Actions to cut climate risk are vague - watchdog

Audit Scotland said targets for reducing emissions would be missed if there were no improvements

A new report has said many of the Scottish government's plans to tackle the risk of climate change are "vague".

Audit Scotland also said there were blurred lines over who was accountable for the actions.

It said that without improvements there was a risk that key targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero would be missed.

The Scottish government said it welcomed the report and wanted to strengthen its approach.

Opposition parties said the report demonstrated that almost no meaningful action had been taken.

Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon declared a climate emergency in 2019, setting a target of achieving net zero by 2045.

Nicola Sturgeon said Scotland would "live up to our responsibility" on climate change at the 2019 SNP conference

At the end of last year, the UK's Climate Change Committee (CCC) said progress on cutting greenhouse gas emissions had "largely stalled" in recent years.

It said Scotland had lost its lead over the rest of the UK on tackling climate change.

The CCC report said the Scottish government lacked a clear delivery plan and had not offered a coherent explanation for how its policies would achieve its targets.

• Scotland loses climate change lead, advisers warn

Now Audit Scotland, the watchdog responsible for monitoring Scotland's public organisations, has identified "several key weaknesses" in the Scottish government's plans to tackle the impacts of climate change.

The report said improvements were necessary in the governance arrangements, particularly around how risks are managed.

It said the least progress was being made in the area of "adaptation", which means preparing for the effects of rising temperatures such as wetter winters and rising sea levels.

Adaptation could be through better protection from flooding or wildfires, both of which are projected to increase in frequency and intensity.

Scotland's Auditor General Stephen Boyle said: "The Scottish government's set up for responding to the climate crisis has constantly evolved since 2019. But the different parts of government could be better coordinated.

"Work is ongoing across the Scottish government to tackle these organisational weaknesses, and it's vital that happens quickly given the urgency of the climate situation."

Glasgow held the COP26 climate change summit in 2021

The report said performance-monitoring and reporting on the Scottish government's targets were "inconsistent and underdeveloped".

It said information was presented in different formats and on an irregular basis, making it difficult to assess overall progress.

It also highlighted that there was still no workforce plan in place for the Scottish government's Net Zero team which was created in November 2021.

And it said the prioritisation of climate change funding "remains a challenge".

Mike Robinson, chairman of campaign group Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, said: "This report yet again underlines the need to respond properly to what is a well understood climate emergency.

"It highlights the need for far more priority in decision-making, far more funding and more consistency on climate action and risk assessment."

The Scottish Conservatives said the document confirmed that SNP ministers had "missed target after target, and amassed an incredible number of failings when it comes to protecting the planet".

Scottish Labour called it a damning report "which lays bare the SNP-Green government's woeful lack of action on the climate emergency".

A spokesman for the Scottish government said its next climate change plan will set out the pathway to meeting emissions targets to 2040 - including costs.

They said: "Scotland is making good progress towards net zero. To deliver on our ambitious targets will require truly transformational action across our society and economy, especially to deliver a just transition.

"We recognise the need to build resilience to the impacts of climate change. That is why we are investing an extra £150m for flood risk management and £12m for coastal change adaptation over this Parliament.

"We will continue to deliver the 170 policies and proposals in our current adaptation programme as we develop the next programme for publication in 2024."