Scotland ‘won’t get a second chance on the climate crisis’, says Oxfam Scotland in response to a critical independent report on climate action in Scotland
The UK Committee on Climate Change has published its latest Progress Report to the Scottish Parliament and the first five-yearly review of Scottish Emissions Targets. The Committee says progress in cutting emissions has “largely stalled” in Scotland, with “glaring gaps” in the Scottish Government’s plan for achieving the 2030 target. It says Scotland’s legal targets are “in danger of becoming meaningless”.
Oxfam Scotland says greater investment in climate action is now essential, and that this must include making polluters pay for their damage – starting with next week’s Scottish Budget.
Responding, Jamie Livingstone, Head of Oxfam Scotland, said: “Scotland won’t get a second chance to tackle the climate crisis: if we don’t cut our emissions in line with at least our legal targets, then it means more poverty, more hunger, and more lives lost both now and in the future.
“This sharply critical report must finally be the trigger for a major and urgent rethink of how much and how fast we’re investing in climate action in Scotland.
“Ambitious sounding emissions reduction targets mean very little to those facing the consequences of insufficient action from rich, high-polluting nations like Scotland — like the people on the precipice of famine in East Africa.
“We hear lots of talk in Scotland about the need for a ‘just transition’ but, to be truly just, this transition must also be much faster. So, while the Scottish Government is shaping future delivery plans, we need more investment immediately and the Committee’s call for greater clarity and transparency cannot continue to go unanswered.
“Starting with the Scottish Budget next week, we must make polluters pay in Scotland for the damage they are causing. Investing in the actions needed to drive down emissions, like rapidly insulating our homes and reducing the cost of public transport, would also help to address the cost-of-living crisis.”
ENDS
Oxfam Scotland co-funded recent research for Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, Financing Climate Justice: Fiscal measures for climate action in a time of crisis, setting out a range of options to better spend existing public money to drive climate action, as well as new measures to generate additional resources to invest in climate action.
In October, Oxfam warned that one person is likely to die of hunger every 36 seconds between now and the end of the year in drought-ravaged East Africa as the worst hit areas hurtle towards famine.
For more information, or to arrange an interview, please contact: Natalie Terry, Media and Communications Advisor, Oxfam Scotland, nterry1@oxfam.org.uk | (+44) 7906 139 293