Today the UK Government set out its legislative agenda for the next year in the King’s Speech. The announcements included a new law which will bring in annual oil and gas licensing in the North Sea.
Separately, the Scottish Government announced it was delaying the publication of its latest Climate Change Plan, which sets out Scotland’s progress and pathway to meeting its legally binding climate targets.
Responding to the news, Jamie Livingstone, Head of Oxfam Scotland, said: “The UK Government’s dangerous fixation with fossil fuels is completely at odds with both climate science and common sense and sends the wrong signal just weeks before the King is set to deliver the opening address at the UN Climate Summit, COP 28.
“News that the Scottish Government is now delaying its Climate Change Plan is also deeply troubling.
“Instead of kicking the climate can ever further down the road, we need to see our political leaders, both in Westminster and the Scottish Parliament, focus on how to quickly and fairly decarbonise our economy: funded by making the biggest and richest polluters pay for their damage while protecting the pockets of the poorest households. Every fraction of a degree of warming makes a difference; and every delay in cleaning up our act costs lives.”