Limits on the amount of greenhouse gases Scotland will emit over
the coming decades have been announced as part of action to
tackle climate change.
The Carbon Budgets propose five-year, statutory limits on
emissions from 2026 to 2045. The proposed budgets are in line
with the advice from the independent Climate Change Committee
(CCC) and the Scottish Government's own assessments.
The average level of emissions for Scotland over each five-year
period are:
- 57% lower than 1990 levels for 2026 - 2030
- 69% lower than 1990 levels for 2031- 2035
- 80% lower than 1990 levels for 2036 - 2040
- 94% lower than 1990 levels for 2041 - 2045
The proposals will be scrutinised by Parliament before being
voted on in the autumn.
Once the Carbon Budgets have been agreed, the Scottish Government
will publish and consult on a new draft Climate Change Plan
outlining the specific actions required to reduce emissions so as
to meet each of the first three carbon budget targets, as well as
setting out the associated costs and benefits.
Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy said:
“Scotland is now halfway to our 2045 climate change target and is
ahead of the UK as a whole in reducing long term emissions.
“These Carbon Budgets will set clear limits on emissions for the
coming decades in line with the independent advice of the UK
Climate Change Committee.
“When we publish our draft Climate Change Plan later this year,
it will set out the policies needed to continue to reduce our
emissions and meet our first three carbon budget targets.
“It will not ask the impossible of people. We will not sacrifice
people's health or wealth.
“While we welcome the UK CCC's advice on how to stay within these
limits, as they make clear, it is always for Scotland to decide
whether those policies are right for us.
“This means, for example, that we will chart our own path on
forestry, going further than the CCC suggest. And, to ensure we
protect rural communities and have a thriving rural economy, we
will not adopt all their recommendations on agriculture and
peatland and will instead meet our targets in a way which works
for rural Scotland, including supporting and protecting our
iconic livestock industries.
“These Carbon Budgets keep Scotland at the forefront of efforts
to protect the planet and our Climate Change Plan will ensure the
action we take is fair, ambitious and capable of rising to the
emergency before us.”
Background
Carbon budgets provide a reliable and consistent framework to
measure progress to net zero and are used by other countries
including Japan, France, England and Wales. They are less prone
to fluctuations than the Scottish Government's previous approach
of interim and annual targets, which could be affected by annual
variations such as unseasonable weather or a global pandemic.
Each carbon budget period will run from 1 January of the start
year to 31 December of the final year.
The budgets would continue to include emissions from
international aviation and shipping, and there are no provisions
to ‘carry over' emissions from one carbon budget period to the
next.
Carbon budget breakdown totals:
- 175 mega tonne 2026 – 2030
- 126 mega tonne 2031- 2035
- 81 mega tonne 2036 - 2040
- 24 mega tonne 2040 - 2045
