Welcome to my Blog

I am a semi-retired former Scottish trade union policy wonk, now working on a range of projects. This includes the Director of the Jimmy Reid Foundation. All views are my own, not any of the organisations I work with. You can also follow me on Twitter. Or on Threads @davewatson1683. I hope you find this blog interesting and I would welcome your comments.

Friday 5 November 2010

Big Climate Connection

The Stop Climate Chaos Coalition is calling on people across the UK to connect with other people in their communities on the 5th or 6th of November and lobby their MPs. SCCS is Scotland's biggest member coalition representing nearly 2 million Scots calling for action on climate change.



The world needs a global solution to climate change delivered by a fair, ambitious and binding agreement under the United Nations. The UK should deliver real leadership: leading by example to deliver on a low carbon economy at home, and leading in the global negotiations to push for richer countries to provide support for action in developing countries.
 In the next few months there are two key opportunities for MPs to influence the global and domestic climate change agenda: the Energy Security and Green Economy Bill and the UN Climate Conference in Cancun.

In the Energy Security and Green Economy Bill, introduce enabling legislation so a strong Emissions Performance Standard (EPS) for fossil fuel power stations can be set to enable delivery of a decarbonised electricity supply by 2030.

At the Cancun International Climate talks in December the UK should support the establishment of one common climate fund to help developing countries adapt to climate change, develop in a low carbon way and protect their forests. The UK should also champion innovative sources of public climate finance and guarantee that UK money for adaptation in developing countries will be provided as grants rather than loans.

Lots of materials to support the Big Climate Connection can be viewed at the SCCS website.


And on the subject of climate change please support stronger duties on public bodies. Scotland has tough targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and our local authorities and other public bodies have a major part to play in achieving these targets. Thanks to campaigning by UNISON and others in Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, public bodies have statutory duties under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. Yet the Scottish Government does not plan to require public bodies to report on what they are actually doing to reduce emissions – making it difficult to monitor their performance and therefore their overall progress. You can respond to the current consultation through our Green Workplaces page.

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