Scotland Not on Track to Meeting Emissions Target

According to ministers, the emissions cuts from cars, homes and farming are key if Scotland wants any chance of meeting its target of a 42 percent reduction in carbon emissions. These Scottish ministers go on to warn that they need to aggressively target these key features.

The Committee on Climate Change, which is chaired by Lord Adair, has told Alex Salmond’s nationalist government it needs to show much greater political will and leadership if Scotland has any chance of building a low carbon economy by 2020. In a report that was released yesterday, the committee complimented the devolved government for setting ambitious targets. They were happy to see that these targets were even tougher than what was set by the UK government, which wants to have a 34 percent cut in emissions by 2020.

The UK government has recently promised to increase its goal to around 42 percent if a global climate deal was agreed upon. However, unlike Scotland, it does refuse to include aviation and shipping in its calculations.

An influential umbrella group of more than 60 environment groups, Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, said that the committee’s conclusions would increase pressure on UK ministers to set a similar and binding target. The group’s chair, Mike Robinson, said that this is a great opportunity for the UK government to be ahead of the curve and show some leadership on this issue. He said that the whole world needs more ambitious targets.

Overall, in terms of reaching its goal, Scotland is not on track. If Scotland wants to be able to reach its 42 percent reduction in carbon emissions, then more has to be done.