Our submission has been informed by consultation with over 200 individuals from communities, and those working with communities, across Scotland. Forward Scotland would like to say a big thank you to all those who responded to our online survey and participated in our focus group to discuss what may be the most important piece of legislation in our lifetime.

Overall, Forward Scotland agrees with the majority of our consultation respondents that a Scottish Climate Change Bill is necessary, and we support the main proposals within the Government's paper. However, we feel strongly that the Bill as it stands is uninspiring, lacks ambition and it does not sufficiently emphasise a number of important factors, such as energy efficiency and demand reduction, whilst overlooking some key issues altogether. Along with many of our consultation respondents we believe that these factors should be a far greater priority than is currently evident from the document.

It is clear from our consultation with communities that individuals across Scotland are extremely concerned about climate change, and want to see ambition from the nation’s leaders and tough action by governments to bring emissions down across the public and private sectors, coupled with incentives to encourage individuals to change their behaviour accordingly.

The Scottish Government consultation closes today (23 April). Further information can be found here.