Clean air zones finally arrive

Clean air zones arrive at last

By Gavin Thomson, Air Pollution Campaigner

We are finally beginning to see the Low Emission Zones being introduced in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen that were announced by the Scottish Government in 2016.

There is still a significant wait until any vehicles will actually be restricted in any of these cities. The Low Emission Zone in Glasgow is the furthest along, where the oldest vehicles will be restricted from the city centre from June 2023, with the other three following along a year later. The introduction of the Low Emission Zones is a step in the right direction. We know that they are one of the most effective ways of reducing air pollution, and there have been 14 years of consistently illegal levels across all four of these cities, with only a short reduction in the first lockdown last year when traffic levels briefly plummeted. Air pollution is estimated to cause over 2,500 early deaths in Scotland each year. It has been linked to wide reaching health implications, including cancer, heart failure, asthma, cognitive impairments, and miscarriage.

Air pollution is estimated to cause over 2,500 early deaths in Scotland each year.

Now we’ve seen the plans from each of the councils that show what the Low Emission Zones will look like in practice, it’s clear that these are only a small element of what will need to be a much bigger plan if we are really going to tackle the issue. The zones will introduce the following emission standards for vehicles: Euro 4 for petrol vehicles (generally vehicles registered from 2006) Euro 6 for diesel vehicles (generally vehicles registered from September 2015). In other words, if a 2003 petrol car is driven into one of the four city centres after June 2024, a penalty fine will be issued. The zones will only cover very small areas in the four city centres, with heavily polluted neighbourhoods being left out. In Edinburgh, for example, the council scaled back the plan for a city wide zone leaving only a small area of the city centre which is mostly in the historic Old Town. This means that the benefits of cleaner air will only be felt by tourists coming to the city and the generally wealthier residents who live in this area. The rest of the city will be left to be exposed to toxic air that’s harmful to our health.

Climate targets

Scotland’s climate emission stats for the year 2019 were published in mid June (there is a lag in reporting due to the complexity of calculations). This made for grim reading. Scotland failed to meet its legally set climate change target for the third year in a row. The transport sector remains by far the biggest contributor. Taking action on climate, in Scotland, means taking action on transport. What these statistics on greenhouse gas emissions showed was that there’d been no action taken. In addition to the devastating impact on our health from traffic emissions, the lack of action to change our transport system is also failing the climate. Traffic levels have been as high, or higher, than pre-pandemic levels for quite some time now. There are few signs that the emissions from transport for 2021 will show a reduction. We’re going in the wrong direction.

Photo: iStockphoto.com

What now?

Low Emission Zones are a great way of improving air quality in our city centres but if we want to improve air quality for everyone, we need to see a variety of measures. We need bus services that are affordable and reliable. We want councils and communities to have greater control over how, when, and where bus services operate. This means greater regulation of buses. Planning approval for things like out-of-town retail parks and drive-thru coffee shops have to become a thing of the past. Pedestrianisation in city centres, removal of parking spaces in favour of benches and green space, are some of the changes that send a clear message that cities are for people rather than for cars. They also, as an added bonus, will make cities a nicer place to live and spend time, while helping to make the changes we need for our health and that of the planet. The Scottish Government recently committed to reducing car use by 20%. The plan to achieve this will be published later this year. We don’t know if any or all of these ideas mentioned above will be included. One thing we know: it will need to be ambitious.

Photo: Rachel Martin

Get in touch

If you’re trying to reduce traffic levels in your area or if you’d like to start, give me a shout at gthomson@foe.scot.

Activists in Stirling with anti-coal campaigners from Colombia. Photo: Ric Lander

Divestment News Roundup

In the last edition of What on Earth, we reported on how Scotland’s councils still invested over £1.2 billion in fossil fuel companies – despite many of these councils having declared a ‘climate emergency’ .

