This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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FM demands environmental justice for all
18/02/2002
In his first major speech on sustainable development the
First Minister, Jack McConnell, said it was time to
challenge the notion that the environment only mattered to
a minority of people.
Speaking at a conference in Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh, Mr
McConnell said (
full text):
"The gap between the haves and have nots is not just an
economic issue - improving quality of life demands
environmental justice too. At the moment there is a real
injustice in that people who suffer the most from a poor
environment are those least able to fight back.
"We must all take responsibility for the world in which
we live and I am determined that government will lead by
example.
"Good government can affect real change and greater
determination from all Scottish Ministers will see real
improvement on Scotland's environmental record."
Mr McConnell set out some early action that will be
taken across the Executive including
- action to make the spending decisions which flow
from the budget of the Scottish Parliament more
sustainable,
- action on recycling,
- action on renewable energy,
- encouraging businesses to become 'good neighbours'
and publish, information on their environmental
records.
Mr McConnell added:
"There will be a mechanism in this year's Spending
Review to genuinely consider the environmental impact from
the spending decisions that are taken. Spending departments
within the Executive will need to demonstrate what
contribution their proposals will make towards the
achievement of sustainable development objectives.
"I am not making new spending commitments; I am making
new commitment on our spending.
"I want to take the lead on recycling and see our rate
of progress on this increase. We must now bring all this to
bear throughout government. The public sector in Scotland
has a purchasing power of around £5 billion per year - we
should use this tool where possible to support indigenous
recycling industries.
"The Executive itself is making progress and has set
targets to increase the amount of office waste recovered to
50% by March 2002. I now want to see all public bodies
setting targets for recycling, waste minimisation and
resource consumption."
The First Minister also outlined the role he wanted to
see between industries and communities in Scotland.
He added:
"Improving relations between a community and the
industry should be encouraged. Industries should strive to
be good neighbours and thorough and honest appraisal of
environmental performance can be the spur to further
improvements - and I want to see more Scottish businesses
publish Corporate Responsibility Reports."
Mr McConnell confirmed that renewable energy would play
a large part in sustainable development. He said:
"Scotland has an enormous resource of renewable sources
- we already expect to exceed our initial target of
generating 18% of our electricity by 2010 of electricity
from renewables. Today I want to signal our intention to
increase that target - we will consult on it - but I hope
we can work towards 30% of our electricity coming from
renewable sources by 2020."
The First Minister was speaking at the ERM Scotland
Environment Forum which was established six years ago to
provide a platform for discussion on current environmental
policy issues. The forum brings together senior decision
makers from business and industry, government and society
in Scotland.
Full text of First Minister's speech