Chamber and committees

So straight-line reductions are not going to work.

We will get on to costings when we look at the financial memorandum, which I am sure will come up somewhere along the line. Monica Lennon has the next set of questions.

Cornilius Chikwama, I think that Monica Lennon would like to know—[Interruption.] I am sorry—that was very rude of me. I wonder—and I wonder whether Monica would like to know—if annual reporting for local councils presents a problem for you when it comes to a five-year target.

Yes.

Douglas Lumsden has a question.

I will ask the next question. I am going to try and drag you back to the actual bits in the bill that are important.

I think that we all accept that there are huge challenges to face; in fact, the committee wrote a report about the challenges facing local government in achieving the targets, which I am sure that you have read; Claudia Cowie is nodding politely. That report highlighted many of the problems.

I will ask about a specific problem. The majority of witnesses that we have had in front of the committee have said that the Scottish carbon budget periods should align with the UK ones. The bill says that they will not. Do you agree or disagree with that majority view that they should align?

I will go right the way along the table on this one.

Aberdeenshire seems to have huge representation here today. That is good. Thank you for those declarations.

I will start with two very easy questions, and I will work along the panel, starting with Alison Leslie and ending with Claudia Cowie, so you will need to be fleet of foot, Alison, in answering them. What are your views on the existing annual targets? Have they helped local government to reduce emissions? I would like your views on whether they work.

Will five-year targets be as helpful as the annual targets?

The next agenda item is the third day of evidence taking on the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Bill, which seeks to amend the current approach to the setting of interim greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in Scotland.

I am delighted to welcome Claudia Cowie, team leader, sustainability and climate change, Aberdeenshire Council; Alison Leslie, team leader, climate and sustainability policy, Aberdeen City Council; Mike Rivington, senior scientist at the James Hutton Institute; Jamie Brogan, head of climate partnerships at the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute; and Cornilius Chikwama, audit director at Audit Scotland.

Thank you very much for taking the time to be here this morning. It was very short notice, so I appreciate the fact that you have found the time to come.

Before we move to questions, I note that the deputy convener has been held up in getting here this morning, but he will be joining us shortly. I also note that two members would like to declare interests. I invite them to do that now.

Mike, will you answer next? If you also want to delve into whether the old targets have helped us to get towards a just transition, I would be happy to hear your views on that.