Life, the Universe and Everthing

One thing I am now trying to do is catch up on some reading I missed during June. An example is the Scottish Government's 335 page Second Report on Proposals and Policies: Meeting the Emissions Reduction Targets. This looks at how Scotland is doing against its targets for carbon emissions and what it might have to do to meet its overall target of a 42% cut by 2020.

It was disappointing that the interim target for 2011 was missed but I have looked at the longer term, mainly because the battle on climate change is a long term fight for the survival of our modern lifestyle. Since the generally accepted base line date of 1990 the UK has done pretty well with a 25.6% cut which puts it near the top of the European champions leagues as the table below show.

.Table 1.1: How Scotland compares to other countries16

Member State	Change 1990-2011			Member State	Change 1990-2011
Austria	18.0%			Bulgaria	-38.9%
Belgium	-6.4%			Cyprus	54.5%
Denmark	-26.3%			Czech Republic	-34.4%
Finland	-22.5%			Estonia	-46.3%
France	-15.3%			Hungary	-35.3%
Germany	-22.4%			Latvia	n/a
Greece	9.3%			Lithuania	-74.0%
Ireland	4.7%			Malta	213.0%
Italy	-7.8%			Poland	-14.3%
Luxembourg	-4.5%			Romania	-54.8%
Netherlands	1.0%			Slovakia	-38.7%
Portugal	-4.1%			Slovenia	6.8%
Spain	29.2%
Sweden	-12.0%
United Kingdom	-25.6%
Average EU - 15	-12.7%			Average EU - 27	-17.1

Within the UK figure Scotland has done even better with a 29.6% cut which would put it top of the EU 15 members and only beaten by former East European economies.

SCOTLAND	-29.6%
England	-26.7%
Wales	-19.8%
Northern Ireland	-16.2%
United Kingdom	-25.6%

So how are we doing looking at the whole period from 1990. At the end of 2011 we were exactly 70% of the way through the period to 2020 and 29.6% is 70.4% of 42% which is looking good. However, the early 1990s was a period of significant de-industrialisation and we don't ether have or want that option again. We have made good progress on renewables but need to sustain that for the next seven years. The real challenges are, I believe in heat and transport with the contribution of the carbon sequestration from peatland restoration coming a close third. 

I realise that the figure of 42% is not a magic one ( despite it being the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything ) but it remains an appropriate and stretching target but one that will involve difficult decisions and challenging changes to how we live our lifestyle. It's a long road.