Meeting of the Parliament 06 December 2022
That is a fair and well-made point, and it relates to how we present data and put information into the public realm, which is key. The First Minister needs to not blithely say, when speaking about this area, that, under the SNP Government, our net energy consumption is already provided by renewable energy sources. Anyone who knows—or has bothered to inform themselves—about the UK’s energy mix can say that that is demonstrably and evidentially false. Claims should not be made that Scotland has 25 per cent of Europe’s offshore wind potential, when ministers have known for years that that was not, and never had been, accurate. That is particularly egregious, given that ministers Sturgeon, Swinney, Todd, Macpherson, Robertson, Slater and Matheson have all put that out knowingly. Even SNP members of Parliament, such as Cowan, Hendry, Blackford and Oswald, have trotted it out. That includes an MP who has thrown out that unevidenced, underresearched, misleading data not once, not twice, but five times in a public forum, including the Houses of Parliament: putative new leader Stephen Flynn MP.
There is so much more to say on COP27, but time is short. My colleagues will seek to address other aspects of the motion and the amendments.
Perhaps COP27 was not as monumental as the UK-led COP26 but, as we have heard from the UN itself, that was to be expected. As with all COPs, what it shows is that the climate emergency does not recognise borders. It is a global issue that will be addressed only by global action in which we all work together. Indeed, the UN said that COP27 would be held with an
“appreciation of the value of multilateral, collective and concerted action as the only means to address this truly global threat.”
In a rare moment of accuracy, on Saturday, Patrick Harvie was quoted as saying:
“The whole world is behind the curve on climate.”
Unusually, he is right. The solution must therefore be to recognise what has been achieved, to ensure that Governments strive to use accurate, evidenced data, to avoid putting up borders, which only divide our collective efforts, and to work together to keep 1.5 alive.
I move amendment S6M-07093.2, to leave out from “, and failed” to “Egypt” and insert:
“; recognises that the Scottish Government has failed to meet a host of climate change targets and is on track to miss future targets; acknowledges that the ethos of COP27 was around working together and collaboratively across borders, and sees, therefore, that working with the UK Government as part of the UK is the best way to move Scotland towards net zero and meet future targets; calls for a coalition of action to be built ahead of COP28 to secure greater progress in global efforts to tackle the climate crisis; welcomes the focus on human rights during COP27 and urges all governments to take firm action to ensure that human rights across the world”.
14:50Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.
- S6M-07093.2 COP27 Outcomes Motion