The Royal Society of Edinburgh has produced a report on how Scotland should move to a low-carbon economy. This seems to demonstrate that the spirit of Chairman Mao's `Great Leap Forward' is alive and well and living in Auld Reekie. Yes folks, the answer to all our problems is a plan to be developed in Holyrood.
Here are the report's recommendations:
1. The UK Government should urgently improve the infrastructure and management of the electricity grid in Scotland to optimise the development of renewable energy and to permit the export of surplus renewable energy.
2. The Scottish and UK Governments need to retrofit existing regulation to achieve a balance with the need to reduce carbon emissions.
3. The Scottish Government should work with local authorities and businesses to align and sharpen regulation in order to achieve a step change in energy efficiency in buildings and transport.
4. The Scottish Government and local authorities should jointly introduce truly integrated polices in order to achieve effective reductions in emissions at a regional level.
5. The Scottish Government should develop a spatially-referenced national land use plan integrated with regional strategic plans in order to optimise carbon sequestration
6. The finance industry should take a lead and work with government to create the business environment that will mobilise private finance in support of a low-carbon society.
7. All organisations should appraise their goals and practices in the light of the urgency to achieve a low-carbon society.
8. Local authorities should integrate and embed their low-carbon policies across all their various functions.
9. The Scottish Government and local authorities should actively assist local communities to introduce low-carbon initiatives.
10. Closer engagement is needed between people, civil society, market and state in the pursuit of Scotland’s low-carbon vision.