Wild Land News no 63, Spring 2005

"Everyone" Campaign on Climate Change Article

Fiona Anderson reports on a Scottish Environment LINK initiative

On February 16th, the day the Kyoto Protocol came into effect in 136 countries, Scottish Environment Link launched its "Everyone" General Election Campaign on Climate Change. (Everyone stands for LINK's 26 member organisations, 500,000 supporters, one voice - SWLG is one of them.) A press presentation was held at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh. It was a fairly low-key affair, with three key speakers and a few questions, but the issues raised are worth thinking about.

Moving the environment, and climate change in particular, up the political agenda is the chief purpose of the campaign, and this will not be easily achieved either in the Scottish Parliament or in Westminster, despite it being one of the key issues of the forthcoming G8 Summit. Why? Because politicians find it hard to engage with a long term agenda, and they cannot get too far away from current public priorities. Ministers like Margaret Becket say they recognise the problems but they need environmental organisations to advance public opinion before they can take significant action. So Everyone is asking us to lobby election candidates in our areas to step up action to cut global climate change.

Fred Edwards, the LINK Chairman said Climate change is not just an environment issue; it will destroy the world economy. The Indian Ocean tsunami (though caused by earth tectonics) showed how vulnerable the developing world is to massive natural disasters. And plenty of these to follow with current temperature trends: extreme weather events and rising sea level could destabilize the economies of whole regions, or countries. After the floods of 2003 some places in Moray cannot get insurance for future storm damage. By 2050 it is forecast that damage globally will exceed countries GDP to pay for it, ie. the world will go broke!

He suggested ways the Government could be acting to implement the EU consensus target of cutting CO2 emissions year on year by 20% in 2010 and 60% by 2050. The campaign identifies 6 areas where action should be taken:

introducing domestic and commercial energy efficiency targets of 40% improvement by 2020;
making the price of all transport journeys more fairly reflect their cost to the environment; (cheap flights! congestion charging?)
requiring all new large public buildings to include Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and/or renewables;
setting tough emissions trading targets for power companies and industry;
doubling Research & Development investment in a full range of RE technologies;
creating a UK task force to take forward action to address climate change..

Professor Blackmore, Keeper of Botany at Royal Botanic Gardens of Scotland explained earlier how climate change has an important connection with plant diversity. The most southerly glacier in the northern hemisphere, in SW China, pictured in the photographs of George Forrest, the Scottish plant collector whose collections founded the gardens, has retreated 250 m in the last 20 years. Though some people doubt from looking at tree rings, whether climate changes are other than cyclical, a recent article in Nature on pollen deposition over 10,000 years found that no summer since 1370 had been as warm as 2003. There will be no winners in this game. In the past, plant species, each with their own preferences and tolerances, could migrate. This is no longer possible in many parts of the world owing to the works of man. Although similar species may occur elswhere in the world, the genetic differences are often important. We must all play our part to revegetate, conserve and save energy -every household can make a difference.

Robin Pellow, the Chairman of NTS, said that climate change is of concern to all organisations that manage large parts of Scotland. The Kyoto signatories should set sanctions for countries that do not meet the targets - trading CO2 emission credits with other countries should not be allowed.

There was only one question at the end, raising the issue of wind farms to meet CO2 reduction targets. The answer from the platform was that wind power would not be effective enough to meet national targets, and the best alternative is combined heat and power schemes, as used extensively in Scandinavia , where heating requirements are high. Also that strategic guidance from the Government on location of windfarms is urgently needed.

SWLG would say Amen to that, but go further: a national strategy is needed for Renewable Energy, agreed at least in principle between Government, Industry, local authorities and NGOs that would direct the power industry as to technologies and locations, protecting wild land qualities, as well as giving future technologies (offshore wind, wave and tidal) more generous long term support. Such a strategy could even direct subsidies that presently line the coffers of the power companies to subsidizing the undergrounding of the grid line and undersea cables to by-pass the Highlands.

But quite as important for Kyoto as a national strategy for new energy projects is active promotion of traditional energy efficiency in energy saving methods and products in the home and workplace, especially insulation, but most of all in transport. Energy use in buildings currently contributes 40% of greenhouse gas emissions, but reductions in emissions made by business and the public sector are being wiped out by rises in transport, which could be the largest source of CO2 before 2015. Energy efficiency in transport will only be achieved, not by contentious road charging schemes in pilot cities like Edinburgh, that depend on wit and skill by local politicians to gain public support, but policies argued properly by the Government for all roads and urban areas. Energy savings in the home and in transport choices are spheres where action by individuals, rather than by an industry, can make a difference - but only with government incentives and support. Without that, at our present rate of progress Scotland will miss the 2050 target by half.