THE Committee on Climate Change slated the Scottish government yesterday for its “concerning” plans to cut climate spending by almost 10 per cent.

Members of the independent board, set up to advise both the British government and devolved administrations, met in Edinburgh yesterday to share evidence.

Committee member Professor Jim Skea said that the budget cut was coming in capital expenditure on energy infrastructure, but added “we don’t have enough information on what actually lies underneath that and that’s one set of questions which we will be asking.”

However, the Scottish Greens said the planned cuts were a “concern” in the wake of the global deal on climate change in Paris.Green economy and energy spokesman Patrick Harvie slammed the SNP two weeks ago for “happily spending extra millions on motorways and a consultation on fracking and backing the maximum extraction of North Sea oil and gas” while failing to invest in green jobs and failing to take adequate action to prioritise energy efficient housing. 

World Wide Fund for Nature Scotland head of policy Dr Sam Gardner called on the committee to “carefully scrutinise” the proposed cuts.

“The Scottish government has repeatedly said that it intends to ‘embed’ climate change throughout this budget but so far we’ve seen no evidence of this,” he said.

But climate change minister Dr Aileen McLeod riposted: “The Scottish government remains absolutely committed to continuing action to tackle climate change, with a £13.3 million overall increase in the 2016-17 draft budget across other areas.”