The National newspaper in Scotland just published my comment piece on the hypocrisy of Scotland’s leadership when it comes to climate change…You can read it here (without having to subscribe)…
The Scottish government is ignoring a once-in-a-century opportunity: leading the transition to a carbon zero economy. By going along with the business-as-usual model, as perfected by Westminster, Scotland is allowing itself to be led by the charming lobbyists of big business.
The SNP like to talk up their environmental credentials. Their policy says a lot about “ambition”, plenty about cutting CO2 emissions (due to the closure of two coal-fired power stations), lots of breathless news about small “pilot” projects, but nothing (that I can find) on changing the status quo.
Scottish news shows a government that lacks the courage to implement its own rhetoric: The Herald reports that North Sea oil “flaring” pumps out 4m tonnes of CO2 a year; and the Climate Change Committee, which advises the UK government, says that Scotland’s targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions are “fantastic” but Holyrood is unlikely to achieve them.
The Scottish government isn’t alone in ignoring the problem. A new report found that oil and gas subsidies amount to hundreds of billions of pounds a year: “Fossil fuel production subsidies – such as those used by the US, UK, Russia, China and the EU – make fossil fuel industries more profitable by reducing their costs, boosting the returns to elites and helping sustain their political power.”
With a hostile press, political challenges, financial pressures, not to mention the pandemic, is it any surprise that climate change policy is left on the shelf? Surely this can be prioritised when Scotland is independent?
The time for leadership is now!
I would argue that now is the ideal time to stake Scotland’s claim as a global leader in climate change transition – especially with the next big climate jamboree (COP26) slated for Glasgow.
Currently there is a vacancy for the top job of “Global Leader in Climate Change Transition”. We need a national leader with the courage, conviction, focus and determination of Greta Thunberg. Someone who calls out the greenwash and token gestures of industry and government.
Most citizens of the world now realise that we must change our ways if we are to avoid climate catastrophe, and all governments pay lip service to it. What’s missing is one government actively putting it into practice; to demonstrate that it is possible to aggressively take on big industry.
Perhaps the most difficult challenge is for governments to tell its citizens the truth; that our way of heating, eating, dressing, and travelling is killing the planet. The good news is that each carbon cutting alternative – such as renewable energy and vegan food – represents a sector of new business growth.
What do you think? Do you agree there is a huge opportunity for a national leader to take the lead when it comes to climate change? Could it be Scotland? Could it be your national leader? Will it be anyone or will we continue to pay lip service as our future burns?
I’d be most grateful if you left a comment below here.
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Really good points and agree wholeheartedly.
We do need leaders in each country, each region and backed by both innovation and investment, thought leaders, ideas and action.
It’s there, seeds are planted. Each week projects come across my desk that show this.
Sadly it needs momentum, I don’t see anyone in U.K. leadership who has the ability to drive this. In the meanwhile it is individuals joining together not competitively but collaboratively to build strong networks.
Current carbon-based business makes noise but viciously protects historic market investments.
We need to work with the roots and nourish growth.
Dear Kate, I really appreciate your comment as you hit the nail on the head: there is a chronic lack of leadership about this issue everywhere in the world. I just heard Bill Gates on BBC Radio 4 this morning saying tackling climate change will be much harder than dealing with Covid 19. Very true, as nothing like this has ever been done and you know how hard it is to change people’s behaviour (imagine telling people they must stop using oil, gas, plastic and intensively farmed animals products!).
The only times I can remember a national leader really making a stand was the president of The Maldives, many years ago, at one of those big UN Climate Change jamborees; the fact that he made the headlines simply by saying “enough is enough” gave me the idea that the political opportunity is massive — as are the risks — for a leader to just tell its people they have to change.
All this does actually remind me of a British leader I hated so much that I left Britain with an intention of never coming back — Maggie Thatcher. Not only did she tell the voters “we must tighten our belts” and “things will get worse before they get better”, but she was the first British leader to speak up about climate change. I remember how big business and government all applauded her environmental approach; but I suspect that was when they learned that if they made bold statements, did some clever PR (greenwashing), threw some spare change at token projects, they could essentially get away with business-as-usual. The bottom line is that all governments I have observed — be they on the left or right — are afraid of upsetting the threat of big business leaving their jurisdiction; i.e. they will do nothing to upset the big polluters for fear of losing those particular jobs. It’s a bit like someone trapped in an abusive relationship; the victim will complain bitterly to friends and family but they are so trapped in a web of fear, guilt and depression that they lack the sheer courage needed to break free.
Extinction Rebellion (XR) had an inspiring slogan “Beyond Politics” and I mistakenly understood this to mean they would appeal to people across the political spectrum, as there are a lot of conservatives who believe in “conservation” and their beliefs are similar to those on the left who believe in “environmentalism.” The sad truth is that both sides are highly politicised — the left, for example, gets bogged down in the complexities of “social justice” — and will not work together. Much of the British media has gone along with the Tory Party’s tactic of labelling the XR rebels as hard leftists and thus painted them into a corner with Momentum and Corbynistas — making them unappealing to the man on the street.
But the essential ideas of adapting to climate change are non-political and concern the changing of individual and corporate behaviour — all those other issues that left and right argue about must be left at the side of the road and parties could work together on those issues that they do agree on. Imagine a Venn diagram with two circles; the one on the right contains all the beliefs of conservatives; and that on the left with the socialists. In the middle is the common ground where there is just one point: “carbon zero by 2050”. If they could agree on that, and agree to work together, they could make rapid and dramatic progress.