Thirty seven projects across Scotland today received £3.5m to tackle climate change in their communities.

Collectively, the innovative projects will reduce carbon emissions by over 250,000 tonnes - the equivalent of taking over 83,000 cars off the UK roads.

Successful applicants in round five of the landmark Climate Challenge Fund (CCF) include an organic garden in Bothwell, a carbon reduction scheme on the small Orkney island of Eday and an eco-friendly education centre in Markinch, Fife.

Today's announcement brings the total number of pioneering CCF projects to 157.

Announcing the successful applicants at a CCF event in Stirling, Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said: "It is heartening to meet successful applicants here today, the real trailblazers of climate change, and see exactly how communities are confronting carbon emissions. I want to see even more communities stepping up to the challenge of reducing their carbon emissions and their impact on the local and global environment.

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"CCF is a three year project and I would urge more communities to confidently come forward with their own proposals to tackle climate change, one of the biggest environmental and economic threats facing Scotland.

Patrick Harvie MSP, congratulated all of the projects that received an award from the Climate Challenge Fund.

He said: "The people behind these projects are true climate pioneers, doing work we can all be proud of. If Scotland is to meet the 42% carbon reduction targets Parliament set last month, we will need to scale up projects like these and learn from their experiences.

"When the Greens in the Scottish Parliament first proposed the Climate Challenge Fund, we were confident we'd see imaginative and ground-breaking applications of this sort, but the number and quality of applications have exceeded even our high expectations."

(GK/BMcC)