Scotland’s Carbon Footprint 1998-2022
Estimates of Scotland's greenhouse gas emissions on a consumption basis for the period 1998 to 2022.
Table 1 outlines how the Carbon Footprint has been categorised for this publication
Categorization of Scotland’s Carbon Footprint, broken down by activity
|
Main Category |
Activity |
Description |
|
Greenhouse Gas Emissions from UK Produced Goods and Services |
Scottish Consumption of UK production |
UK production emissions attributable to Scottish final consumption, including manufacturing and transport, international aviation and shipping provided by Scottish operators |
|
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Embedded in Imported Goods and services, By Region of Import
|
Imports used by UK businesses for Scottish consumption |
Greenhouse Gas Emissions associated with the production of imports which are used by UK industry and attributable to Scottish final consumption |
|
Imports directly used by Scottish Consumers |
Greenhouse Gas Emissions associated with the production of imports which are used by Scottish final consumers |
|
|
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Directly Produced By Scottish Residents |
Private motoring |
Greenhouse Gas Emissions generated directly by households through private motoring |
|
Household heating |
Greenhouse Gas Emissions arising from households’ use of fossil fuels for heating, households’ use of aerosols, etc |
Figure 2 shows Scotland’s carbon footprint, broken down into three main components, from 1998 to 2022.
- Greenhouse gas emissions embedded in imported goods and services from overseas accounted for 53.3 per cent of Scotland’s carbon footprint in 2022, and up from 36.7 per cent in 1998.
- Greenhouse gas emissions embedded in UK produced goods and services accounted for 28.9 percent of Scotland’s carbon footprint in 2022, down from 45 per cent in 1998.
- Greenhouse gas emissions directly produced by Scottish residents accounted for 17.8 percent of Scotland’s carbon footprint in 2022, down from 18.2 per cent in 1998.
Figure 2: Emissions embedded in imports have shown considerable volatility over the period. Domestic sources of emissions have been much more stable with a generally reducing trend.
Scotland’s Carbon Footprint, by main component, 1998 to 2022. Values in MtCO2e
Additionally, Figure 2 shows that:
- Greenhouse gas emissions associated with imported goods and services increased from 27.2 MtCO2e in 1998 to their peak of 39.3 (an increase of 36.7 per cent over this time period). These emissions accounted for 46.5 per cent of Scotland’s carbon footprint in 2007.
- Between 2007 and 2022, greenhouse gas emissions embedded in imported goods and services fell by 17.2 per cent; this compares with a 19.8 per cent increase in emissions embedded in imports over the whole time period from 1998 to 2022.
- Greenhouse gas emissions relating to the consumption of UK produced goods and services by Scottish residents fell from 33.3 MtCO2e in 1998 to 17.6 in 2022 - a fall of 47.1 per cent. There was a year-on-year fall in greenhouse gas emissions from this category over the majority of years in the time period.
- Greenhouse gas emissions generated directly by Scottish residents have fallen from 13.5 MtCO2e in 1998 to 10.9 MtCO2e in 2022 - a fall of 19.4 per cent over this time period.
Figure 3: In total, the carbon footprint fell by 12.9 MtCO2e (17.5 per cent) between 1998 and 2022.
Change in Scotland’s Carbon Footprint between 1998 and 2022 in MtCO2e and percentage changes
Figure 3 shows that between 1998 and 2022:
- Greenhouse gas emissions from Scottish consumption of UK production have seen the greatest absolute reduction over this time period (15.7 MtCO2e; a 47.1 per cent reduction), reflecting the emissions-reduction in territorial emissions seen in Scotland and the rest of the UK over this period.
- Greenhouse gas emissions embedded in imports directly used by Scottish consumers have increased by 5.4 MtCO2e ( a 59.6 per cent increase).
- Emissions embedded in imports used by UK businesses for Scottish consumption have decreased by 0.044 MtCO2e (a 0.25 per cent decrease )
- Greenhouse gas emissions generated directly by households (via heating and personal transport) have decreased by 2.6 MtCO2e (a 19.4 per cent decrease )
Figure 4: Scotland’s carbon footprint has fallen by 23.4 MtCO2e ( 27.7 per cent) from 2007 to 2022.
Change in Scotland’s Carbon Footprint between 2007 and 2022 in MtCO2e and percentage changes.
Figure 5: Scotland’s carbon footprint rose by 1.0 MtCO2e (1.6 per cent) in the latest year.
Change in Scotland’s Carbon Footprint between 2021 and 2022 in MtCO2e and percentage changes
Figure 5 also shows that between 2021 and 2022:
- Embedded emissions in imports directly consumed in Scotland rose by 0.3 MtCO2e ( 2 per cent).
- Emissions embodied in Scottish consumption of UK production fell by 0.1 MtCO2e ( 0.45 per cent).
- Emissions embedded in imports used by UK businesses for Scottish consumption rose by 1.5 MtCO2e ( 8.9 per cent).
- The level of emissions directly generated by Scottish households fell by 0.7 MtCO2e ( 6 per cent).
Figure 6: Around 46.7 per cent of embedded emissions associated with the consumption of goods and services in Scotland, originate from the UK.
Sankey diagram of embedded emissions sources related to Scottish final consumption in 2022 changes
Additionally, Figure 6 above shows:
- Imported emissions account for around 53.3 per cent of total consumption-based emissions; with the European Union, China and Rest of World (excluding other named areas) being the largest sources.
- A substantial majority of imported emissions are directly “consumed” by Scottish households and other final demand sectors.
- that households account for the overwhelming majority (around 71.8 per cent) of consumption-based emissions. With capital investment and other types of capital formation accounting for around a further 13.9 per cent of total consumption-based emissions.
Figure 7: Breakdown of Scotland’s embedded greenhouse gas emissions by region of import, 1998 to 2022. Values in MtCO2e