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03 WHY HAVE A BILL?
3.1 There are four key reasons why the Scottish Government is bringing forward legislation to create mandatory climate change targets:
- to drive decisions in government and business;
- to create and enable new means of reducing emissions and adapting to climate change;
- to play our part in global action on climate change; and
- to provide a strong example to other countries showing what can be done.
Driving decisions in government and business
3.2 It can be difficult for government to give sufficient attention to climate change when there are daily issues whose impacts will be felt much sooner: crime on our streets, schools delivering the needed skills for our children, and hospitals providing care for our sick. The full effects of our emissions now will not be felt for 40 years or more, so it may seem a less urgent priority. However, delaying global action is likely to enhance the onset of dangerous climate change.
3.3 Setting a statutory target to reduce emissions will mean that the Scottish Government will need to think about climate change whenever it makes decisions. Statutory targets will drive government to take the more difficult, sometimes less popular, options that either reduce emissions directly or encourage individuals or businesses to reduce emissions. The Scottish Government has already made clear through the Government Economic Strategy that tackling climate change will become part and parcel of the way Government and the wider public sector behaves, not an optional extra.
3.4 The UK Climate Change Bill (discussed in more detail in paragraphs 4.51 and 4.52) will provide statutory targets at the UK level. But Scotland can, and should, go further. Scotland's emissions, and the potential to reduce emissions in Scotland, are different from the rest of the UK. We have massive potential in renewable energy, particularly in marine and wind energy. Studies have estimated Scotland's potential renewable resource to be around 60 GigaWatts. This is equivalent to around 75% of the existing electricity generating capacity across the UK. 4 The majority of the UK's forest area is in Scotland and we potentially have the space to increase its extent further, which would add to its ability to absorb CO 2.
3.5 There are also factors particular to Scotland which may make reducing emissions more difficult for us than in other parts of the UK. For example, we have a particularly high proportion of carbon-rich organic soils and a far greater proportion of our greenhouse gas emissions comes from our land use and agriculture. The Scottish Government has fewer policy levers available to achieve emissions reductions than the UK Government. Of the current carbon savings being made (set out in Changing Our Ways, Scotland's Climate Change Programme 5), approximately two-thirds come from devolved measures and one third from reserved measures. There may be limitations in the potential for devolved policies to achieve large savings. For example, emissions from power generation represent the majority of Scotland's net emissions and reserved energy policy may act against progress towards savings from devolved measures. 'Hard' policy measures such as taxation and regulation of product standards may have more potential than softer, devolved measures.
3.6 The Scottish Government is proposing a Scottish target that takes account of our individual situation and drives our Scottish policies.
3.7 But tackling climate change is not only about changing the way Government does its own business. It is also about changing everyone's habits and behaviours. We will need new technologies to reduce emissions whilst striving to increase prosperity in Scotland for all. Much of the investment needed to deliver these technologies will come from the private sector and will need to be developed over the longer term. To make a real difference, Government needs to give the strongest possible incentive to invest in and develop new technologies - this is a key purpose of setting emissions targets into law. Businesses need to be certain that a change in Government will not change the level of support given to reducing emissions. Statutory targets will provide that certainty: they will apply regardless of who is in power at a national or a local level.
Enabling more action to reduce emissions or adapt to climate change
3.8 The proposed Bill also provides an opportunity to create or modify primary legislation to enable specific measures that will reduce emissions or help Scotland to adapt to the changing climate. The measures that the Scottish Government is considering are discussed in Section 8. Many of these will be consulted upon separately.
Play our part in global action on climate change
3.9 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC) tells us that the impact of climate change - the extinction of species, damage in our cities and high death tolls from severe weather events, and a dramatic reduction in the production of food in parts of the world - will be difficult to mitigate but not impossible. The Scottish Government is committed to playing its part to help avoid such disasters.
3.10 There are those who argue that as Scotland emits only 0.15% of the world's greenhouse gases, we should not burden ourselves with a specific Scottish target to reduce emissions and we should instead wait for larger countries to take action. The Scottish Government believes that this is an irresponsible position: we led the industrial revolution and we have a moral obligation to lead the revolution to a new greener, cleaner, sustainable economy.
International leadership
3.11 Climate change is a global challenge. The Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament are already working in partnership with the rest of the UK on the UK Climate Change Bill to show international leadership on climate change. It is hoped that this will help to achieve an international agreement on climate change. The Scottish Climate Change Bill confirms the importance the Scottish Government attaches to tackling climate change and acts as a further demonstration of the leadership we want to provide to the rest of the world.
3.12 The challenge of climate change presents us with real opportunities - we could become Europe's biggest exporter of renewable energy if we take advantage of the potential we have for wind and marine energy. And if Scotland can become an exemplar we could help to accelerate global action - groups elsewhere pressing for change could point to Scotland to show how the transition to a low carbon economy and sustainable economic growth can work.
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