Scottish emissions fall

Emissions from places like steel factories have been cut

Greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland have reached a new low, but they remain higher than in England.

Emissions in Scotland reached 20.8 million tonnes in 1990, the base year for calculations under the agreement at the 1997 Kyoto summit on climate change.

By 1999, the Scottish figure had gone down to 20.1 million tonnes and in 2000 it went down further to 19.8 million tonnes.

But for the UK as a whole, the decline has been much higher.

Emissions UK-wide in 2001 were 12.3% down on 1990, putting Britain on course to meeting its Kyoto target of a 12.5% reduction by 2008-2012.

The figures were disclosed in recently-published statistics for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The executive's Scottish climate change programme sets out the measures that we are taking to encourage emissions reductions, but so much more can be achieved if we all work together name here

A Scottish Executive spokesman agreed the fall for England was greater than Scotland and pointed to different patterns of power generation north and south of the border.

"The reduction in England is largely attributable to the dash for gas - the move towards gas-fired power stations in the 1990s," he said.

"The energy mix in Scotland is different to England, and the UK figure as a whole is going down."

Deputy Environment Minister Allan Wilson said: "This report shows Scotland is continuing to make an important contribution to UK efforts to tackle climate change."

He went on: "However we cannot be complacent, and we will need to keep up the momentum if Scotland is to play its full part in efforts to halt the potential devastating effects of climate change.

Greens dispute claims

"The executive's Scottish climate change programme sets out the measures that we are taking to encourage emissions reductions, but so much more can be achieved if we all work together."

The Scottish Greens said the reduction in greenhouse gases in Scotland was due to the closure of heavy industry and could not be attributed to any campaign by the Scottish Executive to cut the emissions.

Chris Balance MSP said: "The executive cannot give itself a pat on the back for this news.

"While we are manufacturing more fuel-efficient cars today, there are many more and larger private vehicles on the road than there were ten years ago, and we are making many more journeys."