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3. PROGRESS ON REDUCING EMISSIONS IN SCOTLAND
Following the format of the first annual report on Scotland's Climate Change Programme a series of sectoral route maps have been used to outline policy developments over the past year. These are attached in Appendix A. The main developments for each sector are outlined below.
3.1 Energy
There have been a number of new commitments relating to renewable energy, energy efficiency and microgeneration following the change of administration in 2007. A new target for 50% of whole electricity demand to be met from renewables generation in Scotland by 2020 was announced in November 2007, with an interim target of 31% by 2011. This reflects Scotland's large potential in renewable energy, particularly in marine and wind energy. Plans to position Scotland as a European leader in Green Energy through the establishment of a Scottish European Green Energy Centre designed to promote the dissemination and deployment of green energy technologies were announced by the First Minister in Aberdeen in February 2008.
A new £10 million Saltire prize was launched by the First Minister in April 2008. This is the world's largest ever single prize for innovation in marine renewables and will help put Scotland on the map as a world leader in promoting clean, green energy. Changes to the Renewables Obligation (Scotland) ( ROS) have also been proposed to ensure that support under ROS is targeted appropriately and to encourage emerging technologies such as wave and tidal power.
A summary report on responses to the Energy Efficiency and Microgeneration Strategy consultation is due for publication in the spring. This will give the Government's response to the consultation and outline our next steps. A Renewable Heat Strategy is also due to be published later this year. A commitment to triple funding for community and microgeneration was made in the Spending Review which means £13.5 million each year over the next 3 years will be made available. Moves have also been made to make the process of installing microgeneration easier. A consultation on permitted development rights was issued in March 2008 and changes to legislation are planned for summer 2008.
Scottish Ministers convened an international expert panel to advise on a low carbon building standards strategy for Scotland. The resulting 'Sullivan report' was published in December 2007 and the recommendations are now being considered by Ministers.
Energy supply itself remains a reserved issue for UK Government therefore the UK Energy Bill introduced in Westminster in January 2008 is likely to have implications for emissions in Scotland as well as the rest of the UK.
3.2 Transport
Delivering carbon savings is a central feature of Scotland's National Transport Strategy ( NTS). The Strategy is based around three key strategic outcomes i.e. improved journey times and connections, reduced emissions and improved quality, accessibility and affordability. A National Transport Strategy delivery plan will be published in 2008 which will set out actions the Scottish Government is taking to deliver the commitments in the NTS.
The Regional Travel Partnerships continue to play an important role in implementing travel plan strategies across Scotland. Work on a number of initiatives to improve public transport has also taken place in the past year including expanding rail capacity at Edinburgh Waverley, development of electrification of the rail network and expansion of park and ride facilities in several parts of the country.
A new initiative to encourage sustainable travel was launched in March 2008. ' Smarter Choices, Smarter Places' invites local authorities to submit bids to increase active travel and public transport use in their areas and demonstrate the positive impacts this can have in relation to reducing carbon emissions and improving health.
Transport remains one of the toughest challenges in terms of emission reductions in Scotland. Many of the levers that are most likely to reduce transport emissions are reserved to UK Government e.g. vehicle taxation and fuel duty or to EU level e.g. product standards and emissions trading. Decisions on transport infrastructure are closely linked to other policy areas such as housing and regeneration and need to be viewed in that context. However, it is imperative that the overall emissions from this sector are driven down from their current levels.
The National Transport Strategy ( NTS) committed to developing a Carbon Balance Sheet for Transport in Scotland. This will be used as a tool to monitor and review progress towards the strategic outcome of 'reduced emissions'. The balance sheet will be a monitoring tool showing the greenhouse gas emissions of the Scottish transport sector over time and explaining which transport policies and projects have had, or will have, the most significant influence on changes in carbon emission levels. Policies/projects will be split between those that are devolved, are UK policy and are EU policy.
