"The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that Scotland plays a leading role in the global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As part of that lead, we are determined to embed the consideration of carbon impacts at the heart of our decision making. We are breaking new ground with this project as we work to develop carbon assessment tools that can be applied across all Government spending in Scotland."
John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth
Putting carbon at the heart of Scottish Government decision making
Understanding the carbon impact of Government spending
The carbon assessment of the Draft Budget will become a statutory requirement under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 and the Government has already provided this assessment for the 2010-11 Draft Budget. It is a high-level estimate of how much carbon is created in the production of the goods and services the Government demands, including those associated with imported goods.
Understanding the carbon impact of policies and programmes
The carbon increases or savings created by programmes and individual policy options needs to be considered when decisions are being made. UK-wide guidance is available. Carbon appraisals will therefore need to be a central tool for policy areas to capture the emissions impact of their policies, and to justify their decisions, given the reductions targets now established.