Net Zero Nation

By Euri Bartlome Vidal, Associate at The Surefoot Effect
​As a host of the COP26 and a leading nation in the transition to a low carbon society and a net zero nation by 2045, the Scottish government asks the following questions:

• What are the opportunities for green investment in Scotland?
• How does Scotland propose to strengthen its green economy and the energy sector?
• How does the country plan to achieve net carbon zero and what exemplar projects are already underway?
• What role does the private sector have to play in achieving that goal and what support is available?

This is tougher than a net-zero carbon target, which commits only to balancing carbon dioxide emissions (for example, by purchasing carbon credits by funding things such as reforestation in third-party countries such as developing nations in Africa or Asia, which do not require carbon reductions at home). The Scottish Government will also respond to the global climate emergency by adopting an ambitious new target to reduce emissions by 75% by 2030 – the toughest statutory target of any country in the world for this date going above and beyond what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said is required worldwide to limit warming to 1.5 degrees. Scotland has already almost halved emissions since 1990, and according to the Scottish government, “The second half of Scotland’s journey to net-zero emissions will, undoubtedly, require different, and in many cases much more difficult.”
To make recommendations to Ministers on how Scotland’s net-zero transition should be achieved, a Citizens’ Assembly on climate change was convened. Grounded in Scotland's Climate Change Act (2019), Scotland's Climate Assembly brought over 100 people together from all walks of life to learn about, deliberate and make recommendations to answer: "How should Scotland change to tackle the climate emergency in an effective and fair way?"
Each Assembly member identified the top 10 statements which were most important to them. These were consolidated and ordered based on the statements which were prioritised most by members. The two most important recommendations regarding fairness to tackle the climate emergency, prioritised by over 70% of Assembly members were:
1) Take into account the needs of different communities across Scotland, recognising that there is not a ‘one size fits all’ solution.
2) Target the highest emitters so that organisations and individuals with the highest carbon footprint have to make the biggest changes.
You can access the full document here: www.climateassembly.scot/interim-report