1. Scottish Parliament:
New budget process and climate scrutiny tools
Iain Thom
Researcher – Brexit, Environment & Rural Affairs

2. Scottish Parliament:
A devolved legislature
within the UK

3. Reserved to United KingdomDevolved to Scotland
How powers are split between Scotland and UK
Environment
Education
Transport Housing
Health Justice
Social Security
Trade &
industry
Foreign
policy
Economic &
monetary
Defence &
security
Energy

4. Scotland’s climate ambition
• The Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009:
– set GHG emissions reduction targets of
42% by 2020 and 80% by 2050
– requires Government to publish a ‘Climate
Change Plan’ to meet targets
– requires a carbon assessment of the budget
• The 42% target has been met early.
• Responding to the Paris Agreement, new
legislation proposes a 90% target for 2050,
and a net-zero target “when feasible”.

5. Budget scrutiny

6. Previous budget
process
• Due to timing of UK
Budget, Scottish budget
scrutiny was concentrated
into ~3 months

7. New budget
process
• Full year approach
• Continuous cycle
• Output / outcome
focused
• Fiscal responsibility
• Interdependent

8. Climate scrutiny tools: current
• Climate Change Plan monitoring reports
– annual reporting as of 2018
– measured against set of indicators and outcomes
– format and timing in development
– will they be useful in the new budget process?
• Carbon assessment of the budget
– required by legislation since 2009
– environmentally extended Input-Output model (EIO)
– but does not measure ‘outcome’ of spend

9. Climate scrutiny tools: work in progress (1)
• Focus on infrastructure spending
– Why? Because infrastructure “locks-in” a pattern of future
emissions.
“infrastructure investment is a key determinant of future
GHG emissions... The window for making the right
choices is uncomfortably narrow… future GHG
emissions are going to be locked in by investment
choices in the next decade”
Investing in Climate, Investing in Growth, OECD 2017

10. • Climate impact of Scottish infrastructure “pipeline” largely unknown.
• Improvements? It’s work in progress… possibly emissions forecasts
for everything in the infrastructure pipeline?
Climate scrutiny tools: work in progress (2)
• very simple “high-neutral-low” categorisation published (since 2017)

11. SPICe provides factual, accurate and
timely information and analysis to
Members in support of parliamentary
business.
Iain Thom - Researcher in the Brexit,
Environment and Rural Affairs team.
Email: iain.thom@parliament.scot
Blog: spice-spotlight.scot
Twitter: @SPICe_Research