SNP trade minister Ivan McKee evocatively called them a “shiny squirrel” while Nicola Sturgeon noted they were widely associated with “low-cost, low-wage, low-value opportunities”. Fortunately, the Scottish Government aren’t proposing “freeports” but “green ports”…
environment
Glasgow City Council’s consultation ‘How Good are Glasgow’s Places?’ comes to an end on the 11th, giving people the chance to have their say on how development gets taken forward in the city.
Community’s last chance to influence future of Glasgow developments
“If an alliance can be forged drawing working class communities together with the environmental movement they could prove a potent force.”
Analysis: BiFab is in administration – trade unionists and environmentalists are united in rage
“The fear may be that the incorporation of an enfeebled version of SNIB will lead to waning interest in the policy, as part of a general cynicism surrounding official political life.”
Analysis: Can the Scottish National Investment Bank deliver on its promises?
“Empty work sites and idling labour amid a renewables boom driven by foreign multinationals has become the image of Fife’s transition to green energy.”
Analysis: The transition to green energy is well underway and anything but ‘just’
“Major omissions mean that Scotland’s environmental safeguards will be left weaker following our departure from the EU, despite the Scottish Government’s explicitly stated intentions to ‘maintain or exceed’ environmental standards and to replace the system of environmental governance provided by EU institutions.”
Miriam Ross: New watchdog needs teeth to defend Scotland’s people and environment after Brexit
A new study has found a record-breaking heatwave in Siberia was made 600 times more likely by man-made climate change. Temperatures in the far north of Russia were more than five degrees above normal from January to June this year, causing permafrost to melt and forest fires to proliferate, which in turn increased more carbon […]
How do we avoid crisis-fatigue?
On Monday the Scottish Government proposed that the UK needs £80 billion of investment for a Coronavirus recovery plan – equating to 4% of the UK’s GDP. Instead, Boris Johnson has revealed his ‘New Deal’ for £5 billion of investment – 0.2% of the UK’s GDP – in a speech full of rhetoric.
Boris Johnson’s Underwhelming Recovery Plan
New figures for the first quarter of 2020 have revealed an astonishing collapse in the profitability of shale gas extracting (fracking) firms in the US.
Coronavirus fracking crisis: Scotland dodged a bullet
“A continued lack of action on a so-called just transition is sapping credibility from the project, and dividing those who could benefit from it.”