Motorists who drive gas guzzling cars are to be charged more to park outside their homes in a bid to cut pollution in the capital.
Motorists who drive gas guzzling cars are to be charged more to park outside their homes in a bid to cut pollution in the capital.
The full city council in Edinburgh yesterday unanimously approved proposals to revise parking charges according to vehicle pollution.
City officials will now prepare a report on what kind of scheme could be introduced.
The move against vehicle emissions, first reported by The Herald last October, will benefit motorists who drive fuel efficient cars, who will be charged less than gas guzzlers for residents' parking permits and parking charges.
Edinburgh is understood to be the first local authority in Scotland to consider such an initiative, though such schemes have been introduced in Richmond and Woking in Surrey, and in London.
The motion was proposed by the Green Councillor Group on the City of Edinburgh Council.
Green councillor Steven Burgess said they hope the scheme will cut pollution in the city.
He said: "I'm very pleased all parties on the council have agreed that officials should bring forward a scheme to relate parking charges to vehicle CO2 emissions.
"Such a scheme could significantly reduce climate change pollution from cars in the city.
"We have to address the significant contribution to climate pollution from road traffic and this is a relatively straightforward measure for the council to bring in.
"It rewards owners of less polluting vehicles and requires gas guzzlers to pay more.
"As Scotland's capital, Edinburgh has an opportunity to lead the country in tackling the pollution that is contributing to climate change."
The move to cut pollution comes as a report reveals the UK's highest carbon emitters.
According to research by the Energy Saving Trust - which combines its own figures on car emissions with Defra's figures on household emissions - County Down, in Northern Ireland, is the highest polluter in the UK with an average carbon emissions per household, including transport, of 14.5 tonnes a year.
The Orkney Islands have the highest level of CO2 emissions in Scotland (12.9 tonnes) while Powys is the worst performing Welsh authority (11.8 tonnes).
These regions have the highest level of CO2 emissions because their vehicle emissions are higher than the national average. They are rural areas with limited public transport so there is a high use of cars.
For example, in Orkney, almost 50,000 tonnes of vehicle emissions are produced each year despite there being fewer than 9000 households.
Unsurprisingly, the City of London has the lowest level of carbon emissions because it has the fewest number of households and the fewest number of cars.
The best performing Scottish local authority is Glasgow while Belfast has the lowest CO2 emissions in Northern Ireland.
They produce an average of 6.3 tonnes and 10.4 tonnes per household per annum respectively.
Philip Sellwood, chief executive of the EST, said: "We provide help and advice to local authorities and we can now work with them to offer more tailored energy advice."
