It's been a quite a day at the Scottish Parliament.

Humza Yousaf and the opposition party leaders kicked things with a rowdy First Minister's Questions, before Net Zero Minister Mairi McAllan confirmed the Scottish government had scrapped its immediate climate change targets.

Here's a reminder of the headlines from her climate change statement.

• Mairi McAllan confirmed the Scottish government will scrap its annual and interim targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions
• She accepted that the 2030 net zero target was now out of reach
• They will be replaced with a system measuring emissions every five years
• The net zero secretary announced a raft of measures to cut planet-warming gases, including a national integrated ticketing system for public transport
• New legislation will be introduced similar to the carbon budgets used by the UK and Welsh governments.
• McAllan insisted the long-term target to reach net zero by 2045 "steadfastly" remains
• The Scottish government will bring forward expedited legislation to address matters raised by the Climate Change Committee
• More than a dozen flagship policies were wrapped around the announcement

That's all from our live coverage of today's climate change statement. The editors were Paul McLaren and Catherine Lyst. The writers were Craig Hutchison, Jonathan Geddes and Naina Bhardwaj. Thanks for being with us.

Image source, PA

There's been some very heated debate in the chamber this afternoon, as MSPs digested the news that the Scottish government will scrap its annual and interim targets for cutting green house gas emissions.

Here's a flavour of what the politicians had to say.

• First to bring up the scrapping of the annual and interim targets was Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar who accused the Scottish government of "rowing back" on its targets during FMQs
• Sarwar also said the Scottish Greens must be "the only Green Party in the world that supports scrapping climate change targets"
• First Minister Humza Yousaf hit back by citing a number of environmental policies Labour had not supported and insisted the upcoming statement would provide a timetable for "accelerated action"
• Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said he was "angry and disappointed that we are in this position" and it must be a "turning point"

Image source, Getty Images

• Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan used her statement to admit she was "disappointed" and that the 2030 net-zero target was out of reach
• McAllan insisted the long-term target to reach net zero by 2045 "steadfastly"remains and announced a raft of measures to cut planet-warming gases
• She said:"We will not yield to culture wars"
• In response to her statement Tory MSP Douglas Lumsden said this was an "absolute humiliation for the SNP" and was even more humiliating for the Greens

• Scottish Lib Dems leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said the announcement was a "monstrous generational betrayal by the SNP and their Green partners"
• Earlier former first minister and current Alba leader Alex Salmond called for "great leaps forward" to tackle climate change

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie has said decades of inaction has caused "a global climate emergency".

Harvie, who has a cabinet role within the SNP government, was speaking on BBC Radio 4's PM programme after the Net Zero Minister Mairi McCallan confirmed the government's 2030 climate change targets were being dumped.

The National Farmers Union in Scotland has welcomed the Scottish government's "change in direction" on climate policy targets.

"We now need to focus exclusively on net zero but not necessarily be legally bound by deadlines," said NFU Scotland vice-president Alasdair Macnab.

"The emphasis must shift to ‘how’ rather than being a hostage to ‘when’."

Claire Mack, the chief executive of Scottish Renewables, which represents the renewable energy industry, was not impressed with the government's change of plan.

She said: "Scotland was the first country in the world to commit to achieving net-zero carbon emissions in line with scientific evidence and the first country in the world to declare a climate emergency.

“This has helped establish Scotland as a globally-recognised leader on climate action which is why the rollback on our landmark 2030 target and wider climate change legislation is extremely disappointing."

She called for strong policies to ensure carbon emissions are reduced at the rate required across every sector.

In response to Mairi McAllan's statement, Mike Robinson of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland said: "The fact that Scottish ministers feel they have no choice but to shift Scotland’s climate goal posts is the inevitable and damaging consequence of their abject failure to deliver the speed and depth of climate action needed since the 2030 target was set."

He said the lack of sufficient climate action to date represents a major breach of trust with the people of Scotland.

“The range of largely re-heated measures announced by the Scottish government are wholly inadequate and fall very significantly short of the transformational acceleration in action needed," he added.

Net Zero Minister Mairi McAllan's statement ditched the 2030 climate change target but she promised a new package of measures to support Scotland's "just transition to net zero".

This included:

• Quadrupling the number of electric vehicle charge points, with 24,000 added by 2030

• Publishing a "route map" which would help deliver a 20% reduction in cars

• Supporting businesses to transition away from petrol and diesel vans
• Considering a new, national integrated ticketing system for public transport across Scotland which would allow travellers to use a single system for their entire journey

• Investing in pilot projects looking at advancing peatland restoration

• Begining a pilot scheme with some Scottish farms on uptake of methane-supressing feed products for livestock

Source: https://www.gov.scot/publications/climate-change-committee-scotland-report-next-steps/, external

Naina Bhardwaj
BBC Scotland News

Image source, PA Media

We've heard Mairi McAllan talk about her vision for reduced care use and emissions in Scotland - but what about the rest of the UK?

In England, the sale of all new petrol and diesel-powered cars and vans will be banned from 2035. It comes after a government announcement to postpone the measure, which had originally been scheduled for 2030.

The change of policy was announced by the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in September and brings the country in line with most of the EU. It also means that hydrogen-powered cars may be eligible by that point.

In Northern Ireland, the ban will begin from 2035, with drivers no longer able to buy a combustion vehicle.

However, in Wales, the sales of new petrol and diesel only cars will cease by 2030, external, as part of the combined UK target of net zero by 2050.

We've heard an awful lot about net zero this afternoon - but what does it actually mean?

