Press release

Scotland pledges to cut carbon by 2030

29 January 2013

Plans unveiled by the Scottish Government today (Tuesday 29 January) to decarbonise its power sector by 2030 have been welcomed by Friends of the Earth.

Friends of the Earth's Director of Policy and Campaigns Craig Bennett said:

"Scotland has stormed ahead of the rest of the UK by pledging to slash its electricity emissions by 2030.

"The big question is whether the Coalition listens to British business and its climate change advisors and adopts a UK-wide decarbonisation target.

"Will George Osborne give industry a clear signal to invest in our green economy, or will he leave England and Wales in the dark ages by sending much-needed jobs abroad?

"Right now Britain has a once-in-generation opportunity to become a world leader in clean technologies that will drive growth, tackle climate change and stabilise our rising fuel bills.

"Ministers must include a target in the Energy Bill to cut the carbon from UK power by 2030."

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. The Scottish Government today committed Scotland to cutting emissions from electricity generation by more than four-fifths to 50g CO2/kWh by 2030, as recommended by the Committee on Climate Change. First Minister Alex Salmond backed calls for a UK-wide target to decarbonise the power sector by 2030, currently missing from the Energy Bill in Parliament, warning that uncertainty over the future of the target was damaging investor confidence across the clean energy supply chain. For more information see the Scottish Government website.

2. Friends of the Earth says the plans announced today deeply lacked ambition for cutting emissions from homes and transport. For more information contact Stop Climate Chaos Coalition Scotland - 0131 317 4112.

3. Friends of the Earth's Clean British Energy campaign, backed by TV Dragons' Den's Deborah Meaden, is urging the Government to act now to fix our broken energy system by setting a target in the Energy Bill to clean up our electricity by 2030. Slashing energy waste and developing renewable power from our wind, sun and waves will tackle climate change, create thousands of UK jobs, and make our future fuel bills more predictable.

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust