Scotland pumping out even more CO2 despite vow to halve emissions

GREENHOUSE gas emissions increased in Scotland last year in spite of the government’s ambitious climate change targets, preliminary data has revealed.

Scotland’s emissions rose by 9 per cent in 2010, according to statistics from the Committee on Climate Change (CCC).

The CCC warned a “step change” was needed in implementing measures to cut emissions, if Scotland was to meet its targets, which are among the most ambitious in the world.

Environmentalists said it was “depressing” and called for more action from the Scottish Government.

Scotland has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 42 per cent by 2020, but the CCC said if current trends continue, this target will not be met.

The particularly cold winter in 2010 was largely blamed for the rise in emissions – due to an increased need for heating – as well industry beginning to pick up following the recession.

The preliminary data suggests emissions rose more in Scotland than in the UK as a whole (2 per cent), Wales (5 per cent) and Northern Ireland (7 per cent).

The authors of Meeting Carbon Budgets – 3rd Progress Report to Parliament warned that progress in cutting emissions is “less than will be required to achieve carbon budgets and national emission reduction targets”.

And they added: “It reflects relatively low implementation of energy efficiency measures, investment in renewable heat, and measures to encourage transport consumer behaviour change.

“Therefore a step change in the pace of emission reduction is still required.”

Stan Blackley, chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “We always knew that getting world-leading targets into the Scottish Climate Change Act would only be the starting point and that the real hard work would begin with the introduction and delivery of policies and proposals for meeting those targets.

“It’s depressing that we haven’t yet seen the scale of change or action required to reduce emissions and meet these targets and this shows that the Scottish and UK governments both need to up their game significantly if we are to even get close to tackling the growing problem of climate change and its negative impacts.” He added that blaming the cold weather “misses the point” and called for free insulation for all homes, saying: “If people lived in well insulated homes then they wouldn’t need to turn up the heat quite so much in winter.”

WWF Scotland’s climate policy officer, Dr Sam Gardner, said the Scottish Government needed to “match its ambition with action”. He added: “The forthcoming Scottish budget must commit to fully fund the government’s own climate plan if this rise in emissions is to be reversed.”

Up to 2008, emissions in Scotland had decreased by 21 per cent, compared to 1990 figures.

‪A Scottish Government spokesman said:‬‪“The latest published data on Scottish emissions, for 2008, shows that Scotland is already halfway towards meeting its target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 42 per cent by 2020. The delivery of all aspects of climate change policy is being considered in detail by ministers.”