Meeting of the Parliament 05 March 2026 [Draft]
Thank you, Presiding Officer.
I speak with a lot of disappointment, to be honest. What should have been a landmark report for this Parliament is instead a catalogue of errors from this out-of-time, out-of-touch Scottish National Party devolved Government. I have been an MSP for nearly five years, and this is one of the most damning reports that I have seen from a committee or have been involved in.
The report describes the draft climate action plan in these terms: “clear gaps”, “falls short”, “insufficient detail” and “areas of risk”. The plan was “rushed”, leading to a lack of confidence from the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee that our concerns will be taken seriously. “Rushed” is quite a statement, given that we were promised the plan more than a year ago; now, so close to the dissolution of Parliament, it finally appears.
It is quite simply a disgrace that the cabinet secretary has come here today to defend what is, in essence, a plan without detail and without targets, and one that will fail to deliver its main point, which is a reduction in emissions that will contribute to our net zero climate goals. Any climate change plan should have one aim: to reduce emissions and help us to reach our 2045 climate goals.
This plan should be about delivery. It should include timelines and targets for how we will get there. However, the plan that the committee was asked to scrutinise does none of that. It has let down our committee, the Parliament and the people of Scotland.