Sign up to E-NewsWarm Heart of Africa: WDM Scotland report calls for climate justice for Malawi
26th May 2009
Campaigners call for climate justice for Malawi
Scottish climate change bill must set the standard for action
As the Climate Change (Scotland ) bill reaches a critical stage in its journey through the Scottish Parliament (1), the World Development Movement (WDM) has published a report showing the devastating impacts that climate change is having on Malawi and is calling on Scottish politicians to ensure that Scotland’s climate change legislation sets the standard for action across the industrialised world (2).
While the average Scot is responsible for 155 times the amount of carbon dioxide produced by the average Malawian, the World Health Organisation estimates that 1,500 Malawians die every year through climate change-related disease and malnutrition.
WDM is calling on Scottish politicians to take a global perspective when they vote on the Scottish climate change bill and to ensure that it brings climate justice to the people of Malawi, and other developing countries, who are already feeling the worst effects of climate change but who are the least responsible for the damage it causes.
Specifically, WDM wants to see the bill amended to require early action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by setting targets for reductions of at least 3% year on year from 2010 and an interim target of 42% reductions by 2020. It is also vital that the bill sets a limit on how much of the targets for reducing emissions should be allowed through carbon trading and how much must be achieved through taking action to reduce emissions in Scotland itself (3).
Liz Murray, Head of Scottish Campaigns for the World Development Movement said:
"Climate change will affect us all, but it is the world's poorest people who are suffering first and worst. Already the impacts of climate change are being felt in Malawi with unpredictable seasons and higher incidences of flood and drought affecting agriculture and drinking water supplies. And yet, the average Scot is responsible for 155 times more climate change emissions each year than the average Malawian. This is an issue of climate justice and we urge MSPs to take a global perspective when they vote on the Scottish climate bill. Their votes matter not just here in Scotland but to the world's poorest people as well. And only with a strong Scottish bill that sets the standard for action by developed countries can we hope to build the trust necessary with developing countries at the United Nations negotiations for a global agreement in Copenhagen in December.
Liz Murray continued:
“WDM Scotland chose Malawi as the focus of our report because of the historical and political links between the nations of Scotland and Malawi. However, our description of the impacts of climate change on agriculture, drinking water, food security and health could equally apply across much of sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia, all of whom are disproportionately suffering the effects of climate change caused by industrialised countries."
In Malawi, Dr Carl Bruessow, Director of Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust, who has seen the report, said:
"The Malawian smallholder family already facing a daily struggle to fulfill a subsistence livelihood today, now finds themselves simply powerless to prepare for the variety of possible disastrous predicaments that climate change brings. The choice on the table is to either plan to provide food for a nation of victims for the unforeseeable future, or to wholeheartedly seek solutions, such as must be in the Scottish climate change bill, to prevent that doomsday scenario. Is there really a choice?"
Ends
Contact: Liz Murray 0131 243 2730
Notes for editors:
1. Stage Two of the parliamentary process for the Scottish climate bill begins today, May 26th, with MSPs on the Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change committee voting on the first raft of amendments. 138 amendments in total have been tabled so far. 35 of these amendments are about the need for early action to reduce emissions before 2020. Another 30 amendments are about the need to limit carbon credits from abroad. WDM considers both these areas as vital if the bill is to be effective in reducing the impacts of climate change.
2. WDM Scotland’s report: “The warm heart of Africa: the impact of climate change in Malawi and why the Scottish climate bill matters”, can be viewed via the 'in this section' link above.
Scotland has the opportunity to lead the world with its climate change legislation and to set the standard for action by industrialised countries ahead of the United Nations negotiations in Copenhagen in December. It is vital that there is trust between developed and developing nations if an effective agreement is to be reached. Strong legislation coming from Scotland in the months just before these talks has the potential to build that vital trust - but only if the bill shows absolute commitment to Scotland taking responsibility for its own actions and setting a standard for other industrialised nations to aspire to.
(3) The World Development Movement is a member of the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition, a broad coalition of around 60 organisations in Scotland that are campaigning on climate change. Together the organisations represent over two million people in Scotland. WDM’s campaign demands are in line with the Stop Climate Chaos coalition’s demands for the bill. SCCS will be putting out a statement on the results of the voting on amendments to the bill later this afternoon.
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