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Wood burning stoves to be permitted in new homes
Wood-burning stoves, bioenergy and peat heating will now be permitted in new homes and buildings following a review of the New Build Heat Standard commissioned by ministers earlier this year.
An amendment to regulations made today permits the installation of bioenergy and peat main heating systems – and any type of secondary heating systems – in new buildings from 1 January 2025, while maintaining the prohibition on mains gas and oil boilers as a main heating system.
Alasdair Allan, Acting Minister for Climate Action said:
“The New Build Heat Standard is crucial to help reduce emissions from new buildings, preventing the need for retrofit in the future and ensuring a cleaner and greener Scotland.
Carbon budget approach to setting climate targets agreed.
Legislation that will see Scotland move to using five year carbon budgets to set climate targets has been passed.
The Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Bill amends the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 to introduce limits on the amount of greenhouse gases emitted in Scotland over a five-year period.
The move, which is based on recommendations from the independent Climate Change Committee (CCC), aims to provide a more reliable framework for emissions reduction. This is because the previous annual emissions targets are vulnerable to year-to-year fluctuations caused by events such as a particularly cold winter or a global pandemic.
The legislation enables the carbon budgets to be set through secondary legislation based on the expert advice from the Climate Change Committee. The Bill also changes the current deadline to finalise the next Climate Change Plan for Scotland so the Plan can align with the process for setting the new carbon budgets.
Attracting private investment in nature
Launch of Scotland’s Natural Capital Market Framework.
A new plan to attract responsible private investment into natural capital markets has been launched for Scotland.
Minister for Employment and Investment Tom Arthur launched Scotland’s Natural Capital Market Framework as he spoke at the Nature Finance UK 2024 conference.
The framework provides guidance for investors, land managers and communities on attracting responsible private investment into peatlands, woodlands and nature restoration. Its focus is on maintaining the high standards that have been set by the Woodland Carbon Code and Peatland Code.
It supports Scotland’s ‘National Strategy for Economic Transformation’ and will contribute to two of the Government’s key priorities: driving sustainable economic growth and tackling the climate and nature crises.
Research published this week also shows that Scotland’s natural assets contribute more than £40 billion to the economy and support around 260,000 jobs.