Scotland emissions down 26.4 percent from 1990

EDINBURGH, Scotland, June 10 (UPI) -- The Scottish government said Tuesday it's reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 25 percent since 1990 and is on pace to hit 42 percent by 2020.

"Scotland has the world's leading climate change targets," Scottish Minister for Environment and Climate Change Paul Wheelhouse said in a statement. "With a target of 42 percent by 2020 we are ahead of the United Kingdom at 34 percent and well ahead of the EU at 20 percent."

The Scottish government aims to generate the equivalent of 100 percent of its annual electricity consumption through community- and locally-owned renewable energy resources by 2020.

As of 2012, the last full year for which data are available, emissions are down 26.4 percent from 1990 levels.

Scotland holds a one-question referendum on independence from the United Kingdom later this year. Its government said it could support itself in part on oil and gas revenue while relying on renewable resources to power its economy. "We remain on track to deliver the emissions reductions necessary to keep us on the right path towards meeting our long term target of 80 percent emissions reduction by 2050," Wheelhouse said in a statement.