Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T07:55:33.615Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Climate change, sustainability and the need for a new industrial revolution in Scotland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2013

David Sugden ,
Janette Webb  and
Andrew Kerr
David Sugden
Affiliation:
School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9XP
Janette Webb
Affiliation:
Institute of Governance, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH1 1LZ
Andrew Kerr
Affiliation:
Edinburgh Centre for Low Carbon Innovation and Skills, High School Yards, Edinburgh, EH8 9XP
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper sets the wider global and Scottish context for this Special Issue of EESTRSE. Climate change is inextricably linked to wellbeing, security and sustainability. It poses a fundamental challenge to the way we organise society and our relationship to the exploitation of the Earth's resources. Rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, linked to burning fossil fuels and land use, present a major risk of climate change, with serious but uncertain impacts emerging at a regional scale. A new industrial revolution is needed to achieve energy security and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with energy efficiency and energy production emitting low or no CO2 at its heart. At present, on a global scale, there is a mismatch between the emphasis on economic growth and the need to reduce emissions and achieve a sustainable use of resources. A more sustainable blueprint for the future is emerging in Europe and Scotland has much to gain economically and socially from this change. Scotland's ambitious emission reduction targets (42% cut by 2020 and 80% by 2050) are achievable, but require major commitment and investment. Despite success in cutting emissions from activities within Scotland, Scotland's consumption-based emissions rose by 11% in 1996–2004.

Keywords

energy efficiencyrenewable energyScottish Government
Type
Articles
Information
Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 103 , Issue 2: Facing up to Climate Change , July 2012 , pp. 125 - 132
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Society of Edinburgh 2012 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

7. References

Barrett, J. 2009. The need for sound carbon accounting in Scotland. Stockholm Environment Institute Policy Brief. York: Stockholm Environment Institute. 6 pp.Google Scholar
Beddington, J. 2009. Global Challenges in a Changing World. ECRR Peter Wilson Lecture, Royal Society of Edinburgh, February 2009. http://www.scribd.com/doc/60946612/ECRR-Peter-Wilson-Lecture-Professor-John-Beddington-CMG-FRS-Global-Challenges-in-a-Changing-World-17-February-2009Google Scholar
Convention on Biological Diversity. 2010. Global Biodiversity Outlook 3. Montréal: Secretariat.Google Scholar
Davis, S. J. & Caldeira, K. 2010. Consumption-based Accounting of CO2 Emissions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107(12), 5687–92.Google Scholar
EU Atomium Culture. 2010. High Level Workshop, Living in a Low-Carbon Society. November 2010.Google Scholar
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. 2010. The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010. Rome: FAO.Google Scholar
Hansen, J. 2009. Storms of my grandchildren. The truth about the coming climate catastrophe and our last chance to save humanity. London: Bloomsbury. 303 pp.Google Scholar
International Energy Agency. 2009. World Energy Outlook, 2009.Google Scholar
IPCC. 2007a. Climate change 2007: Synthesis Report. Cambridge, UK and New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
IPCC. 2007b. Climate Change 2007: Contribution of Working Group I: The physical science basis. Cambridge, UK and New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
IPCC. 2007c. Climate Change 2007: Contribution of Working Group II: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Cambridge, UK and New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
IPCC. 2007d. Climate Change 2007: Contribution of Working Group III: Mitigation of Climate Change. Cambridge, UK and New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Jackson, T. 2009. Prosperity without growth? The transition to a sustainable economy. Sustainable Development Commission.Google Scholar
Kendle, A. 2010. Creating a climate for social justice. Dunfermline: Carnegie UK Trust.Google Scholar
Kerr, A., Ekins, P., Inkinen, A., Allen, S., Dresner, S. & Begg, K. 2003. Policy Audit of UK Climate Change Policies and Programmes. London: UK Sustainable Development Commission. 94 pp.Google Scholar
Le Quéré, C., Raupach, M. R., Canadell, J. G., Marland, G., Bopp, L., Ciais, P., Conway, T. J., Doney, S. C., Feely, R. A., Foster, P., Friedlingstein, P., Gurney, K., Houghton, R. A., House, J. J., Huntingford, C., Levy, P. E., Lomas, M. R., Majkut, J., Metzl, N., Ometto, J. P., Peters, G. P., Prentice, I. C., Randerson, J. T., Running, S. W., Sarmiento, J. L., Schuster, U., Sitch, S., Takahashi, T., Viovy, N., van der Werf, G. R. & Woodward, F. I. 2009. Trends in the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide, Nature Geoscience 2, 831–36.Google Scholar
Mackay, D. J. C. 2009. Sustainable Energy – without the hot air. Cambridge: UIT. 368 pp.Google Scholar
Marshall, G. 2007. Asleep on their watch: where were the NGOs?In Cromwell, D. & Levene, M. (eds) Surviving Climate Chaos. London: Pluto Press.Google Scholar
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Desertification Synthesis. Washington, DC.: World Resources Institute.Google Scholar
NOAA. 2010. Trends in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, December 2010. Boulder, Colorado: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Earth System Research Laboratory.Google Scholar
Peters, G. P., Minx, J. L., Weber, C. L., Edenhofer, O. 2011. Growth in emission transfers via international trade from 1990 to 2008. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108, 8903–08.Google Scholar
Porritt, J. 2007. Capitalism as if the World Matters. London: Earthscan.Google Scholar
Porritt, J. 2009. Living within our means: avoiding the ultimate recession. http://www.forumforthefuture.org/sites/default/files/project/downloads/livingwithinourmeanssml.pdfGoogle Scholar
Scottish Government. 2010. A Low-Carbon Economic Strategy for Scotland. Edinburgh: The Scottish Government.Google Scholar
Scottish Government. 2011a. Scottish Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2009. Edinburgh: The Scottish Government.Google Scholar
Scottish Government. 2011b. Low Carbon Scotland: Meeting the Emissions Reductions Targets 2010–2022. Edinburgh: The Scottish Government.Google Scholar
Stern, N. 2007. The Economics of Climate Change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Stern, N. 2010. A blueprint for a safer planet. London:Vintage Books. 246 pp.Google Scholar
UK Committee on Climate Change. 2008. Building A Low-Carbon Economy – The UK's Contribution To Tackling Climate Change. London: Committee on Climate Change.Google Scholar
UK Committee on Climate Change. 2010a. The Fourth Carbon Report – Reducing emissions through the 2020s. London: Committee on Climate Change.Google Scholar
UK Committee on Climate Change. 2010b. Scotland's path to a low-carbon economy. London: Committee on Climate Change.Google Scholar
Werritty, A. & Sugden, D. E. 2012. Climate change and Scotland: recent trends and impacts. Earth and Environmental Science Transaactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 103, 133–47.Google Scholar
World Bank. 2010. World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change. Washington, DC: The World Bank.Google Scholar