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson and by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. It shows that our work on climate change is about not just reducing emissions here in Scotland, but helping others who are affected by our changing climate. Scotland continues to set a good example on climate change, and we continue our international leadership.
My time is running out, but I will touch briefly on fracking, which is an issue that affects my constituency. I am not sure whether Labour and the Green Party have noticed, but there is no fracking going on in Scotland. I—along with, I think it is fair to say, the majority of my colleagues in the SNP—am deeply sceptical about fracking, and the Scottish Government has put in place two separate moratoriums to ensure that no fracking or underground coal gasification can take place in Scotland. We have also put in place a thorough research programme and have set out plans for a public consultation so that any decision will be based on evidence and public opinion. Unless it can be proven beyond doubt that there is no risk to health, communities or the environment, there will be no fracking or UCG extraction in Scotland—it cannot get any clearer than that. That is a much more sensible approach to take than Labour’s cynical attempt to grab headlines by calling for an immediate outright ban that could result in a judicial review and a judge deciding whether fracking would go ahead in Scotland.