The First Minister used her Spring conference speech to declare a climate change emergency and to commit the Scottish Government to taking action to go further than it has already done in this area, if that is what scientific conclusions deem necessary.
The Scottish Government’s low carbon transition is already well underway. Scotland’s emissions have almost halved since 1990. We continue to outperform the UK.
The Scottish Government’s Climate Change Bill contains the most ambitious statutory targets of any country in the world for 2020, 2030 and 2040, and will mean Scotland is carbon neutral by 2050.
Forests and woodlands now cover nearly 19% of our land; we plant more trees in Scotland than anywhere else in the UK, and our forests and woodlands deliver a rich mixture of benefits including to jobs and the economy.
The Scottish Government recently published its Forestry Strategy for 2019-2029 which set out its vision for Scotland’s forests and woodlands to ensure these are sustainably managed.
SNP MPs at Westminster will continue to raise these issues and push the UK to Government to match Scotland’s ambition in this crucial area and to ensure there is no backsliding on environmental protections as a result of the UK leaving the EU.
