A film about climate change made by the former US vice-president Al Gore is to be shown in secondary schools in Scotland as part of a new learning initiative unveiled yesterday.

Based around screenings of the documentary, An Inconvenient Truth , the Scottish executive, through Learning Teaching Scotland and Scottish Power, is to develop and deliver a package of education materials to help pupils in Scotland understand climate change, reports The Guardian.

Speaking at the Al Gore "What our future holds" event in Glasgow, environment minister, Ross Finnie, said: "Scotland takes climate change seriously. Since meeting Al Gore in September and watching An Inconvenient Truth at its first screening I have been considering ways in which the main messages about climate change could be embedded into and future learning education in Scotland.

"We aim to pilot materials towards the end of the current academic year and roll out the full package for the start of the next school year.

"Many of the messages in the film are echoed in our own efforts to communicate the issue of climate change through Scotland's climate change programme."

As one of the top-grossing documentaries in history, An Inconvenient Truth brought the need to address global warming to cinema audiences around the world. The film predicts that the world has 10 years to avert a major climate catastrophe.

Since then, Gore has brought considerable attention to the global warming phenomenon with his documentary, which released in the UK last year to wide critical praise.

Stephen Dunn, Scottish Power's director of human resources and communication, said: "We are happy to help the executive put An Inconvenient Truth into the curriculum - the film offers hope on what we can still do to fight climate change and it tells this story simply and powerfully. It is essential that we also help promote understanding of this crucial challenge."

Learning and Teaching Scotland will develop materials to enhance screenings of the film in all Scottish secondary schools which will support teaching and learning across a wide range of curricular areas.