I'm a Campaigner Get Me Out of Here...

Guest Blog: Chris Hegarty, SCIAF’s Advocacy Manager reports from the crucial UN climate talks in Spain.

I’m at the UN Climate Summit in Barcelona, the last stepping stone for UN climate negotiations before The Big One…Copenhagen in December. It is mind-numbingly intense and, in some ways, boring. Six thousand delegates dispersed across a conference centre so vast that there are moving walkways to ferry everyone around. People from every country on earth seemingly united by a desire to stare bleakly into their laptops and disappear from meetings to talk into mobile phones, the incoming call apparently marginally more important than the meeting they are leaving. Am I selling it to you yet?

But the reality is that participation in such events is absolutely crucial to SCIAF fulfilling its mission of ‘challenging injustice’. It is in unprepossessing surroundings such as this that experiences are shared, opinions are shifted, and decisions are taken. Decisions that will shape the future of the world, and the future of millions of people whose destiny is hitched to that of the climate. Decisions that absolutely must take into account the interests of the poor - those most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and least responsible for it.

We came here to host an event, along with our partners in the vast Caritas Internationalis network, about Scotland’s approach to climate change. Scotland has the world’s most ambitious climate legislation, and it was always the intention to multiply the impact of the Scottish legislation by pushing it to an international audience as a model that others should follow. We are delighted that the Scottish Government’s Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change, Stewart Stevenson is able to speak at the event, as is Jane Wood, Chief Executive of Scottish Business in the Community. Together we are presenting the political, business and NGO perspectives on why and how others should be inspired to follow Scotland’s lead...

The event is now over, and it was a great success. The audience included national delegates, NGO representatives from across the world, and journalists. We have already had interest about follow-up media coverage from places as far as New Zealand and from countries at the heart of this process such as Denmark, where the final decisions will be taken. Scotland’s example has reached its target audience. I’m really proud of what SCIAF has done to push this issue at the highest possible level. But I’ve had enough of windowless rooms, travelators and horrible coffee. I’m a campaigner, get me out of here...!!