Last Chance to Lobby for stronger
Climate Change Bill - 24 June
Stop Climate Chaos Scotland
wants to thank everyone who has lobbied their
MSPs calling for a strong Climate Change Bill.
We have had great feedback from MSPs who have
had thousands of e-mails and visits.
The Parliament is likely to
make the final changes to the draft law on
24 and 25 June and so we have a last chance
to push to get the best climate change legislation
in the world. Stop Climate Chaos Scotland
is organising a mass lobby of the Scottish
Parliament on Wednesday 24th June from 12
– 2.30pm.
We aim to bring people from
across Scotland to the parliament to speak
directly to their MSPs in support of early,
tough action on climate change.
Please sign up now www.foe-scotland.org.uk/masslobby
to join us at this crucial event. We will
provide you with a fact-sheet before the event
and updates on the day with last minute news.
And, if you need it, some help with travel
costs is available on request. We hope to
see you on 24th June,
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World
Environment Day 5 June Briefing: what your branch
can do (pdf)
UNISON UK: World Environment Day a trade union
issue |
Revitalising
our environment
UNISON's manifesto for Scotland's
environment
Working in
UNISON to protect the environment
Introduction
Public service workers are at the forefront of
protecting the environment and the quality of life
for everyone in Scotland. UNISON Scotland represents
160,000 members delivering public and related services.
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 David
Wilkinson is a Project Engineer with Scottish
Water Solutions, based in Aberdeen. Teams
like his around Scotland have made hundreds
of environmental improvements in the last
few years.These include projects to upgrade
waste water treatment facilities so that Scotland
can meet new European laws on waste water.
Benefits include: cleaner beaches and seas;
preventing pollution getting into water courses;
protecting key Sites of Special Scientific
Interest, bird sanctuaries and other important
areas.
Among a number of planned rural
projects is one to stop effluent from overloaded
septic tank systems seeping into the river
Feugh and downstream into the Dee. One small
community of fewer than 40 houses near Banchory
will be connected to the public sewerage system
for the first time. Dave said:"Some untreated
effluent is finding its way down into the
Feugh, which flows to Banchory. It is affecting
the water course which is one of the better
known for salmon in the area. Scottish Natural
Heritage believes it is very important.We're
going to be laying a new sewer through the
community, collecting all the effluent and
taking it to a new pumping station and from
there, via existing mains to Banchory where
it will be properly treated.”
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We want to highlight the value of quality public
services and the ways in which our members contribute
directly to environmental protection and action
on climate change. Global warming threatens the
future of life on earth as we know it.
It already kills 150,000 people annually and causes
five million serious illnesses (World Health Organisation).
Millions are at risk if nothing is done. The UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says that climate
change poses as great a threat to the world as war.
However, we can work together to counter the threat.
It is still feasible and everyone can do their bit.
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 North
Lanarkshire Council's Environmental Wardens
won a top Keep Scotland Beautiful People and
Places Award in 2007. UNISON members Catherine
Di Nardo,Angela Jeffrey, and Nykola Munro,
are part of the award-winning team of ten
wardens, whose efforts improve the environment
for people at home and at work.
They arrange for the removal of
abandoned cars and other vehicles, investigate
fly tipping and litter complaints, enforce
smoking legislation, provide educational talks
to schools, check vehicle emissions, and work
pro-actively with other council departments
and external bodies.They can issue fixed penalty
notices for littering, fly tipping and smoking
offences. Nykola said:"The award reflects
the good work carried out by our section in
educating people about the benefits of living
in a cleaner and healthier environment".
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UNISON believes that concerted and fair international
action by governments is key. Experts agree that,
if there are urgent policy changes at local, national
and international levels, we can prevent the worst-predicted
effects.
Every country must act to cut carbon emissions.
In the coming months and years we will all be making
changes in our personal and our working lives. Public
opinion has started to recognise the need for action.
There is huge concern especially among young people.
We can all take responsibility for the future they
deserve.
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 Peter
Singleton heads up climate change and energy
policy at the Scottish Environment Protection
Agency. His team in the Emerging Issues Unit
look at what changes are already underway
on rainfall and riverflow in Scotland and
plan for adapting to those. They
also work with the public and private sectors
to cut carbon emissions."SEPA, as every
organisation should, wants to embed awareness,
understanding and action on climate change
into all the work it does” he says.
He is pleased that a number of
big businesses say they accept the need for
urgent and effective action, but will they
take meaningful action? "Talking to business
leaders who have seen Al Gore perform, you
can see that he clearly hits them between
the eyeballs and they walk out with a very
different attitude,” he says.
However the message has not got
through to everyone."Some smaller businesses
are interested and some are setting up new
‘eco' businesses, but others are struggling
to keep their business afloat. If we turn
up at their door with new regulations, it
is the last thing they want to hear.”
He says it is a challenge for
the UK government to convince such people
they should bear costs which they feel go
beyond what other countries are doing.Yet
there are business benefits to acting now,
and fast.Wind farm technology shows how Scotland
could have already been a world leader, as
Denmark currently is.
Peter said "We have a phenomenal
wind resource but Denmark is the leading manufacturer
of wind turbines.Thirty years ago it was the
UK. But the investment wasn't continued. People
relied on oil. It is important that the present
interest in renewable and low carbon technology
is followed through to provide Scotland and
UK with a new thriving industrial technology”.
