Scotland meets climate change targets for first time
(35 minutes later)
Scotland's latest greenhouse gas emission figures are to be published by the Scottish government.
Scotland has met its annual climate change target for the first time since they were set in 2010.
The figures are widely expected to show that the country has met its annual climate change target for the first time since they were set in 2010.
The Scottish government has also exceeded a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 42% by 2020.
The Scottish government wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 42% by 2020, and 80% by 2050.
New statistics showed a reduction of 45.8% had been achieved by 2014.
It has also set "world-leading" annual emissions targets for every year until 2020.
Scotland's "world-leading" annual emissions targets have never previously been met but the UN climate change secretary has praised Scotland's progress as "exemplary".
These targets have never been met - but the UN climate change secretary praised Scotland's progress on climate change as "exemplary" in March of this year.
'Good progress'
Christiana Figueres told BBC Scotland that she was impressed by the pace of change, and described the reduction in emissions since 1990 as "quite impressive".
Also in March, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) - which advises the Scottish government - said Scotland must accelerate efforts to reduce carbon emissions if it was to remain an example to the rest of the UK.
The CCC said changes to the EU's emissions trading system would have the effect of making Scotland's targets for 2014-2016 easier to meet.
But it said the country had "made good progress in reducing its emissions to date".
Environmental campaigners have called for the Scottish government to consider a 56% reduction in emissions by 2020 as an updated target in its forthcoming climate change bill.
'Sustainable transport'
Speaking ahead of the publication of latest figures, which will cover 2014, Scottish Labour's Claudia Beamish it was a "great relief that the the Scottish government looks finally to have met its targets after four years of failure", but warned against complacency.
And Mark Ruskell of the Scottish Greens said the country had not yet seen "transformational policy and investment in energy efficient homes and sustainable transport."
Figures published last year - which covered 2013 - showed Scottish greenhouse gas emissions had fallen by 3.6% since 2012, to 53 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (MtCO2e).
This meant there had been a a 34.3% reduction in emissions since 1990 - the baseline against which the targets are set.
The baseline was adjusted after it was discovered Scotland produced more greenhouse gases in 1990 than had previously been thought.
Using the unadjusted figure, the country would have achieved a 38.4% reduction in emissions.
The Scottish government will give a ministerial statement on greenhouse gas emissions at around 14:40, watch it live at Holyrood Live.
