Overview of the Act and General Notes Interpretation Part 1: Emissions Reduction Targets Section 10: Deadline for report on proposals and policies where targets not met
65.Section 10 of the Act amends section 36(2) of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 so that, where the requirement to lay a report under that section before the Scottish Parliament is triggered, the Scottish Ministers must do so within a fixed period of 6 months. Prior to the amendment taking effect, the duty was to do so soon as reasonably practicable.
66.The requirement to lay a report before the Parliament under section 36 is triggered by the Scottish Ministers laying before the Parliament a report under section 33 of the 2009 Act stating that an emissions reduction target has not been met. The term “emissions reduction target” is defined in section 98 of the 2009 Act.
67.A report under section 36 of the 2009 Act is a report setting out the Scottish Ministers’ proposals and policies to compensate in future years for the excess emissions that led to the missing of the target identified in the preceding section 33 report.