Scotland's Carbon Footprint 1998-2018

Breakdown of Scotland's Carbon Footprint, 1998-2018

Table 1 outlines how the Carbon Footprint has been categorised for this publication.

Chart 2 shows Scotland's carbon footprint, broken down into three main components, from 1998 to 2018.

• Greenhouse gas emissions embedded in imported goods and services from overseas. These accounted for 51.9 per cent of Scotland's carbon footprint in 2018; up from 49.2 per cent in 1998.
• Greenhouse gas emissions embedded in UK produced goods and services. These accounted for 30.4 per cent of Scotland's carbon footprint in 2018; down from 37.5 per cent in 1998.
• Greenhouse gas emissions directly produced by Scottish residents. These account for 17.7 per cent of Scotland's carbon footprint in 2018; up from 13.3 per cent of total consumption-based emissions in 1998.

Additionally, Chart 2 shows that:

• Greenhouse gas emissions associated with imported goods and services increased from 49.9 MtCO₂e in 1998 to their peak of 60.0 MtCO₂e in 2007 (an increase of 20.3 per cent over this time period). These emissions accounted for 55.8 per cent of Scotland's carbon footprint in 2007.
• Between 2007 and 2018, greenhouse gas emissions embedded in imported goods and services fell by 39.0 per cent; this compares with a 26.6 per cent reduction in emissions embedded in imports over the whole time period from 1998 to 2018.
• Greenhouse gas emissions relating to the consumption of UK produced goods and services by Scottish residents fell from 38.0 MtCO₂e in 1998 to 21.4 MtCO₂e in 2018 – a fall of 43.7 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 12.4 MtCO₂e in 2018 – a fall of 7.5 per cent over this time period.

Chart 3 shows the change in the components of Scotland's carbon footprint. In total, the carbon footprint fell by 30.9 MtCO₂e (30.5 per cent) between 1998 and 2018.

Chart 3 shows that between 1998 and 2018:

• Greenhouse gas emissions from Scottish consumption of UK production have seen the greatest absolute reduction over this time period (16.6 MtCO₂e; a 43.7 per cent reduction), reflecting the emissions-reduction in territorial emissions seen in the Scotland and the rest of the UK over this period.
• Greenhouse gas emissions embedded in imports directly used by Scottish consumers have reduced by 2.9 MtCO₂e (a 10.1 per cent reduction).
• Emissions embedded in imports used by UK businesses for Scottish consumption have decreased by 10.4 MtCO₂e (a 48.8 per cent decrease).
• Greenhouse gas emissions generated directly by households (via heating and personal transport) have decreased by 1.0 MtCO₂e (a 7.5 per cent reduction).

Chart 4 shows how Scotland's carbon footprint has changed from its peak in 2007 to 2018. Scotland's carbon footprint has fallen by 37.1 MtCO₂e (34.5 per cent) over this time period.

Chart 4 also shows that between 2007 and 2018:

• Greenhouse gas emissions embedded in Scottish consumption of imports fell by the greatest amount in absolute terms (a reduction of 15.9 MtCO₂e; 38.3 per cent).
• Emissions associated with Scottish consumption of UK produced goods and services decreased by 12.7 MtCO₂e ( a fall of 37.2 per cent).
• Emissions embedded in imports used by UK businesses for Scottish consumption decreased by 7.5 MtCO₂e ( a fall of 40.6 per cent).
• Greenhouse gas emissions directly emitted by Scottish households have seen smaller reductions of 1.0 MtCO₂e ( a fall of 7.5 per cent.

Chart 5 shows that Scotland's carbon footprint rose by 1.8 MtCO2e (2.6 per cent) in the latest year.

Chart 5 also shows that between 2017 and 2018, all emissions components of Scotland's carbon footprint rose to some degree:

• Emissions embodied in Scottish consumption of UK production rose by 0.3 MtCO₂e (1.6 per cent).
• Embedded emissions in imports directly consumed in Scotland rose by 0.6 MtCO₂e (2.4 per cent).
• Emissions embedded in imports used by UK businesses for Scottish consumption also increased by 0.7 MtCO₂e (6.5 per cent).
• There was a relatively minor increase in the level of emissions directly generated by Scottish households of 0.2 MtCO₂e (1.3 per cent).

Figure 1 below shows all flows of embedded emissions from country of origin to their final consumption sector, and the route taken, for 2018. The diagram shows that:

• Almost half of embedded emissions associated with the consumption of goods and services in Scotland, originate from the UK.
• Imported emissions account for a slight majority of total consumption-based emissions with the European Union 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.
• There is a slightly greater tendency for embedded emissions originating from the EU and rest of world to be initially consumed by UK industry (e.g. as raw materials or components), before flowing to final consumers.

Additionally, figure 1 above shows that households account for the overwhelming majority (around 80 per cent) of consumption-based emissions. With capital investment and other types of capital formation accounting for around a further 10 per cent of total consumption-based emissions.

Chart 6 presents a breakdown of Scotland's embedded greenhouse gases by region of import over time.

• The most striking aspect of the above chart relates to the very rapid increase in embedded emissions from China between 1999 and 2007, followed by a rapid reduction in the years immediately afterward until 2012. Since 2014, these emissions have decreased consistently each year and have reduced by 74 per cent since 1998.
• Consumption emissions from Rest of world shows a similar pattern although less pronounced pattern, to China; again peaking in 2007 before the recession in 2008.
• Embedded emissions originating from Russia and the USA have shown considerable year-on-year volatility although they have shown a generally reducing trend across the time-series and have reduced by 79 per cent (Russia) and 72 per cent (USA) since 1998.
• Embedded emissions originating from India and the Middle-East are the only regions to show increased emissions over the period 1998-2018.