Local demonstrations, some of them violent, affected Stirling on Wednesday 6 July, causing some disruption to our staff and our work. But the inconvenience seemed trivial when compared to the tragic events in London on July 7.  Thankfully none of the SEPA staff visiting London that day was directly affected and, although some staff with friends and family in the area spent anxious hours awaiting news, it appears we did not suffer any loss.  We were also reassured to hear from colleagues in our sister organisation, the Environment Agency, that all of their staff were safe. Our deepest sympathies go out to those who were less fortunate.

The G8 itself, despite the disruption, determined to continue with its important agenda and an agreement on climate change matters was reached. 

As SEPA View readers know, we have reported extensively on the issue and our own expert, Professor James Curran, like many of his peers around the world, believes it is “real, with us now, doing real damage and getting worse” (see pages 1-3). 

The overall agreement on climate change was less than many had hoped for, in light of the global significance of the issue. However, there is an acknowledgement that “climate change is happening now, that human activity is contributing to it, and that it could affect every part of the globe”.

There are pledges for action on energy, clean technologies, international cooperation and dialogue and a further meeting is planned in Britain on 1 November. This falls short of the hopes and expectations of many but the Prime Minister is clear that there has been significant progress.

The question now is what next?  The commitments, however limited, made by the G8 need to be fulfilled. We need to contain our frustrations (the threat was clear to many of us from ice-sheet modelling in the 80s and even US energy department reports back in 1975!) and channel our energies into a still more persuasive science-backed message, driving the reality of the threat home as forcibly as possible to those who remain to be convinced, and taking action to protect and mitigate.  

If Scotland’s G8 experience demonstrated one thing it was that there is significant public commitment to influencing political agendas, be they for making poverty history or securing action to mitigate climate change. The violent minority does not represent the majority of people. The onus is now on all of us to be more than the ‘silent’ majority and keep the pressure on for action on pollution and climate change.


Campbell Gemmell

SEPA Chief Executive



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