Mike Pringle, Liberal Democrat MSP for Edinburgh South, has called on the Scottish Government to sign up to the 10:10 campaign to pledge to reduce its carbon emissions by 10% in 2010.

The 10:10 campaign is a global movement started by Franny Armstrong, director of the documentary "The Age of Stupid" which warns about the dangers of Climate Change. So far it has been supported by over 45,000 people, organisations and public bodies including several NHS trusts and a Premiership Football Club. Mike Pringle's call came following exchanges in the Scottish Parliament chamber where he questioned Environment Minister Michael Russell on the Scottish Government’s intentions regarding the campaign which had been supported by Scottish National Party MPs at Westminster.

Mike Pringle said:

“Although the fact the Scottish Government does have an emissions reduction target in place and is looking at further ways to reduce carbon emissions is a welcome start, I was disappointed that the Minister was not prepared to go as far as the Liberal Democrats or his own party colleagues at Westminster in committing to a 10% reduction next year.

“If the Scottish Government is unwilling to set a tough target to tackle their own carbon footprint, what message does that send to the hundreds of people across Scotland who have pledged to do their bit by signing up to the 10:10 campaign?

“The Scottish Climate Change Act has been hailed as a world leading piece of legislation but if its ambitious targets are to be realised the Scottish Government must first commit to clean up its own act by setting ambitious targets for reducing its own carbon emissions. Signing up to the 10:10 campaign would not only help to dramatically reduce the Scottish Government's carbon footprint but be a powerful statement of Scotland's intent to tackle climate change."

Notes:

The full text of Mike Pringle’s question and supplementary were as follows.

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to sign up to the 10:10 campaign pledge to reduce its carbon emissions by 10% in 2010?

I thank the Minister for his answer but am concerned that he is unable to set a more ambitious target for the reduction of the Scottish Government and its agencies carbon footprint. As he may be aware Labour MPs recently voted down an Opposition Day Motion tabled by the Liberal Democrats and supported by Scottish National Party MPs calling on the Westminster Government to sign up to the 10:10 campaign. The Scottish Climate Change Act has been hailed as a world beating bill, why is the Scottish Government not prepared to lead the way again in reducing its own carbon footprint? Or is this another case of the SNP saying one thing in opposition at Westminster but doing another in Government?

The Scottish Government are currently committed to a 15% reduction in overall emissions from energy use, business travel and waste production by 2014 from 2007/08 levels.

An opposition day motion tabled by the Liberal Democrats at Westminster calling on the United Kingdom Government to sign up to the 10:10 campaign was recently signed by Scottish National Party MPs.

Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson Alison McInnes recently submitted a motion to the Scottish Parliament calling on the Government to sign up to the 10:10 campaign. The full text of the motion is as follows.

S3M-05298 Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): 10:10— That the Parliament believes that it is vital that Scotland and the United Kingdom demonstrate political leadership in response to the climate crisis, particularly ahead of the United Nations climate change summit in Copenhagen (COP15); reaffirms its view that it is vital that COP15 should lead to an international agreement on action that will avert the worst effects of catastrophic climate change; emphasises that action taken now to tackle the climate crisis will cost less than action taken in the future; welcomes the goals of the 10:10 campaign, which calls for a 10% reduction in carbon emissions in 2010; notes that almost 50,000 people, 2,000 businesses, 1,000 schools and colleges and 1,000 other organisations across the UK have already pledged to do their part, and so calls on the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, the Scottish Government and all other public sector bodies to make it their policy to reduce their carbon emissions by 10% in 2010.