Declaration on Climate Change

Yesterday (16th January), I was greatly privileged to be the first Councillor Leader in Scotland to sign the Local Government climate Change declaration at a ceremony in Towerbank primary school in Portobello (Click here for story) . For me this issue is the most important we face today. All the evidence (not least the weather at Hogmanay) tells us that we, as humans, are damaging our most precious resource, our environment. The debate is over. It is change or die time and it is right that the Council should lead by example. Although I said a few words, two 11 year olds spoke far more eloquently that I could about the need to everyone to take part in the kind of activity that will make a difference. They spoke of how their school had become very energy and waste conscious recycling not just paper but clothes and other items also. They spoke of how they had started to do this at home. They said every choice they made could make a difference. It was a powerful reminder that climate change is in all our hands. In the several interviews I did after the signing I was asked if I thought raising taxes for example, on waste, would be helpful. My view is that berating and punishing people will not work here. This is a hearts and minds debate. Our citizens track record on the recent increase in recycling suggests that with good education and easy processes, people will choose to change. May be too, experiences like Hogmanay will help us all realise that the time has come for action. As one of the wee girls put it, every little does really help.

Hogmanay

The cancellation of Hogmanay was not a happy moment for all involved. Although the right decision was made, my heart sank when I got the call from the staff to say that the decision to cancel had been taken. As ever, we were caught between the rock and the hard place of cancelling too early and then the weather turning for the better and waiting to long and people not having enough time to make other arrangements. I don’t know that we will ever get that one absolutely right.The "you should have had a plan B brigade" clearly have no idea what it takes to organise this kind of even. You can’t have another venue on stand by. That would cost huge amounts of cash and apart from Murrayfield, there's nowhere big enough and the dynamics of a stadium concert are not the same as the outdoor city centre experience, which is what makes Edinburgh’s Hogmanay so unique.But there are things we can do. So much of the problem lies in the temporary nature of the stages. What creative way we can overcome that then becomes the question. Clearly the replacement for the Ross bandstand will help but we need other city centre performance spaces too. The running of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay goes back out to tender in the spring and I will be looking for innovation and creative answers to the need for safer, more robust performance spaces and other ideas that can make our Hogmanay experience better and better despite our unpredictable Scottish weather.