SCIAF gives evidence on climate change at Holyrood

Politicians on Holyrood’s Environment Committee heard about the impact climate change is having on some of the world’s poorest people when our Policy Officer Ben Wilson gave evidence to them.

Ben, from our Advocacy team, was invited to give evidence to the committee around the Climate Change Bill to highlight the global implications of the legislation.

He emphasised that climate change is having a huge impact on those we work with overseas, who are already dealing with increasingly severe and unpredictable weather which can leave them short of food and water.

The Environment Committee at Holyrood also heard from Ben that climate change is a moral issue, and countries like Scotland, who have contributed most to the crisis through the burning of fossil fuels since the Industrial Revolution, have the responsibility and means to do more to solve it.

The hearing follows the publication of a report by the Committee on Climate Change, an independent group of experts who advise the UK Government on the issue. Following its recommendations, and years of campaigning by our supporters, the Scottish Government committed to achieving net-zero emissions for Scotland by 2045. This means radically reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and ensuring the harmful effects of any emissions being released into the atmosphere are cancelled out by measures to absorb the gases like planting trees.

While we welcome the targets set by the Scottish Government, MSPs were also told that Scotland should do more to address the climate emergency, by committing to reduce our harmful emissions in the next decade by 80%.