Latest news with #CommitteeonClimateChange
The National
30-04-2025
- Business
- The National
Independence is needed to secure Scotland's green future
Naturally, since the question of independence is one which is fundamentally about 'who decides?' for Scotland, Unionist and nationalist arguments are still woven right through the tussle over who can and should be doing what when it comes to energy policy, and where those powers to act would best rest. Effecting a transition which protects jobs and the environment is, however, something which needs to be dealt with immediately and regardless as to Scotland's constitutional status or people's personal preferences on that. When it comes to that transition, the Seventh Carbon Budget prepared by the Committee on Climate Change sets the challenge out starkly. Some 17% of employment in Aberdeen and 4% of employment in Aberdeenshire is estimated to be from oil and gas, the report says. As of 2021, direct employment in oil and gas in Aberdeen has declined by nearly one-third since 2015, with some estimates showing that around 14,000 people in the region will need to be moved to other roles or sectors between 2022 and 2030. READ MORE: ICC arrest warrant requests must be kept secret, court judges order Support for the just transition and North Sea workers was the subject of a debate which my colleague Kirsty Blackman secured last week at Westminster. Highlighting the current and very real lack of confidence in the energy sector, she pointed out how issues ranging from the inability to get grid connections, to the UK Government's current tax regime for the North Sea, conspire to stifle the investment activity that we desperately need to be taking place right now. We are, she warned, at a tipping point. One danger is that the highly mobile, highly paid oil and gas workers that we need in order to effect a transition at scale will go abroad if the opportunities for them to work in Scotland disappear faster than new opportunities are created. Another is that, unless the Labour Government picks up the pace, private investors will go to our European neighbours like Denmark or Norway where there is no lack of government appetite or pace. We already know what a failed energy transition looks like from the vandalism wreaked by the Tories on the coal industry in the 1980s. If we don't get this one right, then whole sectors and communities risk being left on the scrapheap as they were during the Thatcher years. And the transition certainly won't be 'got right' if it is left to the market alone to sort those things out. The jobs transition needn't just be a transition from energy jobs to other jobs in energy. To give one small example, I have recently been in discussions with the plumbing industry. A capacity crisis is coming for that industry in a few years' time because the financial constraints facing the training and education sector mean that the industry cannot possibly meet the demand for skilled labour that the market is going to have in the years ahead. One thing ministers could do straight away is to incentivise the private sector, using community benefit funds, to invest in apprenticeships in those areas, so that we are preparing alternatives and opportunities for people as the North Sea basin declines. That's the sort of 'belt and braces' requirement that the just transition Commission, which was set up by the Scottish Government in 2018 to provide scrutiny and advice on delivery, could be helping to push for. Northern Ireland is currently consulting on setting up its own commission; Wales established its own commission in 2023. So where is the UK-wide Just Transition Commission to similarly scrutinise the policy areas which the UK Government has kept reserved to itself? Even when it comes to jobs that the UK Government is directly in control of, the chairman of GB Energy has let the cat out of the bag about the '1000 new jobs' promised for Aberdeen, describing its work as 'a very long-term project', with the much-promised 1000 new jobs taking perhaps 20 years or more to realise. The Acorn project at St Fergus, the new power station at Peterhead and the investments in key strategic ports at Peterhead and Fraserburgh are vital and massive components of any just transition. While the UK Government was able to find almost £22 billion for carbon capture schemes in Merseyside and Teesside last autumn, it has yet to dig deep enough into its pockets for Scotland, despite all that it and its predecessors have taken from Scotland in the past five decades. Any hope there might be for a positive decision on funding the Acorn project at St Fergus is now in a most uncertain position in the June spending review, where we must imagine that the Chancellor will be more focused on squeezing through her self-imposed 'fiscal rules' than on meeting the far more important requirements of the future. Meanwhile, households are facing a third rise in energy costs since Labour came to power, partly as a result of a thoroughly dysfunctional energy market where electricity is priced according to the most expensive input needed to produce it. The typical offshore wind turbine contains more than three times as much material from abroad as it does from domestic manufacturers. And ownership of energy assets remains predominantly in overseas hands. While we miss out on present and future opportunities, the wider context to all of this is an energy market that is, paradoxically, working against both the interests of the consumer and the companies and investors who want to realise the green energy industrial revolution. So we come back to that fundamental question of 'who decides?'. There can surely be no question that when it comes to energy transition or indeed anything else, the people who care most about Scotland, and who are therefore best placed to take decisions of this magnitude, are those of us who have chosen to make our lives here, and who are therefore most invested in getting good outcomes for here. To get all of the opportunities for Scotland which should come from having all of the energy that we do, it's clear that Scotland's government needs all of the political power to match.
