ABSTRACT

The COP-26 United Nations Climate Change meeting, scheduled to be held in Glasgow in 2021, is an important step in the world’s attempt to deal with the climate emergency arising from increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Here we look at how society has responded to the Covid-19 emergency and compare it with the response to the climate change emergency, the latter based on our experience of a Royal Society of Edinburgh Inquiry on climate change published nearly ten years ago (RSE, 2011). With reference to Covid-19, civil society’s response to the lockdown showed the power of clear political leadership and also the willingness of people to work together. On the negative side, the UK national test and trace system struggled because of a disconnect between national and regional activities. In our climate change report, we identified similar organisational barriers that were impeding a move towards a low-carbon future, especially the lack of responsibilities and powers at a city regional scale. If Scotland is to reduce emissions seriously, the focus needs to be on transport (30% of emissions), heating and agriculture. Without more responsibility and power at a city regional scale, Scotland will not achieve its emissions targets.

摘要

COP 20联合国气候变化会议定于2021年在格拉斯哥举行，是世界努力应对因温室气体排放增加而引起的气候紧急情况的重要一步。在这里，我们了解社会如何应对Covid-19紧急情况，并将其与对气候变化紧急情况的响应进行比较，后者是根据我们近十年前爱丁堡皇家学会对气候变化问题的研究（RSE， 2011）。关于Covid-19，民间社会对封锁的反应显示了明确的政治领导能力以及人们合作的意愿。不利的一面是，由于国家和地区活动之间的脱节，英国的国家测试和跟踪系统陷入困境。在我们的气候变化报告中，我们发现了类似的组织障碍，这些障碍阻碍了向低碳未来的发展，尤其是在城市区域范围内缺乏责任和权力。如果苏格兰要认真减少排放，则重点应放在运输（占排放的30％），供暖和农业上。如果在城市区域范围内没有更多的责任和权力，苏格兰将无法实现其排放目标。