They demand radically more ambitious targets to halt climate change

Extinction Rebellion activists chained themselves to the Scottish Parliament yesterday protesting against climate change targets.

The five protesters, who chained their necks to the front of the parliament building, said current targets for net zero emissions by 2045 are nowhere near ambitious enough.

One of the protesters, Ellie Harris, 21, said: "The Climate Bill, as it stands, is entirely inadequate and we want MSPs to come up with radical amendments."

"We just want them to lower their (2045) target drastically. We want them to say they are going to have net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 because if they don't then there's going to be catastrophic damage for everyone on the planet."

They were met by politicians from the Green Party, SNP, Labour and Lib Dem parties who unlocked them.

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said: “"People are recognising the position the world is in is perilous and if we'd started the urgent action that's necessary 40 years ago it might have been easy, but now we're on the verge of a crisis.

"Unless we act with incredible urgency we're not going to hand on a planet that is liveable for the next generation."

A report by the Committee on Climate Change recommended that the UK should aim to be net-zero by 2050, with Scotland proposing a target for doing so five years earlier.