Climate Change
The government believes that there is strong scientific evidence that climate change is now happening, driven by the rapid growth in man-made greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To address this significant threat, governments around the world have committed to reduce GHG emissions over the coming years. The Kyoto Protocol was established at the Climate Change Conference in 1997 and set legally binding targets for industrialised nations to reduce emissions by 5% below 1990 levels by 2010-12. By 2005 the Protocol had been ratified by a majority of participating countries including the EU, notable exceptions being the USA and China.
In February 2007, the EU committed to reducing GHG emissions by 20% by 2020. The UK is currently agreeing its contribution to this goal, but had already set an national target to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to 20% below 1900 levels by 2010. Figures published earlier this year showed that Scotland had reduced emissions by more 15% from 1990 levels and the Scottish Government has set ambitious new targets of 50% of Scotland's electricity demand to be met by renewables by 2020. As part of its climate change policy it has implemented a number of initiatives to encourage the development of a low carbon economy, focussing mainly on energy efficiency and renewable energy.
The Scottish Government set out the range of activities and initiatives needed to tackle climate change in Changing our Ways: Scotland's Climate Change Programme, published in 2006. This report quantifies Scotland's equitable contribution to UK climate change commitments - a reduction of 1.7 million tonnes of carbon (MtC) by 2010 through devolved policies, with a target to exceed this by 1 MtC. Renewable energy is a key element in meeting this target.
The global carbon cycle
Click here to download the global carbon cycle diagram
Carbon is stored in the atmosphere, plants and soils on land, in oceanic plankton and in the ocean itself, and in fossil fuel reserves – coal, oil and gas. The natural carbon cycle is nearly balanced as carbon emitted by from biological systems through respiration, decay and burning is nearly equivalent to what they remove from the atmosphere. On a much longer timescale, carbon is stored as fossil fuel. Burning of fossil fuels rapidly releases this into the atmosphere and is increasing levels of carbon in the atmosphere. Biomass from sustainably managed forests does not release more carbon than is taken up by forests and so is a renewable resource.
See also: Forestry Commission Information Note 48 Forests, Carbon and Climate Change
Useful links
Climate change
Draft Climate Change Action Plan
Forestry Commission: Climate Change
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
DEFRA: Climate Change
Scottish Government: Climate Change