Scottish Government spared €3,5 million and decreased CO2 emissions by reducing air travel

In 2011, the Prime Minister, Pedro Passos Coelho, promised that he would travel in economy class, as well as other elements of the Government, so as to reduce the expenses of the Executive. However, couldn't the Portuguese Government further decrease the air travel, not only to save on public budget but to also reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2)?

Well, that's what made the Government of Scotland. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Scotland, the Scottish Executive has approximately €3,5 million and reduced CO2 emissions by 28% by replacing the travel of its members for face-to-face meetings, videoconferences. The data indicate that the Scottish leaders were held under three thousand trips a year between 2007 and 2012, decreasing the distance travelled in 1.8 million kilometres.

As a result, the Government avoided the 650 tonnes of CO2 emissions, saving €693,2 thousand per year, an invoice amounting to approximately €2,2 million. In 2010, the WWF estimated that if the Governments of the United Kingdom and administrations of large British companies eliminate unnecessary flights could save more than €120,1 million and 59 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the Scottish Minister for environment and climate change, Paul Wheelhouse, the Government invested in new technologies that allowed the meetings occur via videoconference or by telephone rather than face-to-face. "This is a small part of our environmental strategy to reduce our ecological footprint, and we aim to increase the use of videoconferencing for meetings and to encourage the use of more sustainable travel options," said the King, quoted by BusinessGreen.

Foto:  Senator Mark Warner / Creative Commons

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