Thank you for your email asking me to sign the ISDS Risk to Climate Action motion.
Scottish Labour and I are fully committed to Scotland achieving its 2040 climate change targets and I fully agree that bold and ambitious policies are needed to do this.
The Energy Charter Treaty is indeed outdated and needs overhauled to prioritise the climate by ending protections given for fossil fuel companies and ensuring that urgent climate action can be taken by Governments.
Achieving a rapid global transition to net zero and delivering energy security both require international cooperation and countries working together. I believe that the best way to deliver this is through fundamental reform of the Energy Charter Treaty as a matter of priority, and the UK must show global leadership by being at the forefront of the reform efforts.
The climate crisis cannot be tackled without global cooperation and agreements such as the Energy Charter Treaty can provide opportunities for us to work together towards our common goal of a just transition to net zero.
You may be interested to read Scottish Labour’s own Climate Recovery Plan, which can be found here. It is an ambitious statement of our intent to address the drivers of climate change in Scotland, with many of the commitments matching recommendations made by the Climate Assembly.
Thank you again for contacting me.