Global Warning! Climate Change & Poverty

Climate change is an issue of justice. It is likely to cause disproportionate harm to the poorest and most vulnerable people on earth… the very people who have done least to cause it. It represents one of the most dangerous threats to progress in the struggle against poverty.

This topic can be controversial because much of the debate focuses on predictions of the future. But the scientific consensus is now crystal clear: climate change is happening; it is caused by human activity; and in order to prevent catastrophic results we have to limit the rise in global temperatures to no more than two degrees centigrade.

If the best engineers in the world warned that your house was likely to collapse any minute, would you ignore them or would you take steps to sort it out? Given the importance, the scale, and the potential consequences of climate change – particularly for developing countries – we simply cannot afford to sit, wait, and hope that the vast majority of climate scientists have got this spectacularly wrong.

Scotland has to take responsibility and do its fair share. This is not the case at present. In 2005 a single Scottish power station – Longannet on the River Forth – emitted more carbon dioxide (CO2) than the entire combined national totals of ten sub-Saharan African countries with a combined population of 155 million. This is unsustainable and simply unfair.

" The climatic situation is changing. There is either heavy rain, or (it is) drastically dry. This is affecting the rural poor, particularly the farming community. Water facilities have been drastically reduced and crops have failed (leaving many people) unable to feed their family throughout the year"
– Nara Yanappa, of SCIAF partner organisation Prakruti in Southern India.

Crucially, it is not too late to make a difference. United Nations’ scientific advisors say that in order to prevent temperatures rising by more than 2OC, industrialised nations must cut their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by 2050. The Scottish Government is bringing forward a Climate Change Bill. Scotland is one of the first countries to draft such legislation, and others will look at our example. It is vital that we get it right.

Read SCIAF's response to the Scottish Climate Change Bill consultation.

Write to your MSP to campaign for a strong Scottish Climate Change Bill.