Chamber and committees

On 9th June 2026 the Scottish Government published the Scottish Greenhouse Gas Statistics 2024 official statistics publication. These statistics focus on all Greenhouse Gas emissions rather than specifically carbon dioxide, however they do provide answers to the majority of your question. Please note that specific information on emissions by type of fuel used are only available for electricity generation.

The following tables were obtained by filtering the detailed data extract spreadsheet of the supporting documents of this publication

Table 1: Carbon Dioxide emissions associated with electricity supply over 2020 to 2024 (MtCO2, rounded to 2 D.P.)

On Scotland’s national forests and land, tree felling associated with windfarm developments and associated infrastructure since 2022 is 922.30 hectares. Based on the average of 2000 trees per ha, this gives an estimated total of 1.84 million trees felled over this period.

The former Deputy First Minister, Kate Forbes, met Juergen Maier, interim Chair of GB Energy, and Dan McGrail, CEO of GB Energy, on 14 May 2025. A range of matters were discussed, focusing on how the Scottish Government, public bodies and GB Energy can work together to progress opportunities for Scotland’s businesses and communities.

I met Dan McGrail at the Global Offshore Wind conference on 17 June and we discussed GB Energy’s priorities in Scotland, the need to align with existing delivery mechanisms and the importance of support for our supply chain.

The Scottish Government last year consulted on potential new permitted development rights for the installation (and subsequent repair and maintenance) of underground pipework and associated apparatus for the purposes of connecting individual buildings to a heat network. The Scottish Government decided not to make changes to permitted development rights at that time. We have recently committed to further explore improving permitted development rights, including for small-scale renewable energy production.

We have committed to implement a national ban on smart phones in learning environments and will begin a consultation to inform this legislation in the first 100 days of this government. The consultation will gather views on the potential scope of the restrictions and will help ensure a range of views from children, young people, parents and carers, and school staff are able to shape the new law.

Our current guidance, published in 2024, is clear that headteachers and education authorities can any take steps they see fit to respond to the disruption caused by mobile phones, including up to full restrictions across the school estate and the school day. We are working with education authorities to update the current guidance to encourage schools to bring in restrictions from the start of August, in advance of the change in law. This guidance will be published this summer, in preparation for the new school year.

I confirmed during my Parliamentary statement that, in line with the government’s public health approach to online harms, my preference is for a full campus ban but that I will consider the consultation responses on this matter.

The Scottish Government does not centrally hold this information in a format that would allow it to be readily identified and categorised by type of respondent or by position (objection or support) for the full period requested.

Prior to 16 January 2026, representations were recorded within individual application records on the Energy Consents Unit (ECU) Portal and extracting this information would require a manual review of each case, which would incur disproportionate cost. The Scottish Government also does not hold information which distinguishes between representations made by members of the public and those made by organisations.

However, following the introduction of new functionality to the ECU Portal on 16 January 2026, representations relating to Section 36 wind farm applications can now be more readily categorised.

Details of representations received since 16 January 2026 are as follows, with Local Authority areas provided, as the closest available proxy for regional breakdown:

Contracts for Difference and other revenue support for generation are the responsibility of the UK Government.

The Scottish Government holds no information beyond that published by the Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC). Hinkley Point C is the only nuclear power station with such a contract.

As a result of repeated delays, Hinkley Point C is not yet generating electricity and therefore this contract has not been activated.

Decisions on further allocations of ScotWind funding and the establishment of a ScotWind Wealth Fund will be taken at future fiscal events.

The ScotWind leasing round has secured £755m for the public purse.

Information about how ScotWind income has been drawn down or re-profiled can be found in the Budget, Autumn Budget Revision, Spring Budget Revision and Provisional Outturn publications for each financial year. The planned deployment of ScotWind funding over the Spending Review period is set out in Annex A of the Portfolio Chapters and Annex Tables Amended at Stage 2 Budget Supporting Document Supporting documents - Scottish Budget 2026 to 2027 - gov.scot.

Decisions on further allocations of ScotWind funding and the establishment of a ScotWind Wealth Fund will be taken at future fiscal events.

The procurement and safe deployment of assets is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS). It is important to note that the eight Ford Ranger Ultra-Light Pumping Units are replacing legacy fire appliances. These are not dedicated wildfire appliances, but they can be called upon to provide support at a wildfire incident if required. These units are not the same appliances as the ten Ford Ranger Wildfire Units which SFRS has previously confirmed are operational for dedicated wildfire management.

As of 3 June 2026, these vehicles are not operational, however, SFRS has confirmed that operational capability at the fire stations which will be receiving these appliances has not been impacted. SFRS notes that installation of the latest pumping and communication systems in these units is complete and envisages training and delivery of all units by the end of this summer.