Report Estimates £1.1 Billion Annual Cost for Scotland to Reach Net Zero by 2050
The report highlighted that Scotland’s interim target of achieving a 75 percent carbon reduction by 2030 poses a ‘fiscal risk’ that may be challenging to manage within the budget.
The Scottish Government will need to invest an average of £1.1 billion annually by 2050 to reach net zero, which is approximately 18 percent of its capital budget, as per a report.
In a report released on Thursday, the Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC) conducted an analysis of the financial implications of meeting Scotland’s emissions target, estimating that an average of £1,136 million per year (in 2024 prices) will be required in additional capital investment by the Scottish Government to achieve net zero between 2020 and 2050.
“This amounts to 18 percent of the Scottish Government’s 2024-25 capital budget of £6,193 million,” the report stated, highlighting that these figures exclude costs related to adapting to climate change or damage from climate change.
The SFC clarified that while the responsibility to achieve the carbon emissions target is shared between the central UK and Scottish governments, Scotland may bear a greater “fiscal burden,” needing to invest more in forestry, land use, and land use change.
Despite Scotland covering about a third (32 percent) of the UK’s land mass, it holds approximately half of the UK’s trees and 70 percent of its peatland.
Interim 2030 Target Could Be ‘Fiscal Risk’
Scotland’s own interim target of reducing carbon emissions by 75 percent by 2030, compared to 1990 levels, was labeled as a “fiscal risk” by the SFC, stating, “Overall, this represents significant pressure on public spending and could prove challenging to manage within the Scottish Budget.”
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