ACCORDING to Nicola Sturgeon, failure to address climate change will create a global refugee crisis on a scale never seen before.
In a keynote speech yesterday, the First Minister insisted policy-makers must create coherent responses to inequality both at home and abroad, tackling poverty to improve stability around the world.
It is a call echoed in fresh reports by both the World Bank and Climate Central, who warn failure to check global warming will have catastrophic affects, submerging the homes of up to 760 million people and leaving 100 million in crushing, desperate poverty.
In her speech, Sturgeon referred to the need to tackle climate change and work for prosperity and peace as “enlightened altruism”.
The stark claims contained in the latest reports suggest it is also based on common sense.
We cannot, as Sturgeon states, “bury our head in the sand” on an issue that will become, in as little as 15 years, a life and death problem for so many.
The Scottish Government says it is serious about climate change, but, despite making progress on carbon emissions, continually fails to meet its own targets.
And as Holyrood tries to improve its own energy performance with policies that prioritise eco-awareness and green technologies, the Westminster Government pursues an anti-renewables agenda that will strip support from solar and wind projects.
Professor Jacquie McGlade, the UN’s chief scientist, is among those to criticise this misguided strategy ahead of international climate change talks in Paris next month.
According to the EU statistical office, a mere 5.1 per cent of power used in the UK is from renewable sources, with only Malta, Luxembourg and the Netherlands using a lower proportion of such energy.
It is, quite simply, not good enough. And without urgent action we will all pay the price – but some face a heavier bill than others.
Nicola Sturgeon warns of refugee problem to dwarf current crisis if sea levels rise
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