A CLIMATE change expert has warned that a leading independent report on the issue is too "inward-looking" and fails to address the impacts facing Scotland on a more global scale.

Edinburgh-based Dr Richard Tipper claims the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA), released by the UK Government earlier this week, focuses too much on changes to the British climate, rather than looking at potential problems in trade and migration caused by climate change in other countries.

Dr Tipper said the CCRA – which indicated problems for Scottish fish stocks and water supplies – should have looked at the more significant problems arising from the impacts of climate change in Asia and Africa.

The scientist, who was part of an Intergovernmental Panel in Climate Change that won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, said: "The review is too inward-looking, focusing on specific climate impacts on the British Isles, rather than indirect impacts of climate change on the global economy and geo-politics.

"These areas are likely to be of greater significance and might include reduced economic growth in countries which the UK could have counted as thriving export markets over the next 50 to 100 years, such as Asia and Africa. So, instead of selling products and services, we may be sending aid or peacekeepers. There may also be increased problems with migration."

He added: "The assessment also does not really convey the importance of unknown or unforeseeable impacts that could emerge with huge economic repercussions."