EIR/202600511827 · FOI/EIR · not held
Scottish Forestry - Carbon emission queries: EIR release
Information requested
Scottish Forestry claims on its website (this year in 2026) that ‘7.5million tonnes of CO2 was absorbed in our forests – 14% of Scotland’s total emissions each year’. Scottish Forestry do not provide a source or sources for this information. It is also understood Mairi McAllan (the former environment minister) made the same claim in 2022 or earlier.
1. What year or years does this alleged 7.5million tonnes being absorbed refer to?
2. What year or years does this alleged 14% of Scotland’s emissions being absorbed refer to?
3. Please provide for each year since 2020, the total quantity of CO2 that Scottish Forestry claims is being ‘absorbed in our forests’, including the year or years that contains the alleged 7.5 million tonnes figure and the 14% absorbed figure.
4. Please provide the source or sources of the data for the above three items.
5. Does this ‘absorbed in our forests’ refer to carbon absorbed by all forests in Scotland, or just new woodland creation schemes since a certain date? If only the latter, what date or dates are these?
6. Does this ‘absorbed in our forests’ refer to carbon absorbed by both commercial woodlands (which only sequester carbon temporarily) and carbon absorbed by non-commercial (unharvested) woodlands (which sequester carbon permanently)?
7. If the ‘absorbed in our forests’ refers to carbon absorbed by both commercial woodlands and non-commercial woodlands, does Scottish Forestry hold information that separately quantifies carbon absorbed by commercial woodlands and separately quantifies carbon absorbed by non-commercial (unharvested) woodlands?
8. If Scottish Forestry holds information in relation to items 6 and 7 above, please provide for each year since 2020, the total quantity of CO2 that Scottish Forestry claims is being ‘absorbed in our forests’, including the year or years that contains the alleged 7.5 million tonnes figure and the 14% absorbed figure, also (if applicable) separating the annual CO2 absorbed totals for commercial woodlands and non-commercial woodlands.
9. Please provide the source that was used by Scottish Forestry to obtain Scotland’s total annual CO2 emissions (so it could use the 14% figure), and using this same source, quantify what these annual total emissions were for Scotland for each year since 2020.
10. Does this source (requested in item 9) just refer to total CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions or total CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) emissions?
11. Is this quoted 14%, referring to the percentage of Scotland’s total CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions or the percentage of total CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) emissions?
12. Does this source (referred to in items 9-10) actually refer to all ‘carbon emissions’ in Scotland, or only those from certain activities and/or sectors within the Scottish economy? If so, what are these activities and/or sectors?
Response
As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.
This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.
Response to your questions 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12:
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, after conducting a thorough search across the organisation, I can confirm that we were unable to provide any information regarding parts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 of your request, as Scottish Forestry does not hold any information within this scope. This is a formal notice under section Regulation 10 (4) (a) of the Environmental Information Regulations (the EIRs), informing you that Scottish Forestry does not hold the information you requested.
We acknowledge, the distinction between compile and create under Regulation 9 of the Environmental Information Regulations (the EIRs) (Advice and assist). However, in this particular case, the requested information cannot be compiled, as no Scottish Forestry information in recorded form exists that would fall within the scope of this request.
Under Regulation 10 (4) (a) of the Environmental Information Regulations (the EIRs), we are required to provide only information held at the time of the request.
Under Regulation 9 (Advice and Assist) of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are not required to create new information in order to provide a response. Accordingly, the information you have asked for parts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, and 12 of your request is not held by Scottish Forestry.
Please refer to Annex A below for a more detailed explanation of the exception applied.
The attached Annex B provides the source of the information in relation to your questions 2, 9 and 11.
An exception under Regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party. You will be able to identify where names have been redacted in the released document.
2) What year or years does this alleged 14% of Scotland’s emissions being absorbed refer to?
It is 2023. The 14% refers to Scotland’s gross GHG emissions – that is emissions before removals (mainly from forestry) are netted off.
9) Please provide the source that was used by Scottish Forestry to obtain Scotland’s total annual CO2 emissions (so it could use the 14% figure), and using this same source, quantify what these annual total emissions were for Scotland for each year since 2020.
The Scottish Government provided the gross GHG emissions data for Scotland although this figure is not published in the Scotland GHG Statistics.
The 14% figure refers to the proportion of gross GHG emissions that are removed by forests.
We do not have the gross GHG emissions data for Scotland for every year since 2020.
The Scottish Government would need to provide these.
11). Is this quoted 14%, referring to the percentage of Scotland’s total CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions or the percentage of total CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) emissions?
It refers to the percentage of total CO2e emissions.
Additional documents found in response to your questions 2, 9, and 11:
The attached Annex C provides additional documents identified and released in relation to your questions 2, 9, and 11.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance, we are unable to provide some of the information you requested because an exception under Regulation 11 (2) of the EIRs (personal data relating to a third party) applies. This is an absolute exception, and neither is subject to the public interest test. You will be able to identify where the personal data has been redacted in the documents released.
In this case, we were also unable to provide some of the information you requested because an exception under Regulation 10 (4) (e) of the EIRs (internal communication) applies to one document, as it concerns internal communications between the Scottish Ministers and officials and ministerial decisions, including how these decisions were reached. This exception is subject to a public interest test. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We recognise that there is some public interest in releasing information as part of open, transparent, and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in allowing the Scottish Ministers a private space within which options can be properly explored and considered, and well-informed, evidence-based, good decisions can be made. Premature disclosure is likely to undermine the full and frank discussion of issues between the Ministers and Scottish Forestry’s officials, which in turn undermines the quality and objectivity of the decision-making processes at the Ministerial level.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Detected exemption language
We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA. This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is a formal notice under section Regulation 10 (4) (a) of the Environmental Information Regulations (the EIRs), informing you that Scottish Forestry does not hold the information you requested.