Section 3 — Annual targets

Part of Climate Change (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3 – in the Scottish Parliament at 10:00 am on 24 June 2009.

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Photo of Alison McInnes Alison McInnes Liberal Democrat 10:00, 24 June 2009

I will speak to amendment 11 and to amendments 12 and 15, in the name of Patrick Harvie, because I would have lodged such amendments if he had not beaten me to it.

I have a question for members. When is 3 per cent not 3 per cent? Perhaps that is not the most challenging riddle. We all know the answer: when it is inconvenient for the SNP.

Mr Swinney said that the Government was

"committed to an 80 per cent reduction in our emissions by 2050. That target is equivalent to a reduction of 3 per cent each year."—[Official Report, 21 June 2007; c 1039.]

I hesitate to challenge the mathematics of Scotland's Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, but I must do so. An 80 per cent reduction by 2050 is equivalent to 3 per cent annual reductions if and only if the 80 per cent target is met by making annual reductions of 3 per cent.

I will explain, and I must again talk about cumulative emissions. Let us imagine two trajectories towards the 80 per cent target: in one, the interim target is 34 per cent, and 3 per cent annual reductions kick in after 2020; in the other, the interim target is 42 per cent and the 3 per cent annual reductions happen from the outset. Those trajectories are not equivalent. The start and end points are the same, but the bit in the middle—the important bit—is far from the same. On the first trajectory, we emit nearly 1,500 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. On the second, we emit just more than 1,300 million tonnes. The difference is about 142 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, or nearly three times the total emissions for Scotland in 2006. The two trajectories are not equivalent.

That is why it is vital that we take early action. We need 3 per cent annual reductions now. SNP members have just voted for a 42 per cent interim target. Now they have the chance to show us that that was not just political manoeuvring. Let them show us that they intend to achieve the target.

Annual emissions reductions of 3 per cent will enable us to reach the 42 per cent reduction target by 2020. If the SNP is serious about that goal, I am confident that amendment 11 will gain support. If the SNP is not serious about the goal, Scotland will soon know it.

I move amendment 11.