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UNISON Scotland is a member of Stop Climate Chaos
Scotland - the first trade union to join.We campaign
to green the workplace and to promote sustainable
policies for our vital public services.We campaign
to eliminate fuel poverty and to promote a balanced
energy policy.
Our outlook is international, linking the effects
of climate change around the world with campaigns
for social justice and access to safe drinking water
for all.Our opposition to water privatisation in
developing countries is mirrored by our campaign
to retain Scottish Water in public control.
Tackling global warming is vital for the health
of the planet but there are many other important
ways in which a clean and healthy environment around
us contributes to overall good health.
Across the country, in rural areas and in towns
and cities, thousands of people are working in UNISON
to protect the environment for present and future
generations.
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 Senior
Countryside Ranger Graeme Archibald helps
protect one of Scotland's most beautiful lochs.
He works with nearly 30 rangers who cover
the whole of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs
National Park. Nearly all are UNISON members.
Graeme and his team on the loch itself ensure
the safe and proper use of the water by all
visitors, particularly the owners of the 5,500
boats registered there.The National Park's
aims include the sustainable use of the area's
natural resources and promoting the public's
enjoyment and recreational use of all that
is on offer there."We offer information
and assistance to people using boats.We can
support the rescue service by responding to
emergency calls.We also do a lot of educational
work with schools.” Other staff include wardens
who have a range of duties including keeping
the loch shores and picnic areas and other
parts of the park clear of litter. Sadly too
many people drop litter even in such lovely
surroundings. However Graeme says his must
be the best job in Scotland - to be out in
such a scenic area encouraging people to look
after the environment globally and locally.
Some tasks might seem small - things like
advising boat owners against refuelling on
the loch due to the risk of spilling, but
he says it is all "part of the bigger
fight against climate change.”
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Public services have a major role to play and all
are starting to prioritise green issues with some
excellent examples of good practice. All 32 councils
have pledged to make significant changes through
Scotland's Climate Change Declaration.
Every employer, private and public, large and
small, must work to reduce waste, boost energy efficiency
and to cut their carbon footprint.
UNISON members work ina wide range of environmental
roles including: park rangers; inspectors, scientists
and other jobs in the Scottish Environment Protection
Agency; council staff across the spectrum of local
authority jobs including cleansing, waste recycling,
planning, environmental health officers and more;
water and sewerage posts in Scottish Water; and
health service staff participating in schemes to
save energy. They:
Help protect our rivers, land and the air we
breathe
Provide clean, safe water for home, work and
industry
Keep our towns, cities and countryside clean
and tackle noise pollution
Raise awareness of global warming and other environmental
issues
Support the three Rs - reduce, reuse, recycle
Promote sustainable ways of living and working
Our members' ordinary every day jobs directly impact
on the quality of life and health of Scotland's
citizens. They are keeping our communities free
of litter, collecting household and business waste,
providing healthy food to school children, ensuring
new buildings meet stricter environmental and energy
efficiency targets and working in countless other
ways to make sure we can all enjoy the benefits
of modern living in a sustainable way.
Sustainable development meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs. It is a key
principle in tackling climate change.
Everyone has a role to play
and you do too.
UNISON Scotland members are also active in their
branches and workplaces, promoting environmental
policies and encouraging employers to look at innovative
ways of cutting carbon emissions. A list of ten
things to do to tackle climate change is below,
and is a starting point for action.
Ten things
to do to tackle climate change
1
Reduce, Re-use and Recycle - and raise these and
the environmental concerns which mean most to you
with your elected representatives at surgeries,
on the doorstep or by email/letter.
2
Cut energy waste and support renewable energy sources.
3
Get your UNISON branch to raise with your employer
the need to develop an environmental policy and
strategy, auditing current use and procurement and
setting targets to reduce the carbon footprint.
4
Support UNISON's Food for Good Campaign - for healthy,
locally sourced food in schools, hospitals, prisons
and across the public sector. Including supporting
fair trade and organic products.
5
Use public transport and support increased investment
in it.
6
Work with your UNISON branch to negotiate a green
travel plan at work, with incentives for lower energy
transport, cycling, car-share, public transport,
walking and the use of lower emissions vehicles.
7
Reduce water consumption at home and at work and
campaign against the mutualisation/privatisation
of Scottish Water.
8
Find out what your Ecological Footprint is and work
to reduce it. In Scotland we consume so much of
the world's resources that if everyone on earth
used them at the same rate we would need three planets
to sustain us all. Information and a footprint calculator
at: http://footprint.wwf.org.uk.You
don't have to join the Oneplanet campaign to use
the calculator.
9
Use tools such as the Ecological Footprint in policy
development, monitoring progress and awareness-raising.
10
Support local and global sustainable development
policies and hold politicians to account for delivering
on carbon emissions reduction targets.
Doing something, even something small, does make
a difference. However, individual actions need to
support and be supported by action at government
level. Effective incentives, targets and penalties
must be set locally and globally.We must put pressure
on our elected representatives to respond to the
best scientific advice and come up with creative,
realistic and fair policies.
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Scotland's
public service union
