Meet the Scottish women fighting the climate crisis

From raising awareness of marine conservation to blocking oil and gas supplies and getting disposable vapes banned, Scots are keeping the climate crisis on the agenda.

As part of our International Women’s Day coverage, The National wants to shine a light on just a few of the many women and non-binary campaigners working in the sector or taking their activism to the streets.

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The campaigners

This is Rigged

The activist group is never far away from the headlines. The group was co-founded by two Scots who credit a “history of civil resistance in Scotland” as inspiration behind their direct action, and their work has been prolific. From repeated interruptions at FMQs, blocking oil supplies from leaving the Ineos refinery in Grangemouth, and stealing food from supermarkets to redistribute, the activists have kept many issues firmly on the agenda.

Co-founder Eilidh McFadden, 21, based in Lochaber, said they felt there was a “big gap” in the climate and social justice movement in Scotland that inspired them and others to form the group.

“There seems to be this complacency in Scotland where we think that these issues are all Westminster based and we can't do anything about that, and it's just not strictly true,” they said.

“The problems we have are so global and so connected for every single thing that we need change at every single level, and we need every single person who has even a little bit of power to stand up and take ownership over the responsibility we have.”

Fellow co-founder Hannah Bright, 22, from Glasgow, cited historic resistance campaigns such as the Red Clydeside, Suffragettes and Highland Clearances as inspiration for their call to action.

“It's less about convincing people that there is a problem and more about just countering these kind of narratives of disempowerment and the lack of ability to actually do anything,” she said.

“Just reminding people that we actually have always fought back, that we still can, and that it's actually really crucial that we do right now.”

The campaigners are currently calling on the Scottish Government to introduce food hubs for every 500 people in a bid to radically change how food systems work.

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Laura Young

Known as the “vape crusader”, 27-year-old Young has utilised social media to pursue environmental campaigning, while at the same time studying for a PHD in Dundee.

Young began by using Instagram to document her crusade to reduce plastic in 2018, before later finding her passion project would be to push for a ban on disposable vapes.

It took hold after seeing the impact they had on her local environment and her posts charting the number of discarded devices she would find on short walks would quickly go viral.

Recently crowned Scottish Influencer of the Year for 2024, Young credits social media as being a key aspect of her campaigning “toolbox”, with some videos raking up millions of views.

“I feel quite proud knowing that I was the person who really was first to call for a ban and brought together these people, and I don't think it's showing off to admit that, I think it's really positive to actually say that,” Young said.

“Also because we've managed to have an impact not just here in Scotland, but we managed to get it across the UK, we managed to get something with the four nations approach, and we managed to bring together environment and health, which was really, really key, because quite often we work in silos.”

Young admitted that if she realised how big the campaign would be in her life, she “might have taken a break from the PHD for a bit”.

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Academics

Tahseen Jafry, Glasgow Caledonian University

Director of the Centre for Climate Justice at GCU, 56-year-old Jafry is a vocal campaigner for climate justice and linking her international work back to Scotland.

The brains behind the university’s Masters in Climate Justice, followed by the creation of a Doctorate, the academic told The National she is keen to equip her students with the skills to have a practical influence on policy.

With over a million people in Scotland living in poverty, Jafry argues that climate inequality is having an impact on numerous minority groups across the country. While the way Scots are being impacted is different than those in the Global South, the issue is still a reality.

"There are still a level and a number of people that need to be supported from the impact of flooding, and heat stress, even in Scotland,” she adds, arguing that many of the issues around climate injustice remain “hidden and undiagnosed”.

“For me as an academic looking at what's missing in the landscape, and the current thinking is finding a platform on which we can really pioneer and and look at climate justice, actually injustice, in Scotland.

“To be able to look at how to achieve justice for those who have contributed least but will suffer the most, because that mantra applies to those here as it does everywhere else.”

Rebecca Wade, Abertay University, Dundee

The senior lecturer in engineering was among those chosen to take part in the prestigious Homeward Bound project, where women working in science, technology, maths and engineering (STEM) embarked on a research trip to Antarctica.

After a tough application process, fundraising a lot of money and the pandemic putting a stop to the initial voyage in 2020, Wade eventually got to head to the southernmost part of the globe in November 2023.

Sailing from Tierra del Fuego, the very south of South America, she spent three weeks on a ship in Antarctic waters, bringing back a wealth of knowledge for her students.

“It was utterly thrilling to be there,” Wade said. “But it was absolutely devastating to have that understanding of the science of what we were actually bearing witness to.

“And then that challenge of well, how do we bring that learning from Antarctica back to Scotland?”

With a background in environmental science and geography, Wade works with civil engineering students and urges them to keep climate in mind as they progress in their careers.

She adds: “Ultimately, those are the individuals or professionals that design, build and operate the infrastructure that makes our economies work that makes our societies work. They have a huge role to play in how we do that more sustainably, how we make it easy for people to make choices like sustainable travel, active travel, rather than individual combustion engine cars.”

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Networkers

Jess Pepper

Creating an informal network that began in her home village of Dunkeld in Perthshire, but now running worldwide, 48-year-old Pepper is reluctant to take full credit for the “organic” creation of Climate Cafe’s.

As director of the network, having previously worked in advocacy and policy for groups such as Scottish Environment Link, WWF and the Stop Climate Chaos coalition, Pepper cites the informal nature of the project as key to its success.

“I was just very aware that we weren’t really talking about climate,” she explained, adding that the cafes are often monthly and have no particular rules, but a space for communities to discuss local and global issues.

“It became clear that there wasn't that kind of space anywhere else, so the climate cafe was simply creating that space to drink, chat, and act together on climate,” Pepper said.

“It's community-led, it's not being organised, there's no training or a masterclass. In fact, it's just community sharing and learning from each other.”

While every climate cafe is unique, Pepper adds that “the thing they have in common is that they're welcoming, inclusive, accessible and safe spaces”.

They have also led to practical action, like in Blairgowrie, where one project is now an energy efficiency organisation that has helped more than 3000 households reduce debt and fuel poverty, installed 140 renewable devices.

“That’s not me,” she adds. “But the fact that some of us put on a cup of tea and had a biscuit nine years ago has allowed folk to come together and chat and create those spaces, it’s quite amazing.”

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Caitlin Turner

Despite growing up in “landlocked” East Ayrshire, 23-year-old Turner’s love of all things marine led her to taking on numerous hats in the sector, particularly as a young person.

Currently based in Coatbridge, and having studied marine biology at Stirling University, Turner is a policy officer at the Sustainable Inshore Fisheries Trust (SIFT).

But her proudest work comes as a voluntary trustee for Young Sea Changers Scotland (YSCS), who are trying to influence the Scottish Government’s approach to marine policy. She argues that the marine environment and conservation of it is “frustratingly not featured” at the centre of many discussions about climate, despite the ocean covering 70% of the planet.

“We talk a lot about tree planting,” Turner explains. “But we don't talk enough about how we plant more seagrass, or what's happening in losing our carbon capture hotspots, especially in Scottish seas.”

In her role with YSCS, a project that began in 2022, Turner hopes to connect young people with those in power, to ensure their voices are heard.

She said: “Seeing how many young people are so passionate about making a stand for the environment and climate, who for the longest time had been striking from school, and trying to have their voices heard, but being met with a door shut in their face,” Turner explains, adding that the project seeks to get the “foot in that door” on their behalf.

They currently have 15 young people taking part in a training to develop their policy and advocacy skills. The Scottish Government’s marine directorate has asked the group to speak at an upcoming event.

“To have them come to us rather than us banging on the door is a significant thing,” she adds.