FOSSIL FULL FORCE

Nats hold 300 meetings with industry in the four years since they told the world they were committed to climate action | Critics blast First Minister for giving a hearing to lobbyists for lower taxes as third of Scots households feel the pinch

- BY DAN VEVERS Chief Reporter

FOSSIL fuel industry lobbying of the Scottish Government has exploded in the four years since the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, the Sunday Mail can reveal.

Representatives for the oil and gas industry have held more than 300 meetings with SNP ministers - about 80 meetings a year on average, or more than six per month.

That marks a trebling of the rate of lobbying activity compared with the four years prior to the UN conference in late 2021, which committed nations to curbing fossil fuels for the first time.

But in the years since, global climate efforts have stalled amid the reelection of US president Donald Trump and record expansion of oil, gas and coal.

In Scotland, it comes as First Minister John Swinney is accused of backtracking on key climate pledges including around drilling in the North Sea.

A draft Energy Strategy published in January 2023 under Nicola Sturgeon set out plans for a "presumption against" new projects - but a final version of the document never appeared.

Meanwhile, a delayed Climate Change Plan finally published last week was slammed for being too timid.

Swinney - who our investigation found held meetings with BP and Shell execs within a fortnight of taking office in May last year - has also refused to come out against the controversial Rosebank scheme off Shetland.

The UK's largest untapped oil field, Rosebank is currently at the centre of a court battle to decide if it goes ahead. The scheme was opposed by both Sturgeon and her immediate successor Humza Yousaf.

Meanwhile, senior SNP figures such as Westminster chief Stephen Flynn are backing calls by North Sea giants to scrap the UK's windfall tax on energy firm profits.