​Activists raise the alarm at climate emergency

Activists inflated a huge warming earth globe outside Scottish Government headquarters at St Andrew’s House in Edinburgh to highlight the emergency of climate change.

Urging greater action from the Holyrood administration, Friends of The Earth Scotland (FOES) created the globe using NASA satellite maps that show average temperature rises across the planet.

FOES director Dr Richard Dixon said: “We’re here to raise the alarm on the climate emergency. 2017 has seen a succession of devastating hurricanes and cyclones, floods in South Asia, wildfires raging around the world and ice shelf collapses.

“With temperature records repeatedly broken the planet is sending is a very clear message that we are in a climate emergency. These record-breaking disasters come at only one degree of warming so far.

“Without greater ambition from advanced nations including Scotland, we will see devastating impacts on hundreds of millions of people around the world, put our ability to grow enough food at risk, increase political instability and wipe out many thousands of plant and animal species.

“To put it simply, the lives and livelihoods of millions depend upon rich nations cutting emissions as soon as possible.”

The Scottish Government has just finished consulting on new climate targets and is now aiming to introduce a climate change bill to parliament early next year.

It has proposed a 90% emissions cut on 1990 levels by 2050 but this does not go far enough. FOES wants the Scottish Government to commit to becoming a zero emissions nation by 2040, with a cut of 77% by 2030.