Mhairi Black: COP26 won't show the world what Scotland is really capable of

Do we have faith that this will happen though? Do you trust that the truly radical, life-changing policies needed to transform this consuming culture we have created will be implemented?

The First Minister (below) highlighted last week how small nations such as ours can have an impact and promote change internationally. Scotland is ambitiously leading the way in some areas: we have decarbonised faster than any G20 country in recent years; we have the biggest wind farm in the world in Aberdeen; and we are currently testing the world’s largest wave turbine. Similarly, the changes that people are making in their everyday lives; electric cars, cutting out plastic, recycling, and reducing the consumption of meat from their diets are all making a difference and these efforts by all of us are undoubtedly important.

However, to have any chance of truly meeting net zero by 2050 will require life-changing decisions. I fear the efforts of the big nations and the world’s powerhouses will not go far enough unless radical action is taken. Because it’s not just about the technology we create and the methods we use to cut our carbon footprint. The structure of capitalist western society and the free market actively promotes and encourages many of the issues that are contributing to climate change.

Take food, for example. We want things to be readily available, for fresh produce, exotic items from all over the world and an array of fast food to be there for us when we “need” it. But the pressures this puts on agriculture, wildlife and ecosystems combined with the amount of food waste that is generated across the world as a result of greed and consumerism is a major contributor to climate change.

We have wiped out more than half of the world’s animal population in the last 40 years. Experts say we may not have any fish to eat by 2050. We are currently going through a human-made mass extinction and many are completely oblivious to it. That is a terrifying situation and must be prioritised in our ambitions to fix this world that we all live in.

Look at another example, electric cars. While the number of electric cars on our roads is increasing, so too is the number of SUVs. In aviation, with huge leaps in the fuel efficiency of planes, comes cheaper tickets and therefore more frequent flyers. We have food banks here on our doorsteps and poverty that is relative to us. Globally, people are in absolute poverty and are living in unimaginably horrific conditions and circumstances.

I can understand why remembering to recycle can be the last thing on someone’s mind. People who are working every hour of the day trying to make ends meet, people who are pre-occupied with improving their health. We have a society that is structured in such a way that many people are simply struggling to keep themselves alive, never mind the planet.

Yet, billionaires such as Jeff Bezos (above) and Richard Branson are having expensive jaunts to space to measure whose rocket is bigger. So, when politicians remind us that everyone must play their part, it is important to keep the world in perspective – some have bigger roles to play than others. There needs to be a seismic shift in every aspect of our society, our economics and our everyday ways of life if we have any chance of turning things around.

In Scotland we are aiming to reduce emissions by 75% by 2030 and to become net zero by 2045. However, we are doing so with one hand firmly tied behind our back.

I absolutely believe that in an independent Scotland, we will have more chance of making an impact on the climate emergency and let me tell you why. Firstly, we would be able to manage our natural resources as we see fit. We already know how much potential was wasted with the discovery of oil. Where Norway created a National Public Oil Fund to save and spend profits in the public interest, consecutive UK governments funnelled our profits into a black hole of debt to fund Thatcherism. In other words, it was used to sustain and exacerbate inequality.

At a Scottish Affairs Committee Session in Orkney we were told how the UK failed to make the most of wind energy. For example, in the 1980s Denmark was very similar to the UK in terms of wind programmes and potential. Denmark committed to investing in those supply chains and encouraged development and quality.

READ MORE: Westminster taking wind out of renewables and will push prices up, new analysis finds

The UK, on the other hand, focused on whatever cost the least. As a result of this, today Denmark has a very health wind industry and we do not. For perspective, in 2016 Denmark’s wind exports were worth €7.3 billion, the UK’s were worth €0.3bn. In 2016 the UK’s arms industry was worth €7.2bn. There is no question as to how backwards the UKs priorities are.

Independence allows us to prioritise for ourselves. At that same evidence session, I asked the panel of experts to give context as to how much energy Orkney could provide if the Government invested so that it could reach its full potential. The answer was, and I quote: “Basically, if you look at the productivity of the wind, the waves, the tide, the area around Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles can deliver 50% of the UK’s total energy needs. Not just electricity; this is replacing oil and gas and other forms of energy. Half of our total energy demand can come from this part of the world.”

Scotland has the potential to provide half of the UK’s total energy demand and there are people who still argue Scotland could not afford to be independent. Rather than investing in making that potential a much-required reality, the UK Government would rather rent out our waters to other countries like Canada and Spain.

Tidal stream energy has the potential to meet 20% of UK generation capacity – exactly the same as nuclear. It would require a budget of £71 million. Instead, the UK Government would rather invest £23bn in the Hinkley nuclear plant.

In 2014, Scotland’s north-east was promised investment. Yet this week the UK Government rejected the bid by the Acorn carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) project in Aberdeenshire, a project which hoped to offer a transition route for oil and gas workers out of the old North Sea industries and create as many as 26,000 jobs in the next decade.

How many resources must be neglected or mismanaged before Scotland realises that we cannot afford to be anything other than independent? If we were, we wouldn’t have to hope for Tory governments to see sense. We wouldn’t have to fund billions into nuclear warheads that, rather ironically, will be sitting rusting not far from where COP26 will happen.

We could realistically invest more in reducing our carbon emissions and producing a greener economy. Perhaps we could live in a country where a cheeseburger for a pound wouldn’t be the only option for some people.