The Scottish Government is being urged to ban fossil fuel vehicles in city centres by 2030 by business leaders and environmentalists.

The Climate Emergency Response Group (CERG) has set out 12-point-plan it wants the Government to adopt as a key policy in order to tackle climate change.

The group behind the environmental action plan is made up of 19 organisations including WWF Scotland, the Energy Saving Trust, Scottish Land and Estates and the University of Edinburgh. CERG said action was needed to prevent temperatures rising 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, with experts warning there were just 12 years left to avoid breaching that.

Claire Mack, chief executive of Scottish Renewables said: "We are already witnessing the effects of climate change, and now is the moment when we must accelerate our response if we are to avoid the worst effects and secure the many social and economic benefits of moving to a climate neutral economy.

"This is the time for us all to support strong changes to policy and programmes in response to the climate emergency, and this report sets out our initial recommendations for the Scottish government's leadership role.

"The adoption of these policies by the Scottish Government would demonstrate world-leading commitment, slashing our emissions and showing where the rest of the world can follow us."

Tackling climate change

A spokesperson for Scottish Government said: “The Scottish Government is a world leader in tackling climate change and we are committed to ending Scotland’s contribution to this, definitively, within a generation.

“As part of our response to the global climate emergency, we are putting climate change at the heart of our Programme for Government and will be announcing details of this shortly.

“We continue to look across our whole range of responsibilities to make sure we continue with the policies that are working and identify areas where we can go further, faster. We will meanwhile update our Climate Change Plan within six months of the Climate Change Bill receiving Royal Assent, ensuring our longer-term actions match our ambitions.

“We are also clear, however, that the scale of the transition to becoming a net-zero society means we cannot take a knee-jerk, piecemeal approach – nor can Government do this alone.

“We all – governments, businesses, communities and individuals – need to work together to end Scotland’s contribution to climate change and seize the opportunities that this creates.”

Help minimise your fleet’s environment impact with the Fleet News carbon footprint calculator.
Avoid fines and help plan routes with our invaluable guide to the UK’s Clean Air Zones (CAZs).