Winter excuse for emissions gets a chilly reception

THE SCOTTISH Government has blamed extreme winter weather for failing to meet its ambitious greenhouse gas emissions target.

It was revealed yesterday there was a 1.9% increase in emissions in 2010 compared to the previous year.

The figure means the target set out under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act to reduce emissions year-on-year has not been achieved.

H oweve r, Scottish ministers insist the longterm trend still showed a reduction in emissions, down 24.3% since 1990, while provisional figures from the UK Department for Energy and Climate Change indicate emissions fell 7% in 2011.

Environment Minister Stewart Stevenson blamed the extremely cold winter in late 2010 for the rise in emissions.

“We always knew it would be a challenging path to follow when these were set and that yearto-year fluctuations were inevitable,” he said.

“It is, therefore, no surprise domestic heating emissions rose as a result of the extreme weather.

“Scotland faced its coldest winter temperatures in almost a century and quite rightly, people across Scotland needed to heat their homes to keep warm.

“The longer-term trend reveals Scottish greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by around a quarter since 1990, signalling we are still on track to achieve the 2020 target.

“We remain f u l ly committed to delivering our climate change targets and I am confident the underlying trend remains downward.”

However, Green MSP Patrick Harvie dismissed the explanation and demanded more action to reduce emissions.

“The Government can’t get away with expressing shock that Scotland has cold winters some years,” he said.

“This failure of Government policy can’t be pinned on bad weather when they have delayed year after year the national, street-by-street effort we need to insulate Scotland’s leaky homes.

“Cutting energy bills and carbon emissions at the same time should be a no-brainer.

“Today’s figures highlight our damaging reliance on coal and the need for a plan to phase out fossil fuel use alongside the growth in renewables.

“We need

a

clear timetable set for taking fossil fuels out of the system but the SNP are still intent on extracting every last bit they can find.

“Scotland’s transport emissions remain higher now than before climate change was even accepted.

“The SNP’s failure to show the slightest interest in making sustainable transport work for people is the biggest single threat to future progress toward the climate targets.”

Campaign group Stop Climate Chaos Scotland’s Mike Robinson added: “It is unacceptable to the thousands of people across Scotland that we have fallen short of this first test.”

Ice floes under the Tay Bridge in January 2010.