Zawya
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Zawya
Uganda: Police patrols to go electric to combat climate change
Government has unveiled a pilot programme to introduce electric vehicles for police patrols as part of efforts to combat climate change. The initiative was announced by the State Minister for Water and Environment, Hon. Beatrice Anywar, while responding to MPs' concerns during the plenary sitting chaired by Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa on Thursday 6 March 2025. During the previous day's sitting, the Chairperson of the Committee on Climate Change, Hon. Lawrence Songa, had warned of impending heavy rains and floods linked to the current heatwave. He urged the government to adopt proactive disaster preparedness and mitigation strategies. 'This heat wave affects health, agriculture and the economy. Increased evaporation from Lake Victoria will likely cause heavy rainfall and flooding. We must focus on preparedness rather than reactive relief efforts,' he cautioned. He also criticized the country's inefficient transport system, stating, 'Our traffic jams generate excessive heat, increasing emissions. We burn too much fuel and waste money on vehicle maintenance.' Shadow Minister for Environment, Hon. Christine Kaaya, (NUP, Kiboga District Woman), emphasized the need for a comprehensive government response. 'Extreme weather patterns are driven by both local activities and global environmental mismanagement. How do we measure our contributions to adaptation and mitigation?' she said. Speaking on behalf of the Leader of the Opposition, Kalungu West MP, Hon. Joseph Ssewungu, called for stronger policies against deforestation and incentives for alternative energy sources. 'Ugandans can use gas, but its high cost remains a barrier. The government should reduce taxes on alternative energy sources to encourage adoption,' he said. Minister Anywar acknowledged the severe impact of climate change, stating that the transition to electric patrol vehicles would begin with the Uganda Police Force. 'During last Monday's Cabinet meeting, we resolved to start with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Our police officers, who travel frequently, will be the first to receive electric motorcycles and vehicles,' she said. The Ministry of Environment predicts that the ongoing heat wave will subside by mid-March, bringing cooler temperatures and rainfall. Anywar attributed the extreme conditions to seasonal dry weather, the sun's position near the equator, a tropical cyclone in the Indian Ocean, and the urban heat island effect. She reassured MPs that costs would decline once Uganda begins oil and gas production in the Albertine region. 'The government has already subsidized 40 percent of gas cylinder costs. This reduction is in place to make gas more accessible,' she said. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Parliament of the Republic of Uganda.
Zawya
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Zawya
Uganda: Members of Parliament raise alarm on impending floods after heat wave
The Chairperson of the Committee on Climate Change, Hon. Lawrence Biyika, has warned of the impending heavy rains and floods resulting from the current heat wave, saying government should come out with clear mitigation measures. 'At the end of the dry season will come a lot of rain with floods. Because of the evaporation on open water such as Lake Victoria, the heat is boiling water, we must be disaster prepared, rather than waiting for relief after the disaster,' Biyika said. Biyika was responding to the Statement on Weather Patterns over Uganda, presented by the Minister of Water and Environment, Hon. Beatrice Anywar, during the plenary sitting on Wednesday, 05 March 2025. The legislator, who possesses qualificatoin in environment and natural resources, observed that the long dry spell is bound to affect agriculture and eventually the economy. He asked government to consider adaptation measures for such climate change effects, proposing a firm fight against deforestation and wetland destruction which he said are on rise. Hon. Christine Kaaya (NRM, Kiboga District Woman Rep), said the citizenry deserves to be guided on the likely effects of the dry spell and demanded for a clear message from government, detailing the projected percentage loss in crop yields, livestock and the health care burden. Kalungu West MP, Hon. Joseph Ssewungu agitated for subsidies on all sources of clean energy, as a way of discouraging charcoal burning and deforestation. 'Ugandans have learnt to use gas and other sources of energy but it is expensive. Government must reduce the costs on energy if we are to preserve the environment,' said Ssewungu. The Minister reiterated that government has already entered into agreements with companies selling gas subsiding 40 percent of price of gas. 'We already have an agreement with Stabex [oil marketing company], and the current price takes into account the 40 percent subsidy from government,' said Anywar adding that, 'As a country we hope to start producing our own oil and gas soon.' Anywar explained that according to meteorology reports, the current heat wave is projected to decline at the end of March 2025 ushering in the rainy season. 'The primary cause of the high temperatures is the ongoing dry season. The period from December to February is typically dry across Uganda, with February being the hottest month of the year. Temperatures begin to rise by mid-January, reaching the peak in February, and gradually decline from early March as the March-May rainfall season begins,' she said. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Parliament of the Republic of Uganda.
