Climate change is arguably the single biggest challenge facing our society today. It may seem daunting to the average person in Scotland. But it’s a challenge that communities across Scotland are responding to with enthusiasm and imagination. In launching the Climate Challenge Fund in 2008, the Scottish Government recognised that, as well as national programmes, action was required to empower local communities at grass roots level to tackle carbon emissions. In that year, the environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful accepted the challenge of managing a £10 million annual fund to encourage the widest range of community projects to come forward and use it to tackle climate change. So far, 658 community-led organisations across every local authority in Scotland have benefited in this successful, inclusive, and transformative programme. The record of success speaks for itself – with more than 1,000 grants awarded, and a total of more than £100 million of funds provided over the past decade. The Climate Challenge Fund has supported projects across Scotland covering home energy efficiency, sustainable food, travel projects, and waste reduction. What is the secret ingredient? The sheer creativity and enthusiasm of groups across the country to come up with new solutions has been inspiring – and the funding has been vital in enabling and empowering local communities to turn their ideas into reality.
Scotsman 12th Dec 2018 read more »
The EU and scores of developing countries have pledged to toughen their existing commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to enable the world to stay within a 1.5C rise in global warming. The promise, which follows increasingly dire scientific warnings, was the most positive message yet to come from the ongoing talks in Poland. The announcement came at the end of a day in which the UN secretary general made an impassioned intervention to rescue the talks, which have been distracted by US, Russian and Saudi moves to downgrade scientific advice.
Guardian 12th Dec 2018 read more »
The UN secretary-general flew back to the climate talks in Poland to deliver an emergency address on Wednesday, urging countries to reach agreement on a widening set of issues that threaten to stall the process. “To waste this opportunity would compromise our last best chance to stop runaway climate change,” António Guterres told the audience of ministers and negotiators from nearly 200 countries. “It would not only be immoral, it would be suicidal.” The aim of the talks is to agree a set of rules for how to implement the Paris climate agreement, which was signed in 2015 and aims to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius. The negotiators have less than three days to reach consensus before the talks officially end on Friday, although the talks may extend into the weekend due to the current deadlock. As high-level minister s arrived this week to take over the most difficult political issues, the faultlines between rich and poor countries, and between fossil fuel-based economies and non-fossil fuel economies, have become more clear.
FT 12th Dec 2018 read more »
Greenland’s icecap – the largest single store of frozen freshwater in the northern hemisphere – is melting faster than ever, according to two separate studies using two different approaches. The message for the future is ominous. “Rather than increasing steadily as climate warms, Greenland will melt increasingly more and more for every degree of warming,” said Dr Trusel. “The melting and sea level rise we’ve observed will already be dwarfed by what may be expected in the future as climate continues to warm.”
Climate News Network 13th Dec 2018 read more »