Friends of the Earth Scotland’s Post

Scotland's waste policy is failing. We are recycling less waste than the rest of the UK, and we are burning more waste than ever. Incinerators create dirty emissions which pollute the air locally and contribute to climate breakdown. The Scottish Government must take action to stop this boom in incineration.

Today, the Scottish Government will start the legal process to scrap its climate targets. This is a shameful moment. Read about how it got here: https://lnkd.in/e26X9byh

Florida is bracing itself for a category 5 hurricane. More than 1 million people have been told to evacuate. Our politicians must start taking climate breakdown seriously - and fast.

The UK Government is giving £22 billion of public money to carbon capture. This technology is being used by the oil industry to greenwash its plans to keep on drilling and burning. 50 years of failure is being rewarded with more handouts while real climate solutions miss out.

The Friends of the Earth Scotland team visited Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh this week for a team day out 🌿 We learned about the ways the garden is making adaptations for climate change, including by using plants to prevent flooding. Thank you so much for the brilliant tour, we learned a lot (and had a beautiful walk in the autumn sunshine) 💚

13,000 people have made their voices heard ✊✊ Yesterday, we took the petition urging the Scottish Government to reject plans for a new gas burning power station in Peterhead to their door. Ministers must reject this backwards development and instead focus on the solutions that we know work.

Something momentous is taking place right now: Britain’s coal age is ending. The UK’s last coal power station shuts down today, 30th September. It might be easily forgotten, but this is a radical and historic shift in our energy system – and it was brought about by people power. In 2008 First Minister Alex Salmond, advocating for new opencast mines and ‘carbon capture’ coal power stations, declared “coal is the future". He was proved wrong. The campaign against was led by a largely accidental coalition of groups wielding direct action, civil disobedience, and sabotage, but also letter writing, lobbying, marches, media work and a lot of patient and dedicated community organising. Coal was defeated but we did not win a just transition. Instead, the closures became the final part of a tale of decline dating back to Thatcher’s attack on mining communities. Renewables have risen but our energy system is still in private hands and green jobs from public transport, insulation and renewable heat remain out of reach. Today is a reminder of how campaigning has reshaped our world, but transformation is not enough: we demand justice too. Read the full story of how people power ended the coal era: https://lnkd.in/evQFga-z

Support, community, action ✊✨ We need your help to support our youth network to thrive. We are currently raising money so we can help them do more in the coming year. Anything you can spare will make a huge difference. 🙏 You can donate here: https://lnkd.in/e9ibitYd