A major conference on climate justice will take place in Glasgow next month to help shape the action Scotland can take to tackle the effects of climate change at home, and overseas.

The Human Rights and Climate Change Conference will include a keynote address from Finance Secretary John Swinney, and a video address from Mary Robinson, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

See the programme for the conference.

The conference will bring the human cost of climate change into sharp focus just days before the start of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (visit the Copenhagen conference website). In Scotland, climate justice throws a spotlight on the way quickly changing weather patterns affect our economy, communities and landscape,

especially for vulnerable groups. In other countries climate justice is being debated in terms of mass migration, the balance of industrial development and pollution, and access to water, land and food.  

The Scottish Government, Scottish Human Rights Commission, SEPA, and the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV) are jointly hosting the event, the first of its kind in Scotland.

John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, said: “As a society, we are at a crossroads, choosing which world we will pass to our children: a greener, sustainable economy or a world where droughts, famines and storms and the extinction of species will be commonplace. It is every human’s right to inhabit a clean, green world.

“The Scottish Government is clear on the path our nation is choosing and, to this end, we are taking a leading role internationally. The world-leading Climate Change (Scotland) Act which was passed this year introduces targets to reduce emissions by 42 per cent by 2020 and at least 80 per cent by 2050. It will drive new thinking, new solutions and new technologies, putting Scotland at the forefront of building a sustainable low carbon economy.

“Our vision is to build a Greener Scotland for our children, while also setting an example to the rest of the world of how a developed nation can become greener sustainably.”

Professor Alan Miller, Chair of the Scottish Human Rights Commission said the conference will draw attention to vulnerable groups who will be acutely affected by climate change in Scotland. "Climate change is already having a significant negative impact on the lives and human rights - to health, food, water and livelihoods - of many around the world. It will have an increasing impact on Scotland particularly the most vulnerable through poverty, geography or health.

“Climate justice is needed to effectively address climate change. All of us - national and local government, businesses, communities and individuals - share this responsibility. I look forward to this timely conference in which we can explore how an approach based on human rights can enable us all to identify what Scotland can do as well as what each of us can do as global citizens.”

SEPA’s Professor James Curran, one of Scotland’s most respected environmental scientists, stressed the importance of concerted action. He said: “The environmental evidence is very clear – climate change is real and happening here and now in Scotland. SEPA’s data show that Scotland has become much wetter in winter over the past 50 years (over 60% wetter in the north west) but about 30% drier in summer. Extremes of weather are becoming more frequent, with floods, landslides, storms, heatwaves and even droughts having increasingly dramatic impacts on communities across the country. SEPA has powers to control industrial pollution but action for climate change must be far wider than that. It’s a challenge we must all meet together.” 

Russell Hampton, Director of BTCV Scotland added: “Climate change is becoming a reality. There is a danger that as time passes more of us are becoming apathetic to increasing risks, and instead of taking action simply leaving it to ‘the experts’ to resolve. The irony is that we as individuals and as collective groups have the capacity to take localised action – such as environmental volunteering - that when aggregated, helps to mitigate our global problem.

“I am confident that the correlation between human rights and climate justice will be a powerful motivator for people. The Conference is an almost unique opportunity to explore how the International Framework on Human Rights can be applied in Scotland by its people, through the Third Sector and in partnership with local and national Government.”

The event takes place on 23 November 2009 at Glasgow Science Centre.

In addition to the keynote address from Mr Swinney and video message from Mary Robinson, delegates will also hear from community activist who are already feeling the effects of climate change in Scotland. Farah Kabir of ActionAid UK will also tell delegates of her experiences as Country Director for Bangladesh, where climate change is having a devastating effect on millions of people faced with flooding, higher temperatures and land erosion. Amongst the delegates will be around 50 young people from two Glasgow high schools to ensure that the voices of young people are heard in the debate.

 There will also be a Marketplace where third sector groups and agencies will discuss the work they are carrying out on climate justice in Scotland.