Blogger - Jim Densham, Senior Land Use Policy Officer, Scotland
On Wednesday evening, I got my laptop out 5 minutes before the Stop Climate Chaos Scotland climate debate was due to start only to remember that the sound was broken so I had to (politely) ask my wife to put the online food shopping on hold for a wee while. I’d been excited in the lead up to the event and it didn’t disappoint. I think the whole thing worked really well. It was both interesting and useful, and it was great to hear the political parties expressing their points of view.
When the link to the debate had loaded, I saw 5 politicians at a table waiting patiently for the action to start and the chairman who would be delivering the questions provided by online participants. Questions came up about a broad range of climate issues including transport and active travel policy, energy efficiency, how we help developing countries adapt to climate change, green jobs, biomass, and public procurement. There was also a big call from the online ‘chat’ that flowed alongside the debate for the party representatives to give their opinions on RBS and it’s bankrolling of tar sands extraction. One disappointment was that the action needed on peatlands in Scotland wasn’t covered, despite myself and others asking questions around it.
I also asked questions on how Scotland should adapt to the impacts of climate change. One online participant challenged me saying that adaptation is an easy get out for politicians and that we should focus solely on stopping climate change, so I countered that some climate change is inevitable and we have to adapt to it in a socially and environmentally responsible way. However, this got me thinking. Perhaps we have a way to go if we are to convince others of the need for Government action on adaptation and what that adaptation needs to look like. It also made me think that we need to do better in letting others know of the value of helping nature to help us.
There are loads of examples of how we can help ourselves by helping nature, both now and in the future. These solutions can be cheaper than conventional methods and have many knock-on benefits to us. A good example is how we respond to increasing flood risks from rising sea levels and more extreme storms. By helping nature through the creation of new coastal habitats, we can help ourselves because these habitats act as natural flood defences. This in turn would negate the need to build ever higher and more expensive sea walls and artificial flood defences to protect us.
I think the next Scottish Government needs to think differently. They need to have a long-term view of how land management, planning and conservation can work together towards the goal of a better Scotland - one which is worth living in.