Hi John,
Earlier this week, the Scottish climate change bill was passed at Holyrood. Thanks to thousands of people like you who emailed, called and visited your MSPs, and who came along to protest at Holyrood right up until the last minute, what started out as a pretty inadequate piece of legislation became hugely more ambitious by the time it passed on Wednesday.
A great achievement
We know that what happens in the next ten years is going to make all the difference to the climate emergency that we’re facing. And thanks to public pressure, the target for reducing emissions by 2030 went from 66% in the first draft of the bill to 75% by the time it passed on Wednesday. That was a great achievement and a tangible reminder that people power makes a difference.
We have to be honest though – it’s still not enough. Because when we look at what the science tells us is needed and we think about what Scotland needs to do, as a rich country, to make its fair contribution to reducing global emissions then it’s clear that we need to reduce our emissions further and faster. So there’s still work for us to do.
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Of course it’s not all about targets. Because at the heart of the climate crisis is an economic system that puts profit before people and the planet. It’s a system that concentrates power and wealth in the hands of big business and super-rich individuals and which relies on plundering the planet for resources. And so many of our politicians on the one hand talk about the climate emergency but on the other cling to this economic model despite the fact that it is clearly failing.
To solve the climate crisis, the system has to change. The fossil fuel age has to end, we have to reign in the power of big business and we have to oppose false solutions like carbon trading and offsetting.
Solutions with justice and fairness at their heart are needed: energy democracy, agroecology, finance for countries in the global south to help them adapt to the impacts of climate change and also leapfrog dirty energy to renewables, and a welcome for people who’ve had to leave their homes because of the climate crisis. All of these must be part of the global response to the climate emergency.
We’ll continue our campaign for climate justice. We’ll continue to oppose mega trade deals that entrench the current economic system and we’ll continue to fight for a UN treaty to reign in the power of big business. We really hope you’ll continue to campaign with us.
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Thank you for your support.
Liz Murray
Global Justice Now Scotland
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