Climate change monitoring report 2023

Introduction

This annual monitoring report is the third progress report on the Climate Change Plan update (CCPu) which updated the 2018 Climate Change Plan (CCP) and was finalised in March 2021. The report is a statutory requirement set out in the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019.

The 2019 Act is one of the most ambitious and comprehensive legislative frameworks on climate change in the world, increasing the ambition of Scotland’s emissions reduction targets (from the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009) in response to the global climate emergency and UN Paris Agreement, committing Scotland to a 75% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and to reaching net zero by 2045.

The 2019 Act also placed the monitoring framework for climate change plans on to a statutory footing for the first time, with sector by sector reports on progress and the inclusion of matters relevant to a just transition. Two monitoring reports were published on the 2018 CCP prior to the commencement of the 2019 Act; in 2018 and 2019. No monitoring report was produced in 2020, as this fell during the process of updating the CCP. Monitoring reports were produced in 2021 and 2022.

Scotland’s climate ambition is exemplified by the ambitious policies laid out in our landmark CCPu, which includes over 200 policies. As highlighted in the sector reports, many of these policies and proposals have been further developed since via delivery plans. These include:

• the Heat in Buildings Strategy,
• the route map to achieve a 20% reduction in car kilometres by 2030.
• The Vision for Agriculture and the National Test Programme, aiming to transform agriculture, ensuring Scotland become a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture and a consultation on a new Agriculture Bill.

We have also consulted on a variety of measures including: the Circular Economy Bill, the Waste Route Map and Land Reform Bill in a Net Zero Nation.

The revised National Planning Framework 4, the Joint Budget Review, the draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan and the Biodiversity Strategy have also been published.

To see what else Scotland is doing to help meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, including on climate change adaptation and international climate action, please also see the indicative Nationally Determined Contribution published in advance of COP26 in 2021.

On green jobs, Scotland is the best performer across the UK according to PWC’s Green Jobs barometer which is a tool to track job creation, wider employment benefits, job loss, and worker perceptions with relevance to the green transition.