The Scottish Government has suffered a humiliating dressing down from experts who are concerned about the lack of progress the administration has made on climate change after ministers snubbed the oil and gas industry to court the green vote.
The criticism came as the UK won votes of confidence from energy giants for measures to boost renewables investment that will cost householders around £1 billion, amid claims the windfall tax has put thousands of North Sea jobs at risk.
After years in which the SNP Government put the fight against climate change at the top of the agenda while trying to show it was more committed than Tory ministers at Whitehall, its failure to deliver was laid bare in a withering report last week.
The independent Climate Change Committee (CCC) said Scotland’s 2030 climate goals looked impossible to achieve and complained the government had no comprehensive strategy for the country to decarbonise towards Net Zero.
“The Scottish Government delayed its draft Climate Change Plan last year despite the 2030 target only being six years away,” lamented the committee, whose members include Professor Keith Bell of the University of Strathclyde.
“The required acceleration in emissions reduction in Scotland is now beyond what is credible,” it added.
READ MORE: Humza Yousaf's green jobs boast rings hollow as boom hopes fade
Under former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP Government said Scotland would achieve net zero by 2045. The move appeared designed to discomfit the UK Government which set a target date of 2050.
The criticism by the CCC was particularly damning because the committee put blame for the lack of progress north of the border on the Scottish Government, which tends to pin responsibility for any underachievement on ‘London’.
“There are risks in all reviewed areas, including those with significant policy powers devolved to the Scottish Government,” said the CCC.
Noting that most key indicators........