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2 INTRODUCTION
2.1 The aim of this research project was to develop an appropriate method for, and subsequently generate, a consistent time series of ecological and greenhouse gas 3 footprint results for Scotland from 1992-2006 from a consumption perspective.
2.2 Both the ecological and greenhouse gas footprints are important environmental indicators for Scotland. The ecological footprint is one of the country's National Indicators 4 and the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 includes a reporting requirement for a consumption based estimate of Scottish greenhouse gas emissions. These measures allow the environmental impact of the products (goods and services) consumed in a country to be understood, regardless of whether the production happened within or outside the country. It is consumption and demand for products that drive production and an indicator like the ecological footprint provides a way of communicating the point that natural resources are required to meet that demand, wherever in the world production occurs.
2.3 Generating the time series of ecological and greenhouse gas footprints will provide an indication of historical trends and direction of travel. This is useful for determining future pathways and policies. Initial greenhouse gas footprint estimates for 1992-2004 have already been released so updating these results and extending them for 2005 and 2006 is one of the principal components of this work. Analysing the trend of footprint and deciding upon future aims and targets is very important. As the National Indicator description for the ecological footprint highlights; current consumption patterns are unsustainable in the long term. Providing an evidence base for environmental impacts of consumption is a vital step to allow Scotland to work towards a more sustainable way of living.
2.4 Alongside the time series of results, this report also provides a breakdown of the footprint by consumption activity. The footprint results are disaggregated into common themes such as housing, transport, food or services. This provides an evidence base to generate more targeted policies and demonstrate how demand and subsequent impacts have shifted over time. This detail is available for all years of the time series.
2.5 The headline results from this study are provided in the main report. The detailed data tables with data breakdowns for all years are provided in Annex C and Excel versions of these tables are available on the Scottish Government website. All technical descriptions of the modelling used are provided in Annex A.
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