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Scottish greenhouse gas emission figures due Scotland misses greenhouse emission target
(about 11 hours later)
Details of Scotland's greenhouse gas emissions for 2013 are due to be published. Scotland has failed to meet its climate change target for the fourth year in a row, latest figures have revealed.
The figures are widely expected to show that the country has missed its climate change targets for the fourth year in a row. Scottish greenhouse gas emissions fell by 3.6% between 2012 and 2013 to 53 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (MtCO2e).
The Climate Change (Scotland) Act requires a minimum 42% cut in emissions by 2020 and 80% by 2050.The Climate Change (Scotland) Act requires a minimum 42% cut in emissions by 2020 and 80% by 2050.
Rigorous annual targets for greenhouse gas emission have also been in place since 2010 but have never been met. The Scottish government said it is now more than three quarters on the way to achieving this target.
The Scottish greenhouse gas inventory figures for 2012 showed emissions rose by 400,000 tonnes despite a projected drop of 178,000.
The target for 2013 would require a massive drop of eight million tonnes, according to the Scottish Greens, who have argued that Scotland is failing to pursue policies that would get emissions down.
Scotland has set what have been described as "world-leading targets" for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
'On track''On track'
On Sunday, Scottish Climate Change Minister Aileen McLeod said she had written to her new UK counterpart Amber Rudd complaining that "Scotland is paying the price for the UK's lack of climate ambition". There has been a 34.3% reduction in emissions since 1990.
Ms McLeod insisted Scotland remained "on track to meet our world-leading target of a 42% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020". Climate change minister Aileen McLeod said the figures show Scotland continues to outperform the rest of the UK as a whole.
And she said the country was "punching above our weight in the international effort to tackle climate change" by outperforming the UK as a whole and the EU average for emissions reduction between 1990 and 2012. And she said the government would have met its goal if there had not been increases to the baseline target.
A spokeswoman for the UK's Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said there was "absolutely no lack of ambition" in tackling climate change from the UK. She said: "Today's figures show that if it had not been for successive increase to the baseline since the targets were established, Scotland would have met, and exceeded, our target for this year - and the three previous years too.
Prof Jim Skea, a member of the Committee on Climate Change which advises the Scottish government on its targets, believes that Scotland has been leading the way in reducing emissions compared to the rest of the UK. "Of course, if our targets were easy to achieve they would not be ambitious enough. And these are the level the international community needs to meet if the international community needs to meet if the international climate treaty to be agreed in Paris later this year is to stand a good chance of limiting global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius."
He told the BBC's Sunday Politics Scotland programme: "If you divide where Scotland is now versus where it was in 1990 it is actually among the world leaders. That is unambiguous. Trading targets
"The difficulty is that Scotland has set itself more ambitious targets than many other countries, therefore it is a tougher job to actually hit them". Two sets of figures were released in relation to Scotland's climate change emissions.
Scotland fares better by the adjusted figures, which are being headlined by the Scottish government. This is when the EU Emissions Trading System is taken into account - an agreement where energy intensive plants across the EU can buy and sell permits to emit carbon dioxide.
The adjusted figures show emissions fell by 14% between 2012 and 2013 to 49.7 MtCO2e, a 38.4% drop since 1990.
This compares to source figures which show a 3.6% drop in 2013 to 53 MtCO2e , a 34.3% drop since 1990.
The legally binding target of achieving a 42% reduction in emissions by 2020 is calculated using the adjusted figure.
But the Scottish Greens said ministers are failing to pursue policies to reduce emissions.
Co-convener of the party Patrick Harvie MSP said: "The Scottish government has had since 2009 to put in place policies to live up to our much-heralded climate change targets, and they have failed spectacularly. Since the Act was passed we have put nearly ten million tonnes more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than the targets allow - demonstrating a staggering lack of ambition by this government.
"Scotland has a clear opportunity to be a greener and fairer country, and there is a wide range of voices growing hoarse calling for a speedier transition to the low-carbon economy we know we can enjoy."
The Scottish Liberal Democrats said Scottish government claims to be on course to meet its targets are "laughable".
Jim Hume MSP said: "SNP Ministers talk up their commitment to the environment but the hard truth is that Scotland's emission reductions targets have never been met. Unless we see real concrete action to cut carbon, warm words from the SNP are nothing more than hot air."
Climate change campaigners also called on the Scottish government to do more.
Tom Ballantine, chair of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland said: "Today's figures are disappointing but show that the target was within reach.
"To ensure Scotland meets all of its targets going forward the Scottish government needs to announce significant new policies. Greater action on climate change will let us build a healthier, fairer society and a stronger economy."