As per the government’s estimation, the 2010 spending on core services such as hospitals, schools, local government and farming, will result in emission of 11.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
The assessment will be a statutory requirement under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act. It provides an understanding of the impact of Scottish budget expenditure on global greenhouse gas emissions.
The estimates will be used to find out the environmental impact of government spending. According to media reports, the move would allow ministers to weigh up individual policies and award contracts based on how much carbon dioxide each project would emit.
John Swinney, the Finance Secretary of Scotland, said: “The Scottish government recognises that climate change will have far reaching effects on Scotland’s economy, its people and its environment and is determined to play its part in rising to this challenge.
“By publishing our carbon assessment of the budget, we are taking a significant, and to some extent experimental, step towards recognising carbon implications in the budget process.”
The Scottish government has also released a report on developing methods to assess the emissions impact from individual government policies.
