Alex Salmond joins Arnie on the fringe and he's eager to make his voice heard

Published on Friday 11 December 2009 21:42

ALEX Salmond will share a platform with the Terminator and the secretary-general of the United Nations when he attends the Copenhagen climate change summit next week.

The First Minister will take part in a fringe session with Arnold Schwarzenegger, former film star and current governor of California.

Other proposed speakers at the session include UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon, Prince Albert of Monaco and London mayor Boris Johnson.

The announcement that Mr Salmond would be going to Copenhagen came as he trumpeted the latest environmental achievements of the Scottish Government.

At a press conference yesterday morning, he announced that the Scottish Government had given permission for a 39-turbine extension to the Whitelee wind farm in East Ayrshire. It will mean that, when complete, Whitelee – already Europe's largest wind farm – will feature 215 turbines.

The 593-megawatt wind farm on Eaglesham Moor will generate enough energy to power 275,000 homes and displace between 570,000 and 1.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.

Mr Salmond also revealed that a joint statement on climate change would be signed between Scotland and the Maldives. The agreement was appropriate, he said, because Scotland had the world's leading carbon emission reduction targets of 42 per cent by 2020, while the Maldives was under threat from rising sea levels.

He again bemoaned the fact that Scotland would not be involved in summit negotiations, even though it had the highest carbon emission reduction targets in the world, which he said was drawing "significant international interest".

He added: "Scotland will be well-represented at many of the key events. Obviously, it would be preferable – and I make no secret of this – if we were represented directly in the international negotiating tables. It is a perfect example of why, in my view, that is the best position for Scotland."

Opponents accused him of international grandstanding and not focusing on the issues he needed to sort out in Scotland. Michael Connarty, the Labour MP for Linlithgow and Falkirk East, said: "As a Scottish MP, I am becoming embarrassed by this man. Alex Salmond famously turned up to the opening of a biscuit tin, so no wonder he is desperate to be pictured with a state governor.

"Rather than going to Copenhagen, the First Minister should be at Holyrood explaining why he has just ripped up his main education manifesto commitments."

There was support for his initiatives from environmental groups. Juliet Swann, head of Campaigns at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: "The kind of partnership working demonstrated by this co-operation with the Maldives, one of the countries which stands to suffer most from the impacts of climate change, is an exciting initiative that should be followed by other developed countries.

"Friends of the Earth Scotland welcomes the First Minister's plans to travel to Copenhagen and hope he is successful in communicating the urgent need for other rich nations to make the kind of commitments to tackling climate change that we have made in Scotland."

'GAPING HOLES'

THERE were mixed reactions from campaigners to a draft proposal for a new climate deal yesterday, with concerns over its "gaping holes" but hopes it provided the opportunity for a strong agreement world leaders could sign next week.

The document by the chairman of the largest committee of the climate conference in Copenhagen sets out potential action by developed and developing countries to tackle global warming. But it has no numbers for financial support that rich countries would provide for poor nations to help them limit their pollution and cope with the impacts of rising temperatures.

The text says global emissions should peak "as soon as possible", but that development and poverty eradication are the priorities of poorer nations.

It also provides various options for targets for global and developed countries' emissions cuts, underlining the differences between the 192 countries which still have to be bridged.

Martin Kaiser, Greenpeace International's climate policy adviser, said: "Ministers arriving in the coming days must agree that they use this as the basis for a strong deal for the climate that heads of state must sign by the end of next week."

Commenting on this article has been closed