The News Green News Scottish government first to set carbon assessment alongside budget
21 September 2009
The Scottish government is the first administration in the world to produce a carbon assessment alongside its forthcoming budget.
Finance Secretary John Swinney has published the government's first Carbon Assessment of the Budget for 2010-2011 together with the draft economic budget.
Last week, the UK government produced departmental figures showing how those departments had made individual reductions on their carbon footprints through the use of green IT processes. But they were retrospective figures for the past year.
The Scottish government assessment shows it expects spending on hospitals, roads, schools, local government and other core services to result in 11.5m tonnes of carbon emissions.
Swinney said, "By publishing our Carbon Assessment of the Budget we are taking a significant, and to some extent experimental, step towards recognising carbon implications in the budget process.."
The Scottish government is aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 42% by 2020 when compared to 1990 figures.
Last month, the Scottish government also published plans to ban recyclable materials from entering landfill sites.
Last Updated (21 September 2009)
