Scottish emissions are falling faster than UK average, but more work needed to tackle transport and agriculture emissions
Scotland is leading the way on UK climate action, with emissions falling at a faster rate north of the border than the rest of country according to new analysis released yesterday by the government's climate watchdog, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC).
The CCC reports that Scotland met its 2014 annual greenhouse gas reduction target, with gross emissions - including international aviation and shipping - falling by 8.6 per cent in 2014. In comparison, total emissions for the UK fell by 7.3 per cent.
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It is a continuation of a trend - over the past 30 years emissions in Scotland have fallen by nearly 40 per cent, compared to just under 33 per cent for the UK. According to the CCC, this is down to Scotland's enthusiastic rollout of renewable electricity generation, coupled with "excellent progress" on community energy schemes and a "well developed" energy efficiency policy.
The committee also praised Scottish efforts to cut food waste and introduce a nationwide circular economy strategy to improve resource efficiency.
"Scotland continues to lead the UK both in performance and ambition when it comes to tackling climate change," Lord Deben, chair of the CCC, said in a statement. "Emissions are reducing and the latest targets have been hit."
However, the CCC warned much more work is needed if Scotland is to meet its climate targets in the coming years. Emissions reductions to date have relied heavily on reductions in coal use and the increase of renewable electricity generation, with slow progress on renewable heat, cleaner transport and changes to agriculture and land use, it said.
Later this year the Scottish government is due to release its updated Climate Change Plan, and the CCC is urging the government to include clear, measurable objectives to ensure progress is made in these problem areas.
Both the UK and its devolved nations are working towards cutting emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 - a target believed to be broadly in line with the goal of limiting global temperature rise to two degrees.
But the Paris Agreement in December, which saw the UK commit alongside more than 190 other countries to limiting warming to "well below" two degrees, will require greater ambition. The CCC plans to report on its implications for UK climate policy this autumn.
The report follows warnings from MPs on Parliament's Energy and Climate Change Select Committee that the UK is set to miss a legally binding EU target to generate 15 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.
The report shows that while the UK is three-quarters of the way towards its 30 per cent electricity sub-target and is expected to exceed it by 2020, it is not yet halfway towards 12 per cent heat target and the proportion of renewable energy used in transport actually fell last year.
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