New figures have revealed Scotland has passed its 2020 greenhouse gas emissions target by 42%.

Climate Change Secretary Roseanna Cunningham revealed emissions fell by 12.5% year on year to 41.9 MtCO2e in 2014, a 45.8% reduction since 1990.

In addition, source emissions dropped by 39.5% between 1990 and 2014 compared to the UK's 33% reduction over the same period.

Overall, Scotland has reached its 2020 target six years early and is one of the leading countries in West Europe for reducing emissions.

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Speaking on a visit to the Harlaw Hydro community renewable energy project, Ms Cunningham said: "Scotland is making outstanding progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These statistics show that we not only met the annual 2014 emissions reduction target but also exceeded the level of our world-leading 2020 target for a 42% reduction, six years ahead of schedule.

"The reduction in residential emissions in 2014 may have been due to people turning down their heating. This underlines that small individual actions, if repeated on a large scale, can have a big impact in tackling climate change.

"This is an especially important time for climate change, in light of the international agreement reached in Paris last December and it is great news that Scotland continues to show ambition and demonstrate the progress that can be made."

(LM)