Meeting of the Parliament 24 March 2026 [Draft]
I, too, thank the cabinet secretary for advance notice of her statement, and I thank all the stakeholders who gave their views on how the draft climate change plan should be strengthened.
I agree with the cabinet secretary’s reference to yesterday’s warning that climate change is now accelerating and will negatively impact on people’s lives. I note, for example, the 400,000 homes and buildings in Scotland that are now at risk of flooding.
It is crucial that the next Scottish Government has strong leadership and that it focuses on delivery. It must ensure that people get support to make their homes warm and energy efficient; support on solar, heat pumps and heat networks; affordable and accessible buses that they can rely on, with links to our railways; investment in our land to restore our peatlands; and a joined-up approach to food production and biodiversity. It must also ensure that councils and communities have the financial support to deliver community heat and power projects that will transform people’s lives.
What is new in the final plan? Does the cabinet secretary agree that members in the next parliamentary session must change how we scrutinise implementation? Proper parliamentary scrutiny of the climate change plan has not been enabled today, and we have not heard from the cabinet secretary which recommendations have now been included in the plan. We need an urgent focus on implementation. Does the cabinet secretary agree that a key message from those who gave evidence to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee and other parliamentary committees was that it is all about delivery and that the draft plan did not go far enough?