Climate change

Climate change effects on Scotland

Stephen Richard — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 17:10:58 +0000

Climate change effects on Scotland Stephen Richard Mon, 10/18/2021 - 18:10

Author or Creator

Common Weal

Scotland will be equally affected by climate change in the same way as all of northern Europe. The actions we need to take are in the sectors of:

energy,
population
consumption

These are the three key drivers of climate change in Scotland. Scotland's land, natural resources, wealth and renewable energy resources mean that very few nations are anywhere near as well placed as us to meet our climate change responsibilities.

Sources and Links

https://commonweal.scot/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/21-For-21.pdf

Keywords

Climate change

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

George Monbiot: Independent Scotland could show a way out of climate crisis

Vicky Fairley — Sat, 30 Oct 2021 10:04:33 +0000

George Monbiot: Independent Scotland could show a way out of climate crisis

Primary Author or Creator

Spowart, Nan

Vicky Fairley Sat, 10/30/2021 - 11:04

Publisher

The National

Date Published

Sun, 10/17/2021 - 12:00

Category

Climate change

Campaigning

Independence

Type of Resource

newspaper article

Fast Facts

George Monbiot interview highlights the need for mass mobilisation to combat climate change. The 2014 Scottish Independence movement provides a good example of how to create a mass movement in the 21st century.

More details

Leading environmental campaigner George Monbiot criticises the lamentable ineffectiveness of the current climate change movement, stating that the current mass movement needs to grow substantially in order to effect the change required. He maintains that governments and big business will not act unless we make it impossible for them to maintain the status quo and to do that we need to ''mobilise, mobilise, mobilise.'' He cites the Scottish Independence campaign of 2014 as an example of effective mobilisation and posits that Scotland could lead the way in combatting the climate crisis.

Resource Address (URL)

https://www.thenational.scot/news/19652546.george-monbiot-independent-scotland-…

Keywords

Climate change

Environment

2014 independence referendum

Language English

Scotland’s new choice; Independence after Brexit

Stephen Richard — Sun, 26 Sep 2021 11:24:54 +0000

Scotland’s new choice; Independence after Brexit

Primary Author or Creator

Eve Hepburn

Stephen Richard Sun, 09/26/2021 - 12:24

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Michael Keating, Nicola McEwen, Centre on Constitutional Change

Alternative Published Date

2021

Category

Independence

Type of Resource

Book

Length (Pages, words, minutes etc...)

230pp

Fast Facts

, we have drawn together leading experts to examine the key issues, opportunities and challenges surrounding the prospect of independence. Much has changed since the 2014 referendum – most notably, the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. By providing factual information and impartial analysis, we hope that the book can support citizens to engage in debates and make up their own minds about Scotland’s future.

More details

ISBN 978-1-8384433-1-3

Resource Address (URL)

https://www.centreonconstitutionalchange.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2021-03/Scot…

Keywords

Constitution

Referendum

Sovereignty of the people

Political participation

International relations

Brexit

Language English

Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Full Report

Stephen Richard — Sun, 26 Sep 2021 06:30:19 +0000

Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Full Report

Primary Author or Creator

IPCC

Stephen Richard Sun, 09/26/2021 - 07:30

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Add additional Authors and/or Publisher

Alternative Published Date

2021

Category

Climate change

Type of Resource

Scientific report

Length (Pages, words, minutes etc...)

3949pp

Fast Facts

This report gives the current state of climate change at 2012, the possible climate futures, risk assessments for regions of the world, and the actions required to limit future climate change.

Resource Address (URL)

https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Full_Report.pdf

Keywords

Climate Emergency

Climate change

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Language English

IPCC Special; with 21 Actions for Scotland to do Right Now

Stephen Richard — Tue, 21 Sep 2021 14:00:35 +0000

IPCC Special; with 21 Actions for Scotland to do Right Now

Primary Author or Creator

Craig Dalzell

Stephen Richard Tue, 09/21/2021 - 15:00

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Keith Baker, Douglas Chapman Ali Anderson, Common Weal

Date Published

Wed, 08/11/2021 - 12:00

Category

Climate change

Type of Resource

Podcast

Length (Pages, words, minutes etc...)

