THERE has been an “alarming” rise in Scotland’s carbon footprint for the first time in six years, with the biggest jump coming from imported goods, new figures have shown.
The Scottish Government released new statistics which analysed the country’s greenhouse gas emissions between 1998 and 2018 and the drivers behind it.
The report showed that emissions from imported goods are now greater than the rest of Scotland’s emissions combined.
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The carbon footprint measures the greenhouse gas emissions from all the goods and services consumed in Scotland in the space of a year.
Scotland’s Net Zero targets only include greenhouse gases emitted in Scotland, which means emissions from imports are excluded from national climate targets.
Overall, Scotland’s carbon footprint in 2018 rose to 70.4 MtCO2e, up from 68.7 in 2018.
Environmental campaigners have said the upcoming Circular Economy Bill is key to turning this around.
In a circular economy, products are reused or repurposed rather than throwing them away after one use.
In the report, MtCO2e (metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent) is used to measure the levels of emissions.
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When the components driving Scotland’s carbon footprint are divided into three categories - UK goods and services, imported goods and services and household emissions - products from abroad have a much higher impact.
If this is analysed between 1998 and 2018, it’s clear that imported products have generally had a bigger carbon footprint, and that there is a slight uptick between 2017 and 2018 from 35.3 MtCO2e to 36.6.
UK produced services and goods also had a slight growth in emissions from 21.1 MtCO2e in 2017 to 21.4 in 2018.
Kim Pratt, circular economy campaigner at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “The rise in Scotland’s carbon footprint is alarming.
“By only looking at the emissions produced at home, we are ignoring the greatest part of our carbon footprint and failing to play our full role in tackling the climate crisis.
“The climate emergency doesn’t recognise any borders, and by outsourcing the emissions from imports to other countries, the Scottish Government is shirking its responsibility.
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“The Scottish Government can reverse the rise in emissions by putting strong consumption targets at the heart of its newly announced Circular Economy Bill - this is the only way to ensure that Scotland reduces its global environmental impact.”
The report also sets out the levels of emissions from each country of import over time. Imports from China reached their peak in 2007 and have been on a downward trend since, whilst similarly imports from the European Union peaked in 2002 and have fluctuated, but started to rise again in 2018.
The figures evidently do not show the impact of Brexit, or the carbon footprint impact of the trade deals the UK Government have signed with Australia and New Zealand.
Fabrice Leveque, climate and energy policy manager at WWF, said: “There is no sugar coating the fact that this report is a difficult read, but it’s vital we use it as a rallying cry, as preventing every fraction of a degree of warming really matters.
“The recent storms that have battered Scotland, and the rest of the UK, are a warning of what may be in store if we fail to play our part in limiting global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees.
“How we produce our food and farm our land is also going to be crucial to locking in carbon in the future, so it’s vital we take the opportunity now to transform our rural support system to make sure it delivers for climate, nature and communities.”
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A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “These are historical figures, covering emissions during 2018, and we have already stepped up our action.
"Our updated Climate Change Plan sets out new and strengthened policies to reduce emissions and next year’s Scottish budget includes record levels of investment to support a just transition to net zero.
“Alongside our forthcoming Circular Economy Bill, these actions will help reduce Scotland’s carbon footprint.”
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