UNISON is a member of the Stop Climate Chaos Scotland coalition and we support the submission from SCCS. We outline some of UNISON’s important priorities in the next section – such as the public sector leading by example and the Just Transition to a low carbon economy – but we start with the following main ‘asks’ that we and SCCS have been campaigning for recently (with some welcome successes just announced in the Scottish Government Programme for Government, referred to later).
Summary: A bold Climate Change Bill would create jobs, improve health and reduce poverty at home, whilst also ensuring Scotland plays its part in limiting climate change and helping the poorest people in the world cope with the effects of climate change.
In order for the new Climate Bill to match the ambition of the 2015 United Nations Paris Agreement, SCCS says it must:
- Set a target of zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 at the latest, and a reduction of 77% by 2030;
- Ensure that future finance budgets are consistent with our climate targets;
- Commit to actions that cut emissions and deliver a cleaner, healthier, more prosperous Scotland by:
- Making all homes efficient and warm: Ensure that all homes have at least Energy Performance Rating ‘C’ by 2025;
- Cleaner transport: phase out the sale of new fossil fuel cars by 2030 to reduce emissions, clean up air pollution and improve the nation’s health;
- Greener farming: Set a nitrogen budget for Scotland by 2020.
As well as our main asks, explained in more detail in the answers to the consultation questions, the coalition has additional priorities covering: climate justice, intergenerational equity, organic farming, peatland protection, a Just Transition Commission, consumption reporting and energy targets. A set of briefings covering the whole campaign and these asks is available online.