(S4O-00687) Emissions Reductions (2020 Target)

Neil Bibby (West Scotland) (Lab): 9. To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making in meeting its targets for reducing emissions by 2020. (S4O-00687)

The Minister for Environment and Climate Change (Stewart Stevenson):
The latest available data shows that in 2009 Scotland’s emissions had fallen by two thirds of the target from 1990, ahead of the targets for 2010, 2011 and 2012.

In March 2011, the Government published its first statutory report on proposals and policies. We plan to publish a second report on proposals and policies in 2012, which will set out the path for delivery of the emissions reduction targets from 2023 to 2027. We will refine the policies that were detailed in the first RPP and continue to develop proposals.

Neil Bibby: The minister will be aware of the report by the independent Committee on Climate Change, which questions whether those targets will be met and points out that it is likely that emissions rose in 2010. What effect will the recent progress report from the Committee on Climate Change have on the Scottish Government’s future policies and proposals?

Stewart Stevenson: We had a very encouraging report from the committee, which highlighted what we already knew about the nature of the challenges. One thing that has happened in the recent past is particularly relevant to Scotland. At Durban we got an agreement that the Kyoto protocol would change in respect of peatlands, so we will now be able to incorporate in our numbers our work on rewetting peatlands, including any work that has taken place since 1990. Given that we have a huge proportion of Europe’s peatlands and are already investing money in rewetting peatlands in the north of Scotland, that is a very helpful addition to the range of interventions that we have and which we can take credit for.