THE Scottish government has unveiled plans for carbon budgets to replace the emissions targets it abandoned last year.

Then First Minister Humza Yousaf was forced to abandon the government’s interim targets to cut emissions by 75 per cent by 2030, a move that proved the death knell in his party’s crumbling coalition with the Greens and with it, his time at Bute House.

The overall target to reach net zero by 2045 remained in place.

But 14 months on, climate change secretary Gillian Martin has announced that — if approved by the Scottish Parliament — the interim target will be replaced by a series of five-yearly cycles of carbon budgets, lowering emissions by 57 per cent below the 1990 baseline by 2030, 69 per cent between 2031 and 2035, 80 per cent between 2036 and 2041, and 94 per cent in the final five years of the plan.

Stressing she would not  “sacrifice people’s health or wealth” to reach net zero, Ms Martin said: “These carbon budgets keep Scotland at the forefront of efforts to protect the planet and our Climate Change Plan will ensure the action we take is fair, ambitious and capable of rising to the emergency before us.”

Offering critical support for the plan, WWF Scotland’s Claire Daly said: “It’s good to see the Scottish government has adopted the climate change committee’s carbon budget and is reaffirming its commitment to reaching net zero climate emissions by 2045.

“However, these commitments will remain merely lines on a page without strong action to back them up.

“Future generations cannot afford any more missed climate targets, and this carbon budget must be set for success with strong policies to reduce emissions.”