by Rupert Wolfe Murray | 14 Feb, 2021 | Opinions
The National newspaper in Scotland just published my comment piece on the hypocrisy of Scotland’s leadership when it comes to climate change…You can read it here (without having to subscribe)…
The Scottish government is ignoring a once-in-a-century opportunity: leading the transition to a carbon zero economy. By going along with the business-as-usual model, as perfected by Westminster, Scotland is allowing itself to be led by the charming lobbyists of big business.
The SNP like to talk up their environmental credentials. Their policy says a lot about “ambition”, plenty about cutting CO2 emissions (due to the closure of two coal-fired power stations), lots of breathless news about small “pilot” projects, but nothing (that I can find) on changing the status quo.
Scottish news shows a government that lacks the courage to implement its own rhetoric: The Herald reports that North Sea oil “flaring” pumps out 4m tonnes of CO2 a year; and the Climate Change Committee, which advises the UK government, says that Scotland’s targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions are “fantastic” but Holyrood is unlikely to achieve them.
The Scottish government isn’t alone in ignoring the problem. A new report found that oil and gas subsidies amount to hundreds of billions of pounds a year: “Fossil fuel production subsidies – such as those used by the US, UK, Russia, China and the EU – make fossil fuel industries more profitable by reducing their costs, boosting the returns to elites and helping sustain their political power.”
With a hostile press, political challenges, financial pressures, not to mention the pandemic, is it any surprise that climate change policy is left on the shelf? Surely this can be prioritised when Scotland is independent?
The time for leadership is now!
I would argue that now is the ideal time to stake Scotland’s claim as a global leader in climate change transition – especially with the next big climate jamboree (COP26) slated for Glasgow.
Currently there is a vacancy for the top job of “Global Leader in Climate Change Transition”. We need a national leader with the courage, conviction, focus and determination of Greta Thunberg. Someone who calls out the greenwash and token gestures of industry and government.
Most citizens of the world now realise that we must change our ways if we are to avoid climate catastrophe, and all governments pay lip service to it. What’s missing is one government actively putting it into practice; to demonstrate that it is possible to aggressively take on big industry.
Perhaps the most difficult challenge is for governments to tell its citizens the truth; that our way of heating, eating, dressing, and travelling is killing the planet. The good news is that each carbon cutting alternative – such as renewable energy and vegan food – represents a sector of new business growth.
What do you think? Do you agree there is a huge opportunity for a national leader to take the lead when it comes to climate change? Could it be Scotland? Could it be your national leader? Will it be anyone or will we continue to pay lip service as our future burns?
I’d be most grateful if you left a comment below here.
by Rupert Wolfe Murray | 31 Jan, 2021 | Opinions
I first published this article in 2021 but now (2025) it still seems relevant.
Here’s the article:
During the 2014 referendum I was against independence but now I’m in the unclaimed centre ground, the no-man’s land, the “Don’t Knows”. I’m open to persuasion.
I could have been a Yes voter first time round but two things put me off: Alex Salmond’s bulldozing through of Donald Trump’s application to destroy a Site of Special Scientific Interest, to create a golf course near Aberdeen; and the fact that my questions about Scottish independence were met with abuse on social media.
For many years I worked on EU-funded projects in Central and Eastern Europe and in 2006 I spent a frantic month helping the Romanian government (successfully) negotiate the most difficult part of EU-accession: the chapter on Justice and Home Affairs. I naively thought this experience would be of interest to Yes supporters, but whenever I asked how Scotland would re-join the EU I got shot down in flames (this comment I wrote in Huffington Post caused outrage on social networks).
New Questions
This time round Brexit and the shambolic way the British government have managed the pandemic has pushed me back into the centre.
But my questions are different now: how will Nicola Sturgeon handle Donald Trump in the future; and can Scotland show genuine leadership regarding climate change?
Although the SNP distanced themselves from Trump after his 2016 presidential election victory, they are currently faced with an embarrassing question: will the Scottish Government seek an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO)? Where did he get the cash to buy two Scottish golf courses? If they acted on this issue, the SNP would show that they don’t tolerate rich crooks.
My biggest concern is the climate emergency which is more serious than Brexit and the Covid 19 pandemic combined. If the SNP could show any real leadership on the issue I would be their biggest fan. But the Scottish government just follow the tired old formula used by Boris Johnson: recognise the problem, set up commissions, agree targets, fund small pilot projects – kick the issue along the road, claim success and, above all, do nothing to upset the status quo.
The Scottish government’s web page on climate change claims it is, “winning international respect for our ambition and leadership on climate change. Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions have already been reduced by almost half from the 1990 baseline.”
But the latest report by the Climate Change Committee says two thirds of these reductions in carbon emissions were due to closing a few coal-fired power stations, and: “Emissions from all other sectors outside of electricity generation have fallen by just 14%.”
The real elephant in the room is Big Oil. As with Trump, it comes down to raw political courage: will the SNP have the guts to stand up to the oil companies and – equally difficult – tell the people of Scotland that we all need to start making plans for a carbon-free future?
Writing in The National, Mark Ruskell says New Zealand recently ended new offshore oil and gas exploration and the government was rewarded at the polls: “Jacinda Ardern won a landslide and her Green Party allies increased their share of the vote while climate-ambivalent parties saw their vote share decrease.”
Perhaps the Scottish government could be the first European country that tells its people “Enough! No more oil! No more plastic! No more pollution! On your bikes!” That sort of leadership would inspire the continent and even big business would have to comply.
The one good thing about Covid 19 is that it has shown what governments can do – close down whole economies – if they feel the problem is serious enough. Whichever European leader has the guts to make this call will instantly become a leader in the new green economic revolution.
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This article was also published in the (pro-independence) Scottish newspaper, The National, in 2021. Here’s the link.
It was written in parallel with another article I wrote on the issue: Could Scotland Provide the Leadership Needed to Save the Planet?
What do you think about Scottish independence? I’d love to know, even if you live on the other side of the world. Please leave a comment below.
