Scotland's carbon footprint is increasing as SNP's 'meagre' climate action under fire
Scotland’s Climate Action Secretary has admitted that progress in cutting emissions has been too slow.
Scotland’s carbon footprint has increased for the second straight year as SNP ministers are under fire for “meagre” progress in cutting climate emissions.
The new statistics have been revealed, despite John Swinney placing tackling climate change as one of his top four priorities in government.
But targets have been revised and policies cancelled and stalled - as the SNP government faces criticism for a lack of action.
The Scottish government’s flagship 2030 target to cut emissions by 75 per cent was scrapped after ministers admitted it was no longer possible to achieve. Scotland’s legal target to reach net zero by 2045 remains in place.
Newly published statistics have revealed that between 2021 and 2022, the last available years, Scotland’s carbon footprint increased by 1.6 per cent from 60m tonnes to 61m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Separate statistics show that in 2024, net emissions for seven greenhouse gases reduced by just 0.4m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, a marginal decline of just 1 per cent.
While emissions were down 50.5 per cent on 1990 levels, the Scottish government previously had a target of a 59.1 per cent on 1990 levels, which was scrapped after progress consistently fell off track.
The statistics show that between 2023 and 2024, emissions for domestic transport, buildings and product uses and international aviation and shipping all increased marginally.
Speaking at Holyrood, SNP Climate Action Secretary, Gillian Martin, admitted that a 1 per cent reduction in emissions showed “disappointing results”, acknowledging that progress “is not what it should be”.
“We should be accelerating faster”, she added.
Friends of the Earth Scotland’s just transition campaigner, Catrina Randall, said: “These missed targets to cut climate pollution are missed opportunities to help improve lives for people in Scotland.
“They mean ministers have failed to help more people move around by public transport and failed to fix homes so that they aren’t leaking energy and costing a fortune in bills.
“A meagre 1 per cent change makes clear that the Scottish government has not been treating dangerous planetary heating with either the urgency or the energy it requires.”
Jamie Livingstone, head of Oxfam Scotland, said: “Scotland’s rising consumption emissions are a warning light the Scottish government can no longer ignore.
“Scotland cannot claim credit for marginally reducing overall emissions generated here while the pollution linked to the goods and services we consume from overseas continues to head in entirely the wrong direction. We would be cutting overall emissions far faster if we got a grip on consumption too.
“This new Parliament must mark the end of climate delay and drift. Scotland needs bold action to cut emissions fairly wherever they are produced, while investing in greener, warmer homes, clean transport, and making the better off and biggest polluters pay their fair share.”
Speaking at Holyrood, Ms Martin said: “Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by more than half since 1990, and these latest figures show that trend continues, with a one per cent drop in 2024.
“While progress is being made, that transition must accelerate because climate action is not just about weather events, it is about making people’s lives better.”
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