The globally influential International Energy Agency’s recent report stated “There is no need for investment in new fossil fuel supply in our net zero pathway. ” The excuses for inaction are falling away fast. The good news is that thanks to your activism across the country, Councillors are speaking out against these investments and leading some major changes. For the first time both Falkirk and Stirling Councils have written to their shared pension fund requesting an end to investment in fossil fuels. Fife Council also backed a first step towards divestment, a change that would see the Council breaking ties with Shell, owner of the area’s biggest polluter at Mossmorran. Renewed campaigning is also getting started in Highland and Lothian areas. Could our councils be in a race to divest ahead of the UN climate talks? Others have crossed the line already: Edinburgh Napier have just announced they’re fully fossil free, making them the 88th UK university to make this commitment.

The excuses for inaction are falling away fast.

And five years since the issue was first raised by their Youth Assembly, Church of Scotland members finally approved the Church divesting from fossil fuels. Sally Foster-Fulton of Christian Aid reacted: ‘Communities living with the devastating consequences of climate chaos have been consistently calling on us all to make the significant changes necessary to bring climate justice. Investing our money and our energy in renewable and sustainable resources is one practical way to respond. ’ Earlier in the spring campaigners in Scotland were also instrumental in securing a commitment from the UK Methodist Church.

We’re investigating fossil fuel connections in new places. If you’re a member of one of these pension funds and would support efforts to divest, email sclark@foe.scot

> Highland and Lothian pension funds > BT > RBS and other high street banks > Electricity Pensions > Railways Pension Scheme > Universities Superannuation Scheme

Glasgow could make history in September

By Ric Lander & Sally Clark, Divestment Campaigners

Glasgow Councillors could make the UK’s biggest divestment commitment yet at a crunch meeting in September. Here’s how campaigning got us this far, and what’s left to do.

It’s just months to go now until Glasgow hosts the United Nations climate talks, and the clock is ticking on whether the city can pull off one of the UK’s biggest ever wins for climate justice. Glasgow Council runs the Strathclyde Pension Fund which, at £24 billion pounds, is one of Europe’s largest pension funds and Scotland’s biggest pot of public money. Despite the Council declaring a climate emergency in 2019 this fund still invests heavily in climate polluters: over £500 million according to our 2021 report. Yet change may come soon. After fossil fuel divestment was proposed as part of the City’s climate emergency response, Glasgow City Councillors overwhelmingly backed fossil fuel divestment in April. Proposed by Greens and with backing from the SNP and Labour, the motion was non-binding, but nonetheless a milestone political win for fossil free campaigning.

Fast forward to June, and having received the call for action, it was now the job of Councillors on the City’s independent Pension Committee to decide what to do.

Photo: Colin Hattersley

They took a step in the right direction but stopped short of divesting the pension fund. Their motion supported some divestment taking place but didn’t mention fossil fuel companies and didn’t set a timeline. They agreed the Fund would divest from any companies which did not meet minimum climate standards but did not agree what these standards should be. If something meaningful is to be done by COP26 a final decision must now be made at a crucial Pension Fund Committee meeting in September. The risk in Glasgow is that if minimum standards are too weak, the £24 billion fund may continue to invest in polluters simply because these companies make vague 2050 pledges whilst continuing to explore and develop more polluting fuels. Campaigners in Glasgow and Strathclyde are busy piling on the pressure to ensure this goes the right way. Hundreds of you signed an open letter supporting divestment, protests have taken place with Divest Strathclyde and Extinction Rebellion Glasgow, there have been press stories and online events, and plans are afoot to link with global campaigners in the run up to COP26. The impact of a strong fossil fuel divestment policy being announced in the host city just weeks before the conference would wave a huge flag that polluters are not welcome in Glasgow. At the same time, a win here could unlock millions to invest in a sustainable future. The Cardiff, Lambeth and Waltham Forest council pension funds have already fully committed to going fossil fuel free. Scotland can join them, and if it does, others will surely follow.

We’re urging councillors to agree strong fossil free divestment policy to ensure that Glasgow makes history this September.

Ahead of the Strathclyde Pension Fund Committee’s next meeting in September, we need your help to keep up the pressure to ensure that the Fund makes the right choices for people and the planet and stops investing in fossil fuel companies. If you want to help, get in touch rlander@foe.scot

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