Climate Change Campaign Success!

Congratulations!

Everyone has to adapt to the effects of global warming, but we are lucky enough that adapting to climate change is rarely a matter of life or death. However, for millions of people in developing countries, climate change means going without food because of failed harvests, setting up home under plastic sheeting after floods, increased risk of deadly diseases such as malaria, or fleeing their communities because of intensifying conflict over fewer resources.

All year SCIAF campaigners have been asking the Scottish Government for a strong and meaningful Climate Change Bill which will help Scotland play its part in combating the devastating effects of climate change around the world.

The recent announcement from Cabinet Secretary John Swinney has revealed that the Scottish Government has accepted many of the demands of SCIAF campaigners relating to the Scottish Climate Change Bill!

The Scottish Government has committed to:

• Emissions reductions of 80% by 2050, from the basket of six greenhouse gases, and not just CO2;
• Annual targets to measure progress and encourage immediate action to reduce emissions;
• Inclusion of aviation and shipping emissions in the targets.

We have already seen the UK Government following suit – raising their targeted cuts in emissions from 60% to 80% and also including aviation & shipping in the UK bill.

Thank you to everyone who sent a postcard to their MSP, wrote a letter, sent an email or organised an event over the last year!

Thanks to you and our colleagues in the Stop Climate Chaos Scotland coalition, Scotland is leading the world in facing up to our historical responsibility for climate change, which is impacting hardest on poor and vulnerable people overseas who have done least to cause it.

SCIAF’s next challenge is to take this world-leading piece of legislation and use it as an example to other industrialised countries to show what can and must be done to fight climate change - which we will do over the coming year.

The impacts of changes in the weather are already affecting Don Valeriano, a farmer from El Salvador, Central America. He called on the most developed countries to “consider their behaviour… and ask them to actively do something to save our planet, because they are destroying it”.

I am sure he would be thanking you today for all you have done.