Working together to deliver a low carbon future for Scotland
This largely depends on how you define a green product, for example if you just mean greener than the alternative then yes most ‘green’ products are green. However, if you use the Oxford English dictionary definition of “not harmful to the environment” then it is questionable whether any products claiming to be green truly are. In my opinion, as with everything in life, you can make a big difference with small changes. However, some recent …
It’s always good fun to look back and see how wrong people have been about the future. My favourite failed prediction is either the one from a vacuum cleaner manufacturer predicting nuclear powered vacuum cleaners, or Albert Einstein on why splitting the atom was physically impossible. Of course, we are sometimes no better these days at predicting the future than those we smugly look back on from the past – the credit crunch, the Ukraine crisis or the transformations wrought by Facebook, Twitter and Skype being three more recent examples.
£21 Billion, that’s a big number and it’s a big chunk of £126 Billion. That second number was the GDP of Scotland in 2012, but that first number is what I’m interested in it is what could be thought of as the Gross Natural Product. It has been estimated that the Scottish economy gains between £21-£23 Billion per year from its natural capital. And the basic idea underpinning this, that there is no choice between a …
The 2020 Group recently hosted a supper discussion evening with NGOs working in the climate change field. In a fascinating discussion, several key themes emerged: There are many more similarities between businesses and NGOs than we might think, both in common aspirations and challenges faced. The more we talk together, the more we understand each other and the more we can collaborate, for example in engaging the general public. Communication is key, both within the …
Scotland’s carbon emissions reduction targets present significant challenges to the built environment, which accounts for 40%-50% of CO2 emissions. Today’s existing buildings, both domestic and non-domestic, will account for 90%+ of the building stock in 2050, when Scotland has to demonstrate a reduction in carbon emissions of 80%. In summary, retrofitting our existing building stock is the biggest challenge facing Scotland, if these targets are to be realised.
In addition to Ian Marchant’s blog, 2020 members are encouraged to make contributions to the debate on Climate Change and related issues here.
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