Scotland sets target of cutting greenhouse gases by 90% by 2050
The Scottish government also said it would have a new interim target for 2020 of a 56 per cent cut compared with the existing goal of 42 per cent.
Scotland
This archive collects solutions-journalism stories and progress milestones from Scotland — covering health, environment, community, policy, and more. Each entry highlights real developments worth knowing about.
The Church of Scotland has voted to allow ministers to conduct same-sex marriages
The Church of Scotland has voted to draft new laws that would allow ministers to conduct same-sex marriages.
The world’s first floating wind farm is now producing energy in Scotland
Hywind Scotland, situated in Buchan Deep, is the world’s first floating wind farm, with its five six-megawatt turbines now generating electricity.
Scottish government bans fracking after public opposition
Energy minister Paul Wheelhouse says allowing unconventional extraction of coal and gas would put climate goals at risk
Scotland to ‘phase out’ new petrol and diesel cars by 2032
Nicola Sturgeon outlined plans to “massively expand” charging points and set up pilot projects to encourage uptake of electric vehicles.
Church of Scotland apologizes for its historical discrimination against lesbian and gay people
The Kirk’s general assembly, meeting in Edinburgh, instructed officials to consider changes to church law that would allow ministers to preside over same-sex-marriage ceremonies.
James Blyth’s wind turbine powers the first home with wind electricity
Wind-powered electricity came home in the summer of 1887, when Scottish physics professor James Blyth raised a 10-metre cloth-sailed turbine in his Marykirk cottage garden. His lights came on; when he offered surplus power to the village for street lighting, neighbors refused, calling it the work of the devil. A quiet first, a century ahead of its time.
England and Scotland unite to form the Kingdom of Great Britain
The Acts of Union took effect on May 1, 1707, merging the kingdoms of England and Scotland into a single Kingdom of Great Britain with one parliament at Westminster. Scotland kept its own courts, church, and schools — a compromise that shaped how a shared state could hold distinct identities within it.
John Napier’s logarithms turn multiplication into addition
John Napier’s logarithms, published in 1614, turned slow multiplication into simple addition and quietly reshaped how people handled big numbers. Astronomers like Kepler embraced the tables almost immediately, crediting them with saving enormous labor. What began as a shortcut for navigators and surveyors became a mathematical structure still woven through science today.
Scottish forces under Wallace and Moray defeat the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge
Battle of Stirling Bridge, fought on September 11, 1297, saw a Scottish force of roughly 5,300 men outmaneuver an English army nearly twice its size. Commanders William Wallace and Andrew Moray waited until about 2,000 enemy troops had crossed the narrow wooden bridge, then struck. It remains a lasting study in how terrain and patience can outweigh numbers.