3.3 Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use
This sector differs from others as it can act as a carbon sink as well as a source of emissions. Scotland's high proportion of organic soils mean that the impact of land use change can be much more significant than in other parts of the UK in terms of carbon emissions. Important soil research was commissioned to explore this complex dynamic resulting in publication of the 'Ecosse' report in March 2007. 16
Farming practices and food production have become increasingly topical issues and supermarkets have become more aware that customers want to know where and how their food is grown. The Scottish Government launched a national discussion on food policy in January 2008 which encouraged comments on many issues including the carbon impact of food.
Tackling climate change is a key outcome for Scotland's Rural Development Programme ( SRDP). The SRDP was approved by Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, in May 2007 together with a major package of funding for 2007-2013. A major milestone for implementation was achieved on 23 January 2008 when the European Commission's Rural Development Committee recommended the SRDP for approval. This has now been ratified by a formal announcement.
An Agriculture and Climate Change Stakeholder Group has been working on a number of areas since its inception in 2006 and is due to report shortly.
The Forestry sector has made good progress towards tackling carbon emissions in Scotland in the past year. In 2007 the annual carbon savings from forestry were some 0.4MtC, this being in line with the trajectory to meet the 2010 target of 0.6MtC. In February 2008 Forestry Commission Scotland began a public consultation on its draft Climate Change Action Plan for Scottish forestry. The draft plan includes measures such as protecting and managing existing forests, creating new woodland and promoting the use of sustainably produced wood for energy and construction. The final action plan is due for publication later in the year.
3.4 Business
The EU Emissions Trading Scheme ( ETS), which is mandatory for energy-intensive industries, covers almost 50% of Scotland's CO 2 emissions and helps deliver emissions reductions where it is most cost effective. A report on activity in 2007 will be available around May 2008. Phase II of the ETS commenced in January 2008 and will last 5 years.
The existing UK Emissions Trading Scheme will be replaced by a new mandatory scheme - the Carbon Reduction Commitment from 2010. This new domestic trading scheme will seek to cut carbon emissions from large non-energy-intensive commercial and public sector organisations such as supermarkets, hotel chains, government departments and large local authorities.
Energy efficiency and microgeneration also have a key role to play in reducing business emissions. The Scottish Government continues to provide support to the Carbon Trust, Envirowise and the Energy Saving Trust all of which provide advice and support to businesses to help them reduce emissions.
The Climate Change Business Delivery Group was set up in June 2007 to provide leadership to Scotland's business community to inspire them to do more to reduce carbon emissions and share best practice. As well as promoting the role of business in building a low carbon future for Scotland, all members of the Group are pledging action, and implementing, at least two significant new actions aimed at reducing their business' carbon footprint or supporting the development of low carbon products and services.
Over 80 of Scotland's top businesses met in November 2007 for the "Prince of Wales' May Day Business Summit on Climate Change" to pledge action on climate change. The Summit marked the beginning of a business-led movement for increased action on climate change. The Scottish Government was the main sponsor for the Summit, organised by Scottish Business in the Community in conjunction with the Carbon Trust (Scotland), which brought together senior industry figures across a range of sectors and regions. A further event attracting nearly 100 businesses took place in May 2008.
3.5 Residential
The Scottish Government is taking a wide range of action to improve the energy efficiency of Scotland's housing stock which will improve the comfort of our homes and help to reduce fuel bills, as well as reducing carbon emissions from the residential sector. This action includes improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions through financial incentives, providing information to householders and by setting standards.
The Scottish Government supports a range of financial incentives to encourage householders to enhance the energy efficiency of their homes. These include installation of central heating and/or insulation under our fuel poverty programmes. Support is also available for energy efficiency measures through energy companies under the obligations placed on them by the Carbon Emission Reduction Target ( CERT) scheme which commenced in April 2008. The resources potentially available under CERT are significantly greater than those that were available under its predecessor - the Energy Efficiency Commitment - and the new scheme is more clearly focussed on carbon emission reduction. Scottish Ministers have also met with senior representatives of the financial services industry to encourage them to consider the role of products such as energy efficiency loans and green mortgages which would widen the choice of financial options open to householders seeking to upgrade the energy efficiency of their home.
