Catholic aid agency calls on Scottish Government to act on climate change

Scots are joining with the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) in large numbers to call on the Scottish Government and MSPs to ensure Scotland does its "fair share" to tackle climate change, according to a Scottish opinion poll published on Wednesday.

The research, commissioned by SCIAF, is highlighted in its new report 'SCIAF's Global Warning!', which calls on the Scottish Government and MSPs to agree a strong Scottish Climate Change Bill.

The opinion poll found that 90 per cent of Scots agreed that "the Scottish Parliament should agree to do Scotland's fair share, as advised by the world's leading climate scientists, in terms of tackling climate change".

Eighty-five per cent agreed that "politicians have to take the lead in terms of setting targets and keeping our greenhouse gas emissions within sustainable limits".

The poll also found that most of the 1028 adults polled earlier this month (89%) believed that the UK Parliament should follow suit if the Scottish Parliament agrees to do its fair share in tackling climate change, while 94 per cent agreed that companies should take responsibility for their carbon footprints.

Mr Narayanappa, of SCIAF partner organisation Prakruti in southern India, works with small-scale farmers in drought-prone areas. He has witnessed changing weather patterns ranging from increased flooding to severe droughts and the impact that this has had on vulnerable farmers.

He said: "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."

SCIAF, as part of the Stop Climate Chaos Scotland coalition, is calling for the Scottish Government and Parliament to commit to limiting the global temperature increase to 2ºC and establish this as a principle in the Scottish Climate Change Bill.

It is also pressing for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050 and at least 3 per cent per annum.

SCIAF went on to recommend the establishment of a 'Carbon Fund' to give financial incentives or sanctions to public bodies to encourage emission reductions.

A proportion of the fund would help pay for adaptation in developing countries to compensate damage caused by Scotland's emissions, it said.

In 2005, just one of Scotland's power stations, Longannet on the River Forth, emitted ten times more CO2 than Malawi produces in a year, and more CO2 than ten sub-saharan African countries including Malawi, Rwanda, Burundi, Chad, Comoros, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Mali and the Central African Republic combined.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien said: "I saw for myself the effects of climate change in India where I met poor women who described how droughts had increased significantly over their lifetime. As a result, they were struggling to grow enough food to feed their families.

"While climate change will affect us all, it will hit the poorest people hardest although they have contributed least to the problem. Yet they are already witnessing increased droughts, floods and changing weather patterns."

He pointed to Pope Benedict who recently said that the monitoring of climate change was one of the factors contributing to peace.

Cardinal O'Brien continued: "All of us, from politicians to private citizens, have a part to play in combating the effects of climate change and I urge everyone to seize this moment in the interests of our generation and those who follow us."

He added that he would be urging the Scottish Government and MSPs to press for a strong Scottish Climate Change Bill when the government's imminent consultation paper is published.

"I join with ninety per cent of the Scottish public who believe the Parliament should agree to do Scotland's fair share to tackle climate change, as advised by the world's leading climate scientists," he said.

"Each and every MSP should remember that the price of not acting on climate change will be paid for by the lives of the poor around the world."

The Government is due to publish a consultation paper on a Scottish Climate Change Bill imminently.

SCIAF's Advocacy Manager Chris Hegarty said: "The harsh effects of global warming are already being felt by people in developing countries.

"Many such countries have poor infrastructure so people can lose everything, their homes, families, and livelihoods, in one climatic event.

"These same people have done least to cause the problem of climate change. Unless urgent action is taken the situation is likely to get much worse."

Raquel Cruz, a SCIAF partner in El Salvador, called on the Scottish Government to act responsibly in the face of climate change.

"If there is no global reduction in emissions, this is going to have a profound impact in very vulnerable countries," she said. "I would ask Scotland to think about balance; there needs to be balance between what we consume and what we need, because we are affecting other countries each and every single time we consume. Governments have a responsibility to act."

SCIAF's Global Warning! report can be downloaded from www.sciaf.org.uk/????