Scotland signs up to Climate Group

Move will allow Alex Salmond's Scottish nationalist government to build alliances with small states, city councils and major companies pressing for deep and binding cuts in CO2 emissions
Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 4 November 2009 16.33 GMT
Alex Salmond's Scottish nationalist government has joined California and New York city in a global alliance of small states, city councils and major companies pressing for deep and binding cuts in CO2 emissions.
The Scottish National party administration said today it had signed up to the Climate Group, a London-based not-for-profit campaign which is lobbying heavily for a far-reaching and long-term global deal on emissions at next month's climate talks in Copenhagen.
The Scottish government is in part attempting to outflank the Labour-led government in London, which has refused Salmond's demands that the UK delegation should include a Scottish minister in Copenhagen. Gordon Brown has offered only to allow a Scottish civil servant to take part, arguing that the UK has to present a united and consistent front at the talks.
The SNP, which runs a minority government in Scotland, has introduced some of the most ambitious climate change legislation of any comparable administration, partly under intense pressure from opposition parties at the Scottish parliament.
Those include legislation requiring up to 42% cuts in CO2 emissions by 2020 and annual legally binding emissions reductions, and for the first time published line-by-line carbon emissions for £33bn in core spending in its annual budget in September. Environment groups say these measures are more radical than the UK's government's policies.
The SNP is now building alternative alliances with other regional and "sub-national" governments through the Climate Group, which includes Catalonia, California, Chicago, the Greater London Authority, North Rhine and Westphalia, Western Australia, Ontario and Quebec. Major companies who are amongst the more than 60 full members include Google, Virgin, Timberland, BSkyB, BP, IBM, Tesco and Marks and Spencer.
The Scottish environment minister, Stewart Stephenson, made the announcement at a Climate Group event during the UN's pre-Copenhagen talks in Barcelona, and is expected to attend Copenhagen for the organisation's day of fringe events.
Stephenson said: "The Scottish government recognises the urgency of addressing climate change and is an active partner in the common desire to identify solutions, work towards adaptation and create a sustainable future."
Luc Bas, the Climate Group's head of government relations for Europe, said Scotland had set a "great example" by agreeing ambitious cuts targets in its Climate Change Act, the carbon assessments in its budgets and "strategic approach" to climate change adaptation.
"Scotland's commitment to green energy and the economic opportunities of the low carbon economy is impressive and far-sighted. This is a great model for other countries to follow," he said.
Some senior environmentalists have been privately very critical of Salmond's attempts to join the official UK delegation to Copenhagen, since Scotland is a minor force on the global stage, and accused him of posturing.
Despite its ambitious policies, the devolved Scottish government only controls about 30% of Scotland's total CO2 outputs, which in turn account for less than 10% of the UK's emissions. The remaining 70% are influenced by European Union and UK government policies, such as on fuel taxation, VAT and aviation.
Hitting the 42% cut by 2020 also requires a binding deal at Copenhagen, and Stephenson could cut that target if no deal is reached. Despite championing green energy projects, Salmond also supports new coal-fired power stations, the North Sea oil industry, and roads and airport expansion.
Critics believe the Scottish government is far better able to influence regional governments or states of a similar size, rather than pretend it can challenge India, China or the US.
Richard Dixon, director of the environment group WWF Scotland and a supporter of the SNP's policies on climate change, said the decision to join the Climate Group was a welcome.
"It's a perfectly sensible thing to do. Scotland shouldn't be trying to pretend to sit beside the UK. It should be sitting alongside a really good regional grouping," he said.