How Scotland is becoming an outdated backwater as Europe embraces green revolution
From transport to home heating, Scotland is stuck in the past and we’re all paying the price, writes Mike Robinson, from Scotland's climate coalition
Scotland has shown leadership on climate change. But this is waning by the day as is evident in the too-often outdated ways we travel, heat our homes, and manage our land.
As of this week’s vote at Holyrood, Scotland has shifted away from annual climate targets to longer-term carbon budgets. The annual targets had been repeatedly missed, to the point that the government’s independent advisers last year concluded they had become “unachievable”.
The new budget system was passed after some feisty debate in the chamber, despite some abstentions and with opposition parties complaining over a lack of detail showing how emissions reductions will be achieved – information which should be provided in the upcoming new Climate Change Plan.
Scotland’s expensive 20th-century energy system
But whether we use annual targets or carbon budgets to measure progress, the problem – and the opportunities – remain the same. The content of the climate plan will tell us whether Scots will enjoy better places to live and work, or whether we will be kept stuck in the past.
Take energy bills. These are still driven by the cost of gas, even though last year most power came from much cheaper wind. Solar is coming down in price much quicker than any energy technology in history, and storage solutions are helping to deal with peaks and troughs in supply.
But we have a 20th-century energy and pricing system, and we are all paying unnecessarily for it. Fully embracing renewable technologies could solve fuel poverty and bring down household bills.
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It’s also beyond time to deliver a cleaner, greener transport system. Trains are getting (a little) cheaper and are now mostly electric. Buses are already free for younger and older people in Scotland – if the services are there for them. Putting this in place across the whole country would cost less than a tenth of a single roundabout on the Edinburgh City Bypass.
But too many people still have no alternative but to run their own car. Petrol and diesel prices are only going one way, but the number of places lacking access to charging stations for electric vehicles is still too high. In large part, we remain stuck with a dysfunctional transport system that Margaret Thatcher would recognise.
Slow trains and cold, leaky homes
Many journeys on public transport are still too expensive, while ministers continue to support airport expansion under the guise of “connectivity”. France has banned short-haul flights, but it only works because their trains are so much cheaper and more efficient. Paris to Marseille is slightly further than Edinburgh to London, but it’s quicker by more than an hour and typically a third of the price.
At the same time, our homes are still leaky, cold, expensive to heat and too often dependent on fossil fuels. This is both financially and environmentally short-sighted: we know how to make homes warm and easy to heat (or cool, as summers heat up), and have had the technology and expertise to make improvements for years. Other countries are powering ahead of us – heat pumps have seen substantial uptake elsewhere in Europe, and installations are also surging in the US and China.
Supporting households to retrofit insulation would pay for itself many times over. Raising building standards would provide a level playing field for the industry and reduce the chances of developers cutting corners to save costs at the expense of health and the environment.
On agriculture, ministers have already indicated they intend to leave subsidies stuck in the past, despite all the potential benefits in supporting a shift to environmentally friendly practices. Farmers are dealing with the impacts of climate change first-hand – we need to help them transition and guide that journey to a safer future for land use and food.
A no-brainer
On all these issues and more, we could act now and improve everyone’s lives, from work and finances to home and travel. And if these changes just happen to cut Scotland’s emissions at the same time, what’s not to like?
Saving money, saving lives and providing a safer path for the future? Surely it’s a no-brainer. And the quicker politicians get moving, the sooner benefits will flow.
The Scottish Government’s upcoming Climate Change Plan will be crucial in realising this vision, and must contain strong, measurable action to cut emissions and deliver real benefits to people’s lives.
But it is also vital that politicians from all parties support climate action and stop using it as a political football – it’s too important. It’s money well spent, driving a cleaner, safer future, instead of propping up a polluting past.
Tories’ reckless plans
First Minister John Swinney recently voiced concern over a new level of division on climate issues at the Scottish Parliament, marking a shift from what he described as a “consensus” just a handful of years ago.
Britain, and Scotland particularly, has benefitted from leadership on climate targets and associated actions, but this has petered out over the last five years and is now lost in political division and backtracking, with the Conservatives recently announcing that they would abandon the UK’s vital climate legislation if they got back into power at Westminster – an incredibly reckless step.
There has never been a more important time for everyone to unite on a mission that will benefit Scots and protect communities worldwide. And if we were to see a bold, ambitious plan for cutting emissions before the end of this month, perhaps claims that Scotland is a world leader on environmental action would regain some credibility.
It would demonstrate our determination to play a leading role on the 21st-century’s biggest challenge.
Mike Robinson is chair of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, a coalition of more than 70 member organisations with a shared mission to tackle climate change and nature-loss
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