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Baselining inventory for greenhouse gas emissions in the Highlands and Islands

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The Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has published a report prepared by ekosgen, part of GC Insight, that examines significant economic opportunities associated with reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the region and provides a baseline that will be used to track progress moving forward.  

The report provides the first ever emissions profile for the region and will be used to inform policy and actions needed to reduce emissions in line with the transition to a net zero economy. 

The Highlands and Islands covers 51% of Scotland’s landmass and is home to 9% of its population. Scotland has some of the most ambitious commitments to net zero and greenhouse gas reduction amongst advanced economies and H&I has a leading role to play in green energy generation in the country.  

“We look forward to integrating these findings into our plans and taking decisive steps towards a sustainable future for our communities," said Keith Masson, HIE’s head of net zero transition. 

Here are a few of the findings from the report:  

  • Greenhouse gas emissions for Highlands and Islands (H&I) accounted for 15% of the Scottish total.
  • The region’s vast geography and low population density plays a significant role: emissions per km2 were lower than the national average, while emissions per capita were higher than the national rate. 
  • Regional emissions declined by 20% between 2005 – 2019, although this lags Scotland’s overall rate of decline of 33%.
  • The top two sources of GHG emissions are agriculture (26%) and Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) (22%)
  • 63% of agricultural emissions are associated with livestock and 19% from soils.   
    While the region’s large forestry plantations have reduced emissions, they have not balanced out the emissions from other land uses such as cropland, wetland and grassland.    

Domestic Emissions

Emissions from homes in the region are higher (6.0) compared to the national rate of 4.3, with homes on the islands even higher. Only 27% of the housing stock has an environment impact rating of ‘C’ or above (compared to 41% for Scotland). A reliance on fossil fuels, older buildings, as well as a high proportion of dwellings being exposed to wind-driven rain (56% - rising to 100% on the islands) contribute to the low rating.    

Renewable Energy 

  • With its abundant natural resources, the region is ideal for harnessing clean and sustainable power.
  • The region accounts for 52% of Scotland’s current installed renewable energy. If all current activity currently in the pipeline is realised, capacity in the region will increase more than four-fold.   

 

Forestry 

Half of Scotland’s woodland and forestry is in the Highlands and Islands. If only 2.5% of the land classed as ‘limited agriculture value’ in the region was converted to forestry, an estimated 1.5 million CO2 units could potentially be sequestered over a 30-year period. If 7.5% of the land was converted, the number of units would rise to 4.5 million.

Peatland

The region is home to 76% of Scotland’s peatlands, with more than half of the region’s land covered by peat and peaty soils.  However, the vast majority (80%) of Scotland’s peatland is degraded and restoration is required to enhance its capacity to capture carbon.  Since 2012, 193,000 hectares of peatland has been restored across Scotland with some 70% of that in the Highlands, putting the country on track to reach their goal of restoring 250k hectares by 2030. There are significant gains to be captured by accelerating this restoration.  

 

“To address the challenges of reducing emissions while capitalising on the associated economic opportunities requires a pan-regional and co-ordinated approach. Our goal is to work with our partners across the region to make sure this happens in a timely fashion, said Masson.

ekosgen undertook this detailed research and produced the report in partnership with Practically Green and Reference Economics. The full report can be found at this link