The Energy Saving Trust is funded by Government to provide advice to householders on a range of energy efficiency measures and has recently enhanced its operations by establishing a new Energy Saving Scotland advice network. This new network is a one stop shop for householders, providing advice on energy efficiency, renewables and transport. From autumn 2008, we will also be rolling out a new ' Home Help' service providing independent and face to face support to help households make the right choices about microgeneration.
From December 2008, a seller or their selling agent must provide, upon request, a copy Home Report to any prospective buyers. The Home Report will include three documents which are a Single Survey and Energy Report both prepared by a surveyor, and a Property Questionnaire completed by the seller. The Home Report will give both buyers and sellers better information about the condition and value of a property before offers are submitted. The Energy Report will give house buyers information on the energy efficiency of the home for the first time. It will help them make new, green choices by comparing energy costs between homes and it will provide practical advice on how to reduce carbon emissions and save on energy bills.
Revised building regulations came into effect in May 2007. These include a CO 2 emissions target for new buildings, the best levels of thermal insulation in the UK and measures such as installation of high efficiency condensing boilers for both new and replacement work. In September 2007, Scottish Ministers convened an international expert panel which produced the report " A Low Carbon Building Standards Strategy for Scotland". This report, referred to as the Sullivan Report, sets out a range of recommendations for both new and existing buildings, including housing which are being examined by Scottish Government. One of the workstreams from the report is consideration of how energy standards in building regulations can be progressively enhanced towards the aim of zero carbon new buildings.
3.6 Public Sector
All local authorities in Scotland have signed Scotland's Climate Change Declaration and committed to taking action on climate change. The Sustainable Scotland Network ( SSN), working with the Scottish Government, COSLA, Society of Local Authority Chief Executives ( SOLACE) Scotland, Improvement Service, Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research ( SNIFFER), Energy Saving Trust, Carbon Trust and UK Climate Impacts Programme, has played a key role in developing a programme of support to assist local authorities take forward the Declaration commitments over the last year.
The Central Energy Efficiency Fund provides financial support to the public sector to invest in capital equipment to achieve energy savings. This fund is a revolving loan fund so will continue to support capital investment on an ongoing basis.
The Scottish Government continues to make efforts to reduce emissions from its own operations and recognises the importance of leading by example. Work on setting a single CO 2 reduction target for Scottish Government activities is underway and it is planned to include this in the next annual report on environmental performance due towards the end of this year. The revised Scottish Government Travel Plan was published in December 2007 including a target to reduce business travel related emissions by 20% between 2005-06 and 2010-11. A 12% reduction in emissions from business travel was achieved in the year 2006-07.
The revised building regulations outlined in the residential section (see above) also apply to new non-domestic properties. Energy performance certificates will also be required for non-domestic properties and public buildings by the end of 2008.
3.7 Waste
Waste management itself contributes a relatively small part to Scotland's climate change emissions (around 2.5% CO 2 equivalent). However, the production and consumption of goods has a much higher carbon footprint e.g. in terms of energy use, transportation of goods etc and waste should therefore be viewed in this wider context. For example, a large fraction of our food that is produced and transported is disposed of as waste which has a significant impact on climate change emissions.
A waste summit was held in November 2007 and was attended by over 100 stakeholders. This was followed by a waste statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment in January 2008, setting out the Government's ambition to move towards a Zero Waste society. This included targets to recycle 50% of municipal waste by 2013, 60% by 2020 and 70% by 2025. Recycling rates of municipal waste are currently around 30%. A Zero Waste Think Tank has been established and tasked with providing advice to government on how to improve waste prevention, further increase recycling rates and reduce waste to landfill.
Implementation of the Household Waste Prevention Plan continues with key areas of work including food waste prevention, reducing unwanted mail, reducing packaging waste and reducing the unnecessary use of carrier bags.
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