41:52 minutes

Fast Facts

Implications for Scotland and the world if we fail to act on the climate emergency and why this report represents the last change to make those changes. They then discuss Common Weal’s latest policy paper 21 For 21 which offers 21 actions that the Scottish Government should take immediately in light of the IPCC report.

Common Weal podcast #96

Resource Address (URL)

https://commonweal.scot/podcast/the-common-weal-policy-podcast-episode-96/

Keywords

Climate Emergency

Climate change

Environment

Language English

21 For 21: The Climate Change Actions Scotland Needs Now

Stephen Richard — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 20:50:44 +0000

21 For 21: The Climate Change Actions Scotland Needs Now

Primary Author or Creator

Common Weal

Stephen Richard Sun, 09/12/2021 - 21:50

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Energy Policy Group

Date Published

Mon, 08/09/2021 - 12:00

Category

Climate change

Type of Resource

Policy Paper

Fast Facts

21 Policies that would enable Scotland to meet our responsibilities as laid out by the 2021 IPCC Sixth Assessment Report

More details

The 21 actions we are calling for are as follows:

1. Build a Green New Deal
Scotland needs a comprehensive, coordinated plan which delivers major social benefits while tackling climate change

2. Start our own energy company
A National Energy Company will let us build and control the infrastructure Scotland needs to decarbonise

3. Plan our energy future
Setting up a Scottish Energy Development Agency enables us to plan the infrastructure we need in the public good

4. Build what we need in the right way
By establishing a National Infrastructure Company we can ensure that the infrastructure we need is built to the highest standard and owned by the public

5. Leave no-one without a warm house
A proper, coordinated plan of increasing energy efficiency for all homes without exception will help householders and reduce carbon

6. Capture waste heat and use it
If we introduce a Heat Supply Act it can require large producers of waste heat to capture and recycle that heat for public use

7. Future-proof the electricity grid
We must commit to long-term investment in local electricity grid reinforcement, management and energy storage to prepare for a secure, renewable energy future

8. Fair connection charges for Scotland’s power
Renewable energy production in Scotland pays a very high cost for feeding it into the grid – this is unjust and must be reformed

9. End coal, end nuclear
Scotland has bountiful renewable energy resources and has no need for dangerous and polluting fuels and energy technologies

10. No new oil
Scotland must ban new oil and gas exploration and set out a route map for phasing out all fossil fuels

11. Train a renewables workforce
To transition people from the fossil fuel and nuclear industries and prepare them for a renewable future we should set up a ‘one-stop shop’ for retraining

12. Back a green hydrogen road-map
Scotland needs clear guidance on how we develop and use Green Hydrogen so we can built this new industry as quickly and efficiently as possible

13. Make energy efficiency meaningful
The way we measure the thermal performance of buildings is riddled with problems so we must reform Energy Performance Certificates so they reflect reality

14. Measure the whole-life energy of houses
Include embodied energy (the energy needed to build a house, not just run it) in the next revision of the Building Standards

15. Energy-efficient appliances only
The energy rating of electrical appliances is about to be revised, so choose now to ban the sale of appliances with ratings below the new C level

16. Make localism work
Prioritising localism has enormous energy-saving benefits so make all neighbourhoods ‘20-minute neighbourhoods’

17. Set a legal right to homeworking
Homeworking saves energy and time, so while not everyone can or wants to home work and no-one should be forced, anyone who does should be given the right to do so

18. Fewer cruise ships
Cruise ships are environmentally damaging and don’t help the economy so Scotland should introduce a quota for cruise ships entering Scottish waters and ports

19. Explore a flights quota
There is no green alternative to the way we fly available so we must limit our flights with flight quotas, a moratorium on airport expansion and investment in airships

20. Divest from fossil fuel
Require all public sector bodies to commit to divesting from fossil fuels in the next year

21. Clean politics
End the influence fossil fuel lobbyists have over our politics by signing up to the Fossil Free Politics campaign

Resource Address (URL)

https://commonweal.scot/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/21-For-21.pdf

Keywords

Renewable manufacturing

Hydrogen

Energy efficient buildings

Homeworking

Language English

Divest¦Reinvest: Scottish Council Pensions for a future worth living in

Stephen Richard — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 07:54:51 +0000

Divest¦Reinvest: Scottish Council Pensions for a future worth living in

Primary Author or Creator

Ric Lander

Stephen Richard Tue, 09/07/2021 - 08:54

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Flick Monk, Friends of the Earth Scotland, Unison Scotland, Common Weal

Alternative Published Date

March 2017

Category

Pensions

Local government

Type of Resource

Policy Paper

Fast Facts

A report by Common Weal, Friends of the Earth Scotland and Unison Scotland into divestment of Scottish pension funds from fossil fuel companies and re-investment into socially and environmentally useful investments.

