Responding to the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the science of climate change, Keith Anderson, Chief Executive of ScottishPower, said:
“Today’s IPCC report makes for stark reading. We already knew that bold steps were needed to address the climate crisis, but this report – the biggest ever scientific study – is clear that human behaviour is driving unprecedented changes to our planet’s atmosphere. There is now very little time to meet the goals set out in the Paris Agreement. Our governments and political leaders can no longer hide from this reality.
“At ScottishPower, we closed our coal plants, ditched gas, and built onshore, offshore and solar generation and are investing £10billion over five years to help deliver the changes needed to support net zero targets and the hope of keeping 1.5C – the goal to limit global warming – alive.
“But the UK needs to make big changes and needs to make them faster. There must be a just transition that helps more people switch to electric vehicles, and it means the old ways of heating our homes (gas boilers, oil tanks…) have to go. We already know 14 per cent of the UK’s carbon emissions currently come from domestic housing and that needs to be urgently addressed.
“It’s clear we need immediate and decisive action from political leaders to limit global warming to 1.5°C and avoid the worst effects of climate change. We have the best opportunity available with COP26 coming to Glasgow in three months’ time. I hope that’s a rallying call to properly address the global catastrophe this UN report warns us of. We must not miss this opportunity.”