The Scottish Government must take action to act as an international leader on climate change, campaigners have said

Environmental campaigners have urged Scotland to take the lead on tackling climate change.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will be attending the UN Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland, today (Tuesday 4 December).

And a campaign group has called for Scotland to lead the way in helping the international community move the world away from environmental catastrophe.

Chris Hegarty, senior advisor at Christian Aid and a spokesman for Stop Climate Chaos Scotland said: “The Paris Agreement puts equity at the heart of global efforts to tackle climate change, yet this principle is under threat with richer countries unwilling to do their fair share. Countries most impacted by climate change yet least responsible for causing it are calling on big historical polluters to come to the table with both increased emissions reductions and finance pledges to have any hope of averting climate catastrophe.

“Scotland has taken some great strides on climate change in recent years and has so much to offer in terms of renewables and innovation. The Climate Change Bill currently going through the Scottish Parliament is a real opportunity to commit Scotland to the urgent action required by the Paris Agreement and the IPCC report, but so far it fails to do so. As much as we welcome the progress made so far, this new Climate Bill will not deliver the policies or ambition needed.

“Therefore, we urge the First Minister to return from Katowice with a commitment to ensure the Scottish Government strengthens the Climate Bill, setting targets to further cut emissions by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest. The need for international climate leadership has never been more urgent and Scotland has a huge opportunity to step up to the mark.”