Extinction Rebellion (XR) Forres calls for Moray Council to approve its Climate Change Strategy 2020-2030

A LOCAL protest group is urging Moray's councillors to approve the local authority's environmental policies for the next decade.

The Climate Change Strategy 2020-2030 is being presented to full council for approval this Wednesday, and Extinction Rebellion (XR) Forres has sent the area's representatives a picture they hope encourages the vote to be a formality.

An XR spokesperson said: "Voting to approve the council’s climate change strategy is the only way forward. We encourage everyone to contact their local councillors to do so.

"However, while we welcome it as a first step, we’re disappointed that it relates to the council’s emissions only, which account for a mere four per cent of emissions within Moray as a whole.

"On page 19 of the council’s draft strategy, it states 'with respect to CO2 emissions within the scope of influence of local authorities ... per capita emissions of Moray are the highest of any local authority in Scotland. These are assignable to Moray’s whisky distilling sector, food producers and MOD military facilities.'"

XR Forres believes Moray Council needs to do more to actively promote, educate and encourage the major employers in the area to commit to a carbon-neutral future as soon as possible so the entire community can work towards the goal.

The XR spokesperson said: "This work needs to be prioritised as a matter of urgency. Later this decade, Scotland is highly likely to have used up its carbon budget as set by the 2015 Paris agreement.

"We further urge the council to rigorously incorporate its climate goals into its economic growth and planning strategies. Moray’s Economic Strategy 2019-2029 currently priorities high-carbon emitting industries such as aviation and defence as key growth sectors."

XR Forres aims include: encouraging the Scottish Government to "tell the truth" about the climate and wider ecological emergency, acknowledge and reverse any policies that help drive the climate crisis, and commit to enabling a rapid and just transition to a sustainable and fair society; pressuring the Scottish Government to enact legally binding policy measures to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025, including by replacing a system based on accelerating consumption with one based on ensuring the wellbeing of all; and becoming part of of a legally binding Scottish Climate Citizens’ Assembly to oversee the changes, as part of creating a democracy fit for purpose and a society that cares for all.

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