Church of Scotland's response to Conserve & Save

The Church of Scotland has prepared a response to the Scottish Government's Energy Efficiency Action Plan. Adrian Shaw, Climate Change officer at the Church of Scotland, was kind enough to send us the reponse document to this important consultation. The response will be posted in 2 parts.

CONSERVE AND SAVE

Consultation by the Scottish Government on the Energy Efficiency Action Plan for Scotland (October 2009)

Response by the Church of Scotland

1. The Scottish Government’s Energy Efficiency Action Plan will be a crucial document in shaping the Scottish Government’s response to climate change and to other energy challenges in the coming decade. The targets set out in the Scottish Climate Change Act demand a massive reduction in Scotland’s carbon dioxide emissions and the energy efficiency action plan is an essential part of the tool kit to achieve these cuts. It is also essential to tackle the growing problem of fuel poverty. For these reasons it is essential that the plan is sufficiently strong and comprehensive to deliver on both objectives.

2. The consultation document sets out in some detail a large number of initiatives that could be taken forward by the action plan. Some areas of work, such as housing, are covered in some detail. Other areas of equal importance such as transport are covered in much less detail. If we are to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases to meet the targets in the Scottish Climate Change Act there will need to be rapid progress in all the areas included in the document.

3. Similarly if global demand for fuel continues to increase then rising domestic energy prices will push more people into fuel poverty. A detailed long term strategy will be needed to address this issue. The proposals in the consultation document go some way towards these aspirations but will need to be amplified and developed further if they are to be effective. In short, the proposals set out in the document are only the beginning.

Responding to climate change
“The Church of Scotland is concerned that climate change poses a serious and immediate threat to people everywhere, particularly to the poor of the earth; and that climate change represents a failure in our stewardship of God’s creation. We accept the need to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases urgently to avoid dangerous and irreversible climate change; and to promote a more equitable and sustainable use of energy.”

4. The approach that the Church of Scotland is developing is to challenge congregations to learn about climate change, to work out their own carbon footprint and to make a commitment to reduce this by 5% a year. This approach stresses personal and collective responsibility. It challenges congregations to take action because of their faith.

5. The Church of Scotland is working with other denominations to promote this approach through Eco-Congregation Scotland. This is an ecumenical movement of 230 congregations across Scotland and participating congregations have made a commitment to take practical action to care for creation. In 2009 Eco-Congregation Scotland published a guide for congregations explaining how they can measure and reduce their carbon footprint, not only in their church buildings but also in their homes, in the travel and in their communities.

6. People are not just passive consumers of energy who are incapable of change; rather they are individuals and communities who can choose to take action for the better. This choice is critical for the success of the action plan and to ensure the successful implementation of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act. If individuals and communities across Scotland can be inspired to take action to change their behaviour then the targets set out in the Act may be achievable; but if not, then it is unlikely that the proposals will be successful. For these reasons we believe that behaviour change should be given the highest priority in the action plan.

Chapter 1: Introduction and Strategic Context
7. The plan identifies a reduction in unnecessary energy use as a priority and energy efficiency as the tool to achieve this. The scale of the changes required to meet the Scottish Government’s target of an 80% reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases by 2050 are enormous and represent a major challenge for everybody in Scotland: individuals, communities, businesses as well as government. To achieve this ambitious target will require changes in these way we live and do business and the way in which government develops policy. Inevitably these changes will affect the lives of people and communities across Scotland.

Chapter 2: Current trends in energy usage
8. The chapter makes the point that here have been improvements in energy efficiency in many sectors of the economy but that these improvements have been outstripped by increasing consumption. Cars engines are more efficient than they used to be, but drivers have chosen to buy larger and more powerful cars and there are more cars on the road. The net result is that the total amount of fuel used in road transport has increased and with it the contribution of road traffic to Scotland’s carbon dioxide emissions.

9. The gap between current trends in energy use and those we need to establish to reduce energy use are so great that there will need to be a step change in our behaviour and actions. We are not convinced that the consultation document faces up to the scale of the challenges or the behaviour change needed to achieve these changes. As noted above while it is a useful start much more needs to be done to bring about these changes.

End of Part 1.