More details

― Scotland’s councils continue to invest in the companies most responsible for climate change, holding a £1,683 million stake in fossil fuel companies through their pension funds.

― 4.8% of the Scottish Local Government Pension Scheme is invested in fossil fuels – £3,300 for every scheme member. £543 million is directly invested in oil and gas and £113 million in coal. The majority of holdings, £1,046 million, were invested through intermediaries.

― Councils invest in BP, who are fracking and drilling for oil in the Arctic as well as having a history of campaigning against subsidies for renewable energy, and BHP Billiton, the 12th largest extractor of coal in the world, currently mining in the centre of the Borneo rainforest and facing prosecution over Brazil’s worst ever environmental disaster.

― Only three councils were found to be actively investing in socially and environmentally beneficial projects. The Strathclyde, Falkirk and Lothian Pension Funds invest a combined £234 million in renewable energy and social housing. Although encouraging, this represents just 0.7% of the Scotland-wide scheme’s value.

― Pension funds are some of the largest investors in the world and with auto-enrolment requiring more people than ever to join a pension, the money put aside for our retirement is set to become even more powerful. Pension funds are dependent on the future of the world economy and have the power to shape it. Councils must be willing to influence the pensions industry to ensure we all have a future worth retiring for.

― Scotland’s local councils run the Scottish Local Government Pension Scheme, a £35.4 billion pension scheme with 505,769 members. The scheme’s advisory board estimates one in five of the population have a financial interest in the fund.

― 335,000 households are on social housing waiting lists in Scotland and we are undergoing massive job losses in North Sea oil and gas, where production peaked in 1999.

― Scotland has been leading the fight against climate change with world-leading legislation and carbon emissions falling considerably over the last 10 years. In 2015 world leaders, recognising that the burning of fossil fuels is damaging the earth’s ability to support life, signed a historic treaty aimed at limiting global warming to 1.5°C.

― As the world shifts away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy Scotland can continue to lead the way in tackling climate change by taking money out of fossil fuels and putting it back into local economies and sustainable jobs. The Governor of the Bank of England has warned that the vast majority of fossil fuel reserves are unburnable if climate change is to be limited to safe levels as pledged by the world’s governments.

― Because the value of fossil fuel companies is directly linked to the amount of coal, oil and gas that companies can burn, any action that governments take to tackle climate change threatens the future profitability of fossil fuel companies. This makes climate change a clear financial concern for investors.

― Some investors are taking bold action to limit climate change and the risks it brings by divesting from fossil fuels and reinvesting in sustainable projects. Eight universities and churches in Scotland have made a commitment to cut their investments in fossil fuels along with five pension funds elsewhere in the UK. Across the world 701 institutions, with total investments valued at $5.5 trillion USD, have divested.

― No Scottish councils have any made a commitment to divest from fossil fuel companies. In fact the majority have never even discussed climate change and the risks it poses to their pension funds. Those who have, have done little to change what they invest in instead falling back on the practice of ‘engagement’ – persuading fossil fuel companies to transition to renewable energy – an approach to climate risk which has been widely debunked.

― Ignoring climate change won’t make it go away. Council pension funds that fail to act on climate change will risk heavy losses and face the possibility of a legal challenge. If investors continue with business as usual the risk of financial and environmental catastrophe will only grow.

― A public commitment to divest, such as that made by the London Borough of Waltham Forest or the University of Glasgow, limits exposure to risks and promotes the wider action on climate change we need to bring about a sustainable economy. Reinvesting in social housing and renewable energy will also help build sustainable local economies here in Scotland. This is something councils can do right now, within their existing structures.

Resource Address (URL)

https://commonweal.scot/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Divest%C2%A6Reinvest.pdf

Keywords

Climate change

pension fund investments

Scottish Local Government Pension Scheme

Local Government

Language English