Green commitments need action, not words

Published on Saturday 26 January 2008 09:53

Promises are easy to make but they must be followed up, says Steve Burgess.

TWO years ago, a landmark report assessed what Scottish cities would need to do to reduce carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2050.

In Edinburgh, it showed that even with improvements in technology there would need to be dramatic reductions in car-use, with consequent radical changes for public transport, shopping and leisure facilities, as well as the use of public space.

This was no starry-eyed environmentalist's wish list but a sober assessment from the normally conservative Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors in Scotland.

Since then, the SNP Government has, quite rightly, promised even more significant cuts in carbon pollution: 80 per cent by 2050.

This shows how far the green agenda has apparently come. Twenty years ago, when Greens made similar pledges, they were sneered at. Even ten years ago, they were seen as idealistic. Now, albeit belatedly, they are accepted as inevitable.

The same seems true locally. The Edinburgh Liberal Democrats' manifesto was stacked with green-sounding pledges: getting the council's house in order on green issues; massive expansions in recycling; a drive towards renewable and local energy production; and aiming for a Zero Carbon economy by 2050.

Their local SNP partners were more timid but still pledged increased recycling; sustainable community living; and rethinking energy provision.

However, big targets and solemn pledges only matter if they are matched with actions when in power.

Green MSPs have pointed out the stark contradictions between the Scottish Government's carbon reduction target of 80 per cent and transport policies which will increase pollution.

And in Edinburgh, in the nine months since the council elections, the local Lib Dem-SNP administration has made an inauspicious start.

Take, for example, the creep towards incineration of waste – replacing the ground with the air as a rubbish dump, or the stifling of the initiative to help Edinburgh follow in the steps of other UK communities by seeking to cut plastic bag use.

If the current administration is failing on green commitments, what can be done?

One thing all local politicians could do is stop peddling the myth that a green future is one which involves sacrifice.

Greens believe that Edinburgh needs to take the lead in setting traffic reduction targets and providing attractive alternatives to more car-use, and we also want Edinburgh to become Scotland's first "zero-waste" city, following the lead of areas in England, Canada and New Zealand.

Edinburgh can be a pace-setter in the race towards a sustainable Scotland. All it takes is action to back promises.

Cllr Steve Burgess is the Green spokesperson on the environment at Edinburgh City Council.