‘Baby box children may never drive petrol cars’

Scotland’s “baby box generation” may never drive conventional petrol or diesel cars, the First Minister said, as she spoke out about the “moral imperative” to tackle climate change.

Nicola Sturgeon was also clear though that efforts to make Scotland go greener also presented a “major economic opportunity” for the country.

She used a speech in Iceland to highlight the close links between Scotland and the Nordic countries pointing out the baby box of infant products now being given free to new parents north of the border was based on a similar scheme in Finland.

And with advances in technology, coupled with the Scottish Government’s ambition to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles from 2032 onwards, she said the youngsters currently benefiting from baby boxes may never drive this type of vehicle.

The First Minister said: “We see tackling climate change, first and foremost, as an overwhelming moral imperative. However we also see it as a major economic opportunity.”

Speaking at the Arctic Circle Assembly, she stressed her government’s determination to play its part in global efforts to tackle climate change, saying renewables now generated more than half of the electricity used in Scotland.