Taxpayers have been hit with a £27,000 bill after the Scottish Government failed to hire a net zero tsar.
A recruitment process for a new eco chief led to no-one being appointed to the £122,000 a year post.
Labour MSP Monica Lennon said: “Blowing this amount of public money is incompetent.”
The SNP /Green Government, which has made combating climate change a top priority, has vowed to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2045.
They last year advertised for two Director General posts - one for Net Zero and the other for the Economy.
The net zero role was hailed as an “outstanding opportunity” for leading 4,000 staff and being responsible for a £5.4bn budget.
Applications had to be in by the end of July last year, with shortlisting scheduled for mid-August, followed by assessments and a final panel in September.
However, a report by the Audit Scotland watchdog revealed the Government had been “unsuccessful” in finding “appointable” candidates for either role.
Figures released by the Government show the recruitment process for both director general posts cost the public purse £27,219.
This covered executive search, advertising and assessment centre costs.
The Government was criticised in June after again missing its target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Figures for 2019 show a fall of 51.5% against the baseline, short of the 55% target.
Lennon said: “All eyes were on Scotland last year with Glasgow staging the COP26 climate summit.
“We should have been able to attract the best talent and I hope the Scottish Government’s missed climate targets are not a deterrent.”
“The next year is critical for climate action and people across Scotland need to see SNP ministers starting to deliver on their promises.”
Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur said: “In the midst of a climate emergency, the SNP government’s inability to fill such a key role is more than a little embarrassing.
“That this failure has come at no small cost to the taxpayer only makes matters worse.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The specialist nature of this role limits the potential candidate pool, and as such an investment was made to identify and attract suitable candidates.
“The recruitment panel agreed against appointment at this time and further decisions about filling the role will be made by the new Permanent Secretary later this year.”
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