The Scottish government has called for the UK government to reform Ofgem’s remit and the CfD mechanism ahead of this weekend’s Climate Ambition Summit.
Climate Change Secretary Roseanna Cunningham (pictured) has urged the UK Government to set out detailed new climate change policies at event hosted by the UK in partnership with France, Chile, Italy and the UN, a platform for leaders to propose ambitious goals before next year’s COP26 climate conference.
She said the UK should act in reserved policy areas to reform the Contract for Difference mechanism to deliver specific support for wave and tidal generation as well as investment and jobs in domestic businesses.
She said it should update energy regulation by giving Ofgem a statutory objective to support the delivery of net zero and interim statutory greenhouse gas emissions targets and address the imbalance in pricing for electricity and gas to better incentivise zero emissions heating technologies
In addition Cunningham said the UK government should accelerate the development of negative emissions technologies, carbon capture and storage, and hydrogen as essential components of our energy system.
Demonstration of the technological solutions to cutting emissions from our homes and buildings needs to be accelerated, and the UK should in particular set out clear timescales for the future scale and pace of decarbonisation of the gas network to support decarbonisation of heat in buildings, she added.
She called for the UK government to commit to a UK Emissions Trading Scheme common framework post-Brexit, which she said would respect the devolution settlement, and rule out implementing a reserved Carbon Emissions Tax over which devolved administrations would have no say.
She also called for fuel duty and vehicle excise duty options to be reviewed to help reduce unsustainable travel.
The Scottish government is expecting to publish an update to its climate plan this month setting out the practical steps to meet its targets, as well as what action will be needed by the UK government in its areas of competence.
Climate Change Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: “Scotland has set its own world-leading statutory 2030 target of a 75% reduction in emissions in response to the UN Paris Agreement and we have consistently been calling on the UK Government to match our level of ambition.
“Given the reserved nature of many key policy levers for decarbonisation, a more ambitious UK-wide approach will be critical in achieving Scotland’s goals.
“The Prime Minister’s Climate Ambition Summit this weekend provides the perfect platform for the UK Government to set out not just ambition but action including changes to the gas grid, support for offshore wind and support for the commercialisation of negative emissions technologies.”