Open letter signed by thousands calls for tougher targets

  • 12 Sep 2019
  • General News

On Wednesday 12th September Stop Climate Chaos Climate campaigners handed in an open letter signed by thousands of people to politicians at Holyrood.  We are demanding politicians vote for stronger targets in the Climate Change Bill, to match the declaration of a climate emergency with an emergency response. The Climate Change Bill will go to final vote in the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday 25 September.

The letter stated that while Scotland’s declaration of a climate emergency is a positive step forward, politicians must use the Bill to sign our commitment to action into law.

We are pushing for a commitment to further action in the crucial next decade, with 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 written into the law.

Currently the government has committed to overall net zero – or 100 percent – reduction in emissions by 2045.

The open letter reads:

“We are facing a Climate Emergency. People across the world and across Scotland are calling out for transformational, urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and secure a safe climate future.

I want you to ensure that Scotland’s new climate act reflects the emergency we are facing. It needs to set our country on a path that rapidly reduces emissions in the next decade. It will take a united effort from all political parties to secure the changes required.

This means setting a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2030 (compared to 1990 levels) and setting out coherent and immediate policy changes to deliver those reductions – especially in how we heat our homes, travel around and grow the food we eat.”

The Herald covered the story here: