Labour say Alex Salmond ‘duped’ Al Gore on CO2 emissions

ALEX Salmond has been accused of misleading the former US vice president Al Gore and accepting an international award under false pretences after exaggerating the Scottish Government’s achievements on cutting carbon emissions.

The First Minister was praised by Gore at an environmental conference earlier this year for the Scottish Government’s efforts in tackling climate change. Salmond has claimed the Climate Challenge Fund set up by the government has cut carbon emissions in Scotland by 700,000 tonnes.

However, a freedom of information request to the Scottish Government has revealed that only 125,866 tonnes of CO2 emissions have been cut by the fund, five times less than the amount claimed.

Bob Irvine, the deputy director for Climate Challenge, was asked if any calculation had been made to identify the total reductions in CO2 emissions achieved by all the projects combined, who received CCF funding between 2008-2011. He said: “I can confirm that community groups estimate that having completed their CCF funded projects they have reduced their CO2 emissions by 125,866 tonnes.”

The figures appear to contradict those used in a speech the First Minister made to the Scottish Low Carbon Investment Conference in September 2010, attended by Al Gore. He told delegates: “Our Climate Challenge Fund has helped some 250 communities across Scotland reduce their emissions, saving an estimated 700,000 tonnes of CO2.” The figure was also cited in a government leaflet and published on its website.

The First Minister also recently accepted a prestigious international climate change award on the basis of the Government’s ambitious environmental policy.

Labour’s environmental spokesperson Sarah Boyack accused Salmond of “duping” Gore and taking the prestigious international climate change award on the basis of “bogus claims”. She said: “Alex Salmond has been caught out misleading not just Al Gore but the people of Scotland yet again. He has made overblown claims for the success of his Climate Change Fund, claims that are completely repudiated by the Scottish Government official running the scheme.”

Last night a Scottish Government spokesman said: “These claims are just plain wrong – Labour are comparing two different things. One of the figures they quote refers to the total carbon savings from the CCF once all projects are completed, and the other refers to the savings up to the date of the Freedom of Information request.