Scotland 'unlikely' to hit 2030 car use climate target

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Scotland is not likely to achieve its 2030 climate change target to reduce car usage, according to public spending watchdogs. The Scottish government pledged to decrease kilometres driven by 20% but has made little progress since committing to the pledge five years ago. Audit Scotland and the Accounts Commission declared there was no clear plan or leadership for meeting the target. The lack of costed delivery plans, measurable milestones and adequate arrangements for monitoring and scrutinising progress was cited as a difficulty.

Reducing Scotland’s car dependence was a critical step in meeting climate targets. According to Audit Scotland, to achieve the target, car traffic levels needed to decrease by 7.3 billion kilometres to 29.3 billion. The report added that efforts to achieve this target had not been joined up, and difficult and possibly unpopular decisions needed to be made. The report also stated that spending by councils and the Scottish government on reducing car use lacked transparency and was complex and fragmented.

Transport Scotland announced that it would consider the recommendations and work with regional transport and local authority partners, and council body COSLA. It said the government would spend £263m in this area in the next budget. Scotland declared a climate emergency in 2019, announcing new targets for reducing emissions by 2045, with interim targets, including a 75% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Last year, the Scottish government dumped its trial of scrapping peak rail fares to encourage public transport usage. Following this decision in August, First Minister John Swinney maintained that the 2030 target could be reached, requiring behavioural shifts among the public. In November, the Scottish Parliament passed legislation to remove the interim emissions reduction target for 2030 following experts’ conclusion that it was no longer credible

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