First published at Conter
We live under an economic system which
encourages consumption on an industrial scale and the consequences of climate
change will be endured by future generations. What can we as activists do to
affect change here in Scotland? Pete Cannell and Brian Parkin write ahead of
this Saturday’s Just
Transitions conference in Edinburgh about the steps we need
to be taking…
We face an
existential threat. Unless there’s a rapid transition to a low/no carbon
economy there will be catastrophic climate change. The recent UN Climate report underlined how little time we have.
In years to come, our children and grand children may ask why, when the danger was clear, there was no mass movement to drive the change that’s required.
The UN
report, like government policies around the world, assumes the market will
adapt to meet carbon reduction targets. However, growth in solar and wind
energy production is taking place alongside a massive expansion in the use of
coal. It’s now certain if we rely on market forces, driven as they are by the
maximisation of profit, the targets will not be met.
The level of
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, already higher than it has been for 10
million years will continue to grow and average temperatures will continue to
rise.
But it’s also
clear if we drop the reliance on the market it’s possible to make the
transition to a low carbon economy in a way that will mitigate the future
effects of climate change and provide immediate benefits for most of the
world’s population. The Campaign Against Climate Change has developed a costed blueprint for
transition at a UK level and the notion of a Just Transition is gaining
traction around the world.
Today, a one-day
conference in Edinburgh
will look at how we can take the urgent steps needed for a Just Transition in
Scotland. We start with some real advantages and some major challenges.
Scotland as a ‘region’ of the UK is a distinct geo-political entity. It has a
significantly higher proportion of its adult workforce in industrial
employment.
Core
industrial sectors such as shipbuilding, heavy mechanical (and electrical)
engineering and construction have retained a ‘critical mass’ and skill content
of their workforces and have been able to keep pace with world class
technological developments. Long-term involvement in North Sea oil and gas has
developed the most advanced marine engineering and process systems base in the
world.
This is a
major technological asset with massive spin-off and diversification potential.
Scotland has by far the greatest share of the UK’s potential wave and tidal stream
renewable energy resources (about 75%) as well as about half of the useable
onshore and offshore wind.
It’s
important that energy policy, the creation of a state run energy company and
the creation of a green investment bank are on the Scottish Government agenda.
However, the initial proposals for these essential components of a strategy for
transition fall far short of the scale and ambition that’s required.
There also
seems to be little recognition of a looming energy crisis. In terms of electrical
capacity and distribution, Scotland is rapidly slipping from its
pre-electricity privatisation situation (1989) of a 50% over-capacity with
interconnector ‘exports’ to England and Wales and Northern Ireland, to one of
sharp capacity decline and a possible import dependency by 2025.
ScotE3, the
organisers of the conference argue that to build the momentum required for a
Just Transition a full and democratic debate is needed to tackle hard political
questions. Climate change in the abstract is terrifying. But recognition of the
threat can’t be confined to committed environmental activists.
If you’re
scared and feel powerless then it’s very unlikely you will join their ranks.
Indeed anger at inequality and fear for the future is precisely the terrain on
which the alt right is flourishing.
The
relatively small-scale initiatives to tackle climate change that are currently
in place or planned will neither be effective nor will they inspire confidence.
However, large scale investment that guarantees job security (and paid
retraining if required) for engineering workers in the construction and defence
sectors as the switch is made to climate jobs would be hugely popular in these
sectors which are rife with rotten agency staffing.
A programme
of home insulation for all would stop the illness and anxiety caused by the
high levels of fuel poverty that exist across Scotland but disproportionately
impact old and poorer people in rural areas.
These are big
steps and necessary steps. At the
conference we’ll see film from REEL News showing how working class communities
in the US are organising for a Just Transition and there will be speakers from
Campaign Against Climate Change, the Campaign Against the Arms Trade and the
defence and construction sectors.
However, the
most important part of the conference will involve thinking about how we win
the case for urgent and large-scale action. The manifesto or action plan
produced will be shared across the labour movement and community groups as an
open document for discussion and amendment.
