In 2009, the Scottish Parliament unanimously passed the Climate Change Act, which aimed to reduce emissions from 1990 levels by 42% by 2020 and by 80% by 2050. The Act hopes for the public body to act in the way best calculated to contribute to the delivery of the targets and also in a way that it considers is most sustainable. The Act is comprised of several parts:

• Part 1 of the Act, creates the statutory framework for greenhouse gas emissions reductions in Scotland eg. The 2050 target.
• Part 2 of the Act contains provisions which will allow the Scottish Ministers to establish a Scottish Committee on Climate Change or to designate an existing body to exercise advisory functions should it be decided that this is appropriate.
• Part 3 places duties on the Scottish Ministers requiring that they report regularly to the Scottish Parliament on Scotland’s emissions and on the progress being made towards meeting the emissions reduction targets set in the Act.
• Part 4 places climate change duties on Scottish public bodies.
• The Act includes other provisions on climate change in Part 5, including adaptation, forestry, energy efficiency and waste reduction. Public engagement is a significant feature of Part 6 of the Act, which also includes provision on carbon assessment.

The Act has impacted our lifestyle choices in many ways on of which being the carrier bag charges. Legislation was passed by Scottish Parliament, on 20th October 2014, that requires ALL retailers (food and non-food) to charge a minimum of 5p for each new single-use carrier bag .The aim being to encourage bag re-use. This new piece of legislation has had a positive impact as the number of plastic bags handed out in stores was slashed by 80% – the equivalent of 650 million carriers – in the first year of Scotland’s 5p charge – the net carbon saving is more than 2,500 tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually. Personally I have seen a great change in the way people use plastic bags now, most of my friends and family re-use bags everyday instead of buying a bag with each shop. Furthermore, now schools are making children more aware of their carbon footprint and also by taking actions eg. Eco committees , to reduce carbon footprint within the school environment.

After taking the WWF ‘How big is your environmental footprint?’ I was shocked with my carbon footprint result as it was much larger than I thought it would have been at 180%. The quiz asked a number of questions, some of which I was not aware even related/ influenced my carbon footprint such as clothes, beauty products and food.  The quiz also provides some useful tips after completing such as buy more seasonal foods and take up cycling or walk to work.

 

Sources;

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Environment/climatechange/scotlands-action/climatechangeact

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-34575364