The Alliance welcomes the SCCS reponse to the UK Committee on Climate Change advice to the Scottish Government about the principles they should adopt for their recovery from coronavirus.
Stop Climate Chaos Scotland said they recognise that the COVID-19 crisis is the worst health emergency in living memory, and while the long-term social and economic impact is yet to be properly understood, our governments are rightly starting to consider what recovery looks like.
This is therefore a critical moment in which our governments can choose to put us on a path to a low carbon future. Dealing with the COVID-19 crisis is clearly the priority right now, but the climate crisis has not gone away and government commitments to transition to net-zero emissions remain in place.
In the coming months policymakers will be making decisions about how and where to invest public money to rebuild our economy and SCCS want to see our governments use this opportunity to invest in the technologies and industries that hold the key to a climate safe future.
At the Alliance we support this view, but for us, the pandemic has also brought into sharp focus that the health of everyone everywhere is only as strong as its weakest link and that we are all responsible for each other’s health. And we believe this is not only true for collective health, but it rings true across all dimensions of sustainable development – our economic prosperity, our climate and our environment.
We want to governments everywhere to recognise that our recovery must just, fair and equitable. The most marginalised and vulnerable across the world will be impacted by this crisis at new levels not yet fully understood. So we must also double down on our efforts to support those in need, and help others to see why it is so important.
Tom Ballantine, Chair of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, commented:
“It is essential that tackling climate change and meeting our climate commitments are at the top of the agenda when governments think about economic recovery.”
“Governments face difficult challenges in the months and years ahead in trying to repair the recent damage done to the economy. The government must look to the future and the sort of Scotland we want to become. We have to use this opportunity to invest in those parts of the economy that put us on the path to a low carbon future”.
Tom Ballantine concluded:
“It is also vitally important that any recovery package is part of a global just transition. It is essential that we rebuild our economies in a way that protects the most vulnerable, and ensures we fulfil our international, financial, and other, obligations to those in the global south who are already paying a heavy price for our historic emissions.
“At home, it is vital that we build back better, ensuring that our economic recovery package is aligned with a just transition, and a healthier, greener and fairer society.”