SNP faces calls to beef up policies on cutting carbon

Published on Tuesday 11 January 2011 17:40

ENVIRONMENTAL charities have warned that the Scottish Government needs to strengthen its policy on how it plans to cut carbon emissions - and commit to funding the proposals - if it is to meet ambitious climate change targets.

Speaking ahead of a Holyrood debate today, Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, the umbrella group of environmental charities which includes WWF Scotland and Friends of the Earth Scotland, said that the policies which the government plans to implement were not sufficient alone to meet the 42 per cent carbon reduction targets set out by the government for 2020.

It said ministers needed to commit to as many as possible of the measures which are currently listed as "proposals", adding that projects such as a scheme to encourage people to insulate their homes had not had funding earmarked in the draft Budget.

It highlighted the restoration of peat bogs, which could cut carbon emissions by 5 per cent a year - but is only listed as a "proposal".

Cathy Peattie, Scottish Lab-our's climate change spokeswoman, added: "We want to see measures for better monitoring of performance in the public sector against targets and more clarity on the responsibilities of the public sector to reduce emissions."