Hyslop Welcomes Climate Change Figures Showing 2020 Targets Achieved Early

Hyslop Welcomes Climate Change Figures Showing 2020 Targets Achieved Early

Local Constituency MSP Fiona Hyslop has welcomed news that Scotland has exceeded its world leading climate change targets – six years early.

Fiona commented;

“Scotland is making outstanding progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These statistics show that we not only met the annual 2014 emissions reduction target but also exceeded the level of our world-leading 2020 target for a 42% reduction, six years ahead of schedule.

“I am well aware of the efforts my constituents and organisations like Transition Linlithgow make to tackle Climate Change at home, in school and in our local businesses, and so it’s great to see the impact this is having nationally.

“I spoke about Scotland’s dedication to tackling Climate Change in a debate on the EU Referendum at the Scottish Parliament earlier this month. With climate change one of the defining challenges of our time, there is a real need to cooperate with our neighbours and internationally, so I believe that Scotland and the UK are better off remaining in the European Union.”

ENDS

Notes:

New figures show that Scotland exceeded the 2020 target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 42% in 2014. Scotland continues to outperform the rest of the UK, with a 39.5% drop in Scottish source emissions between 1990 and 2014 compared to the UK’s 33% reduction over the same period. Scotland is one of the leading countries in Western Europe for reducing emissions.

The latest climate change statistics show Scotland’s emissions, for reporting against targets, have fallen by 12.5% year on year to 41.9 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in 2014.

This is a reduction of 45.8% from the 1990 baseline.

Scottish Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2014: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2016/06/2307