Climate change campaign launched by Scottish Government

Climate change minister Dr Aileen McLeod will tell Scots that “saving the world isn’t just for the movies”, in a new campaign urging people to do more to tackle climate change.

The campaign, launching on TV and radio today (video below), will seek to raise awareness of environmentally friendly behaviour.

A recent survey found around half of Scots are concerned by climate change, but that eight in ten said they could do more to care for the environment.

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The campaign follows criticism from opposition parties and environmental groups, after it was revealed the Scottish Government plans to reduce spending on climate change mitigation by nearly ten per cent in the draft 2016/17 budget.

The Committee on Climate Change also raised concerns with Scottish Government officials over the planned cut.

McLeod said: “Thanks to the efforts of everyone in Scotland, we have already cut our greenhouse gas emissions by 38 per cent since 1990 – that’s three quarters of the way towards achieving our world-leading target of a 42 per cent reduction by 2020.

“But we must all do more to reduce the impact we have on the environment – and making a greener lifestyle choice can be easier than people think. Simply washing your clothes at a lower temperature, avoiding and recycling food waste, leaving the car at home to walk shorter journeys or even turning your thermostat down by just one degree, can all help Scotland tackle climate change.

“These small actions, if repeated across all Scottish households, would be a highly positive collective step forward. Through this campaign, we hope to inspire more Scots to contribute in making Scotland a cleaner, greener place to live now and in the future. After all, saving the world isn’t just for the movies.”

In last week’s FMQs Nicola Sturgeon argued that if changes caused by UK energy policy are excluded from calculations, Scottish Government spending on climate change increased by £13.3m in the new draft budget.