Well, it's about getting to the point of no longer adding to the total amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane. CO2 is released when oil, gas and coal are burned in homes, factories and to power transport. Methane is produced through farming and landfill.

These gases increase global temperatures by trapping extra energy in the Earth's atmosphere.

Meanwhile, rapid deforestation across the world means there are fewer trees to absorb CO2.

Under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, 197 countries - including the UK - agreed to try to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C by 2100.

To achieve this, CO2 emissions need to fall by nearly half by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050, according to the UN's climate body, the IPCC. But these emissions remain at record highs, external.

Read more here

Big questions remain about what can be achievedpublished at 15:42 British Summer Time 18 April

15:42 BST 18 April

Kevin Keane
BBC Scotland environment correspondent

So, ministers have now confirmed what we've known since last night - that the Scottish government's annual targets have been scrapped.

The Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan calls it a "minor legislative change" but it will not be seen that way.

There's no clarity on what any new targets might be and that leaves big questions around what both the Scottish and UK governments can achieve in the future.

More than a dozen flagship policies were wrapped around the confirmation, most eye-catchingly a national integrated public transport ticketing system.

But the whole package will be viewed as the start of a process which sees a government that includes Greens backing the scrapping of emissions targets.

If you're just joining us now, here's a recap of the climate change statement headlines:

• Mairi McAllan confirmed the Scottish government will scrap its annual and interim targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions
• She accepted that the 2030 net zero target was now out of reach
• They will be replaced with a system measuring emissions every five years
• The net zero secretary announced a raft of measures to cut planet-warming gases, including a national integrated ticketing system for public transport
• New legislation will be introduced similar to the carbon budgets used by the UK and Welsh governments.
• McAllan insisted the long-term target to reach net zero by 2045 "steadfastly" remains
• The Scottish government will bring forward expedited legislation to address matters raised by the Climate Change Committee
• More than a dozen flagship policies were wrapped around the announcement

What will be the consequences of missing targets?published at 15:31 British Summer Time 18 April

15:31 BST 18 April

David Wallace Lockhart
Political correspondent

We now have official confirmation that ministers won’t reach their 2030 emissions reduction target.

But these targets weren’t just your average benchmark – they were legally binding.

It now looks like the law will be changed to reflect this.

But what’s not entirely clear is if there are any consequences for these targets being missed.

SNP MSP Bob Doris asks how the goverment will seek to highlight the consequences of climate change on Scotland.

Again the minister agrees with her SNP colleague and stresses the very real impacts that "continued adverse weather patterns" and the record number of named storms this winter have had.

Tory MSP Maurice Golden says the Scottish government needs to stop blaming "non decision makers" for not meeting climate change targets.

He then asks what the Scottish government will do regarding sustainable consumption and behaviour change to reach its targets.

McAllan says today's announcement is not a "exhaustive list" of what is being done, and again accuses the Tories of hypocrisy.

Elana Whitam says: "Regrettably the cross-party consensus that did exist in 2019 both here and in Westminster has evaporated."

The SNP MSP says this shows the limits of devolution.

The minister, not surpisingly, agrees and says she hopes that cross-party consensus can be revived and insists Scotland requires the powers that are reserved to Westminster at the moment.

The Scottish Greens MSP Maggie Chapman says that "decades of inaction" have led to the current situation, and that today must be a "pivotal moment" in tackling the climate emergency.

She says what has been done already is the "easy part", and that harder work lies ahead, such as addressing transport issues and transforming the economy.

She then praises the accelerated timetable presented by McAllan, and says opposition parties "must stop the hypocrisy" and support the plans.

McAllan replies that Scotland cannot get to net zero without parties across the chamber joining together.

Image source, Getty Images

Climate change has been a key part of Scottish government policy in recent years.

In 2019, the Scottish Parliament passed legislation to speed up the rate of decarbonisation, although the 75% target by 2030 was 5% more than experts had recommended.

That target was in contrast to the UK government's set aim of a reduction of 68% by the same date.

Two years later, Glasgow hosted the Cop26 conference, with world leaders descending on the city to discuss the environment, and last year Humza Yousaf declared that Scotland could provide "moral leadership" to the world regarding climate change.

However, in 2022 the Climate Change Committee (CCC) - which provides independent advice to ministers - said that Scotland had lost its lead over the rest of the UK in tackling the issue.

In March, the same group stated that the 2030 target was now unreachable.

Today's announcement means questions being asked of both the SNP and, in particular, the Scottish Greens.

Now the Lib Dems' leader in Scotland, Alex Cole-Hamilton, says this announcement is a "monstrous generational betrayal by the SNP and their Green partners".

Cole-Hamilton tells the chamber the Scottish government is "incapable of getting even the basics right".

"Their nationalism has always trumped the environmentalism", he says

His "faux outrage" should earn him an Oscar. responds Mairi McAllan.

She insists the issue is too important to be politicised.

Former Deputy First Minister John Swinney uses his question to praise involvement in local community initiatives as being a way forward, and to attack opposition parties for being full of "empty rhetoric" while opposing government plans.

McAllan says action driven from the ground up happening throughout Scotland is making what she calls a "considerable difference" across the country.

Colin Smyth says it is the actions of this government which have led to this "humiliating not minor ditching of targets".

The Labour MSP highlights woodland creation, pointing out the government is halving the budget for this, adding: "Will this just be another missed target?"

Mairi McAllan says Labour do not back measures to meet the climate change targets.

And 75% of all new forests created in the UK have been in Scotland, McAllan adds.