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Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee 18 June 2019

18 Jun 2019 · S5 · Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee

Item of business

Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

Cunningham, Roseanna SNP Perthshire South and Kinross-shire Watch on SPTV

This group of amendments relates to the fair and safe Scottish emissions budget. Section 5 sets out the target-setting criteria that ministers must request the relevant body—that is, of course, the CCC—to have regard to when providing its advice on targets, and that ministers must take into account when modifying the net zero emissions target year or an interim target percentage figure. One of the criteria is: “the objective of not exceeding the fair and safe Scottish emissions budget”. The bill mirrors the definition of the fair and safe Scottish emissions budget found in the 2009 act. That definition is: “the aggregate amount of net Scottish emissions for the period 2010-2050 recommended by the relevant body as being consistent with Scotland contributing appropriately to stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.” I have listened to calls from stakeholders and the committee to align that definition more closely with the Paris agreement. I have therefore lodged amendment 54, which directly links the definition of the budget to the Paris agreement global temperature aim, set out in article 2.1(a) of that agreement, of “Holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels”. I have also lodged amendment 55, which would require ministers to seek regular updates—at least every five years—from the CCC on the appropriate level of the budget. The budget is not set at the discretion of ministers—it is determined solely by the independent expert advice of the CCC. Amendment 70 would require annual reports on emissions reduction targets to include information on the current level of the fair and safe Scottish emissions budget, and to set out alongside that the cumulative level of net Scottish emissions since 2010. Amendments 52 and 85 are consequential and would ensure that the new definition would be applied throughout the updated act. Claudia Beamish has lodged amendments 95, 96, 98 and 99, which also relate to the fair and safe emissions budget. In particular, the first of those proposes an alternative redefinition of the budget; the remainder are largely parallel to the Government amendments in the group. I recognise the well-meaning intent of her amendments. However, our respective amendments on the definition of the budget cannot both be agreed at this time. The essential difference between them is that my amendment 54 includes the full wording of the Paris agreement global temperature aim, whereas Claudia Beamish’s amendment 95 refers to that aim in a general sense and also makes references to certain UNFCCC principles in relation to how a Scottish share of the global budget should be determined. There are also more technical, but not unsubstantial, differences between the two sets of amendments. For example, my amendment 55 specifically requires the CCC to be asked to set out a new budget if the current one is no longer appropriate, whereas Claudia Beamish’s amendment 98 does not specify what should happen in that situation. As I said in the debate on earlier groupings, I would be happy to work with Claudia Beamish towards achieving a sensible and effective way of reflecting considerations of climate justice and international development in the bill at stage 3. In particular, I would be happy for that work to find a suitable way to reflect the UNFCCC principles, as well as the wording of the Paris agreement temperature goal, in the definition of the fair and safe emissions budget. On that basis, I urge Claudia Beamish not to press any of her amendments in the group and I ask members instead to support the Government’s amendments. I move amendment 52.

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Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee 18 June 2019

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