Transcript Dave Gorman, Head of Environmental Strategy, SEPA and

The Changing Climate: The
Imperative for Action
Dave Gorman
Head of Environmental Strategy
Scottish Environment Protection Agency
Asked to cover…
 Some of the science, particularly Scottish
observations
 SEPA’s response to the climate change
challenge
 Introduce Scotland’s Principal’s Climate
Commitment
 (in my role as Chair of the Advisory Board)
Long-term CO2 record
IPCC 4th Assessment report
The understanding of anthropogenic
warming and cooling influences on climate
has improved since the Third Assessment
Report (TAR), leading to very high
confidence that the globally averaged net
effect of human activities since 1750 has
been one of warming,
Longterm temperature trend in
Scotland
Average
Temperature
Earlier Flowering
1978-2001
3 weeks
early
Snowdrop
Wild Daffodil
Bluebell
Dog violet
Winter aconite
2 weeks
early
1 week
early
Lesser celandine
Courtesy:
Prof. Fred Last,
Longniddry
Broom
Wild cherry
Heating degree days
SEPA’s Climate Change
Plan
Identifies actions that SEPA will take across all
of its business activities and functions over the
next 5 years in order to help Scotland respond
to the challenges and opportunities that we face
from climate change.
SEPA’s role
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Monitoring and Analysis
Regulation
Advice to Operators
Greening SEPA
Informing and Influencing
Communicating Information
Monitoring and analysis
 National Environment Monitoring
Programme –
 c50,000 samples, 700,000 determinands, 500+
chemicals, 2000 plants and animals.
Regulation
Advice to business
Environmental footprint of
SEPA’s activities
Informing and influencing
Understanding our risk
- new flood maps
November 2006
Attitudes
There was a time when Glasgow looked like this
Scotland’s Principals’
Climate Commitment
What’s Behind the Commitment?
 Part of the Campus Sustainability Programme
 Brought forward by SD Topic Support Network
 Output for CaSPr programme 2008-11
 Commitment reflects similar work elsewhere
 In local government – ‘Scotland’s climate change
Declaration’ – ‘Nottingham Declaration’
 In FE/HE ‘American College and University
Presidents CC Commitment’ – ‘CC Statement of
Action for Canada’
 Proactive response to Scottish Climate Change Bill,
other UK/EU legislation
Towards a Climate Commitment
Scotland’s Principals’ Climate Commitment:
 A sector response to act on climate change
 Demonstrates leadership on climate change
 Places sector at the vanguard
 Process covers both mitigation (causes) and adaptation
(effects)
 Strategic, to direct action over the medium term
 BUT with specific undertakings to act and report
 No ‘league tables’ – inclusive, not just the ‘greener’
 Reflects work already being done through CaSPr
 carbon management, waste, recycling, energy saving
 Partnership with Government, others in ‘shared endeavour’
What’s Happened So Far?
 EAUC secured Scottish Funding Council support for
process
 Consultancy support to assist delivery
 Strong early collaboration to establish Advisory Board
 Includes FE/HE representation, Scottish
Government, EAUC-S, Scottish Funding Council,
Universities Scotland, SEPA – add student and trade
unions
 Representation from college and university principals
 ‘Technical support’ from Carbon Trust, EST,
SNIFFER
 Board purposes:
 to draft/consult on/finalise/launch Commitment
 develop business plan for future support by end-2008
 Agreed Board remit and approach for Commitment
What Happens Next?
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Priority - draft Commitment text for consultation
Circulate to FE/HE representative bodies
Seek Ministerial support for Commitment
Promote signature of Commitment by institutions
Develop a support mechanism through CaSPr
Link to other reporting/performance frameworks
Foster linkages, smart working and learning:
 Other sectors in Scotland – public, local government
 FE/HE activity elsewhere
The Future
 ‘There is nothing positive coming from behind,
a cold wind is blowing in all our faces and this
is how we see our immediate future’
 Wolfgang Bernhard, VW
 (NOT!)
BUT THIS…
 Imagination is more important than knowledge
 A.Einstein
 Vision is the art of seeing things invisible
 J.Swift
 Eloquence is found in action
 Shakespeare, Coriolanus