Scottish Climate
Change Bill:
Act now to demand a stronger
Bill - 4 key ‘asks
Revitalising
our environment
UNISON’s manifesto for Scotland’s
environment
See
also Green Workplace: Briefing on Protecting the planet
- at work
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.
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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
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