Reducing
Carbon Emissions

A global deal

We’re delighted that in December more than 190 countries reached a ground-breaking global agreement to tackle climate change, at the UN climate talks in Paris. They agreed to limit global warming to well below 2°C. There were also crucial commitments to protect vulnerable places and people. It’s a major milestone on the road towards a fairer, cleaner and renewable future. The climate deal was the result of years of effort. At the talks themselves, a WWF team from around the globe played a key role, working into the nights to push world leaders for an ambitious agreement. And we had huge support from those of you who joined marches and events to keep pressure on governments. The challenge ahead is to make sure commitments in Paris turn into ambitious action.

Our chief adviser on climate change, Stephen Cornelius, was in Paris for the talks.

Read about his experience

Action for the Arctic

It’s vital that we investigate and monitor the warming Arctic. Why so? Because the UK is the Arctic’s closest neighbour – it’s in our back yard and what happens there affects us all. It’s also really important that we bring alive the reality of the situation and inspire as many people as possible to take action to tackle climate change. We’ve been helped hugely in this mission this year by Finn and Jack Harries – whose films (as JacksGap) have clocked up more than 185 million views on YouTube. They joined our polar programme manager Rod Downie and glaciologist professor Alun Hubbard on a trip to document the unprecedented rate of flow and melt of the Greenland ice sheet as a result of climate change. They produced this excellent short documentary featuring their experience there. It’s aimed at engaging a young audience – it highlights the threats posed by climate change and offers optimism that together we can tackle them.

Find out more about Finn and Jack and their trip to the Arctic

Jacks Gap

Coal fired

We’ve been successful in our long-running call for the UK to phase out coal power: the UK government announced plans to stop using coal to generate electricity within a decade. It’s a really heartening campaign win for us and the thousands of supporters who backed us. The UK became the first major economy to announce it’ll phase out coal from its power sector, which set an example in the lead-up to the UN climate summit in Paris. Coal-fired power plants are currently the world’s single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Using coal without carbon capture and storage is the dirtiest, most carbon-intensive way to produce electricity. So this change will lead to significant carbon reductions. However, while announcing the coal phase-out, the government also said it’ll allow new gas to be introduced in the UK energy sector – and it failed to make any new positive announcements about renewables. So we still have our work cut out!

Scotland renewables success

To play its part in tackling climate change, Scotland needs to reduce its emissions and move away from fossil fuels. We’re working to support a low-carbon, clean energy transition in Scotland and we’ve published research identifying the path to becoming a fully renewable electricity nation by 2030. In December 2015, we welcomed Scottish Government statistics that found renewables had become the single biggest contributor to electricity generation in Scotland in 2014 – delivering 49% of its electricity needs.

Poetry promotion

Stephen Fry, Meera Syal and Jarvis Cocker were among the well-known voices who helped us engage millions of people on the subject of climate change in 2015. They delivered a beautiful rendition of Shakespeare’s sonnet 18, in a film called A Simple Love Poem. It was part of our Valentine’s day campaign to show how much we care about things that could be affected by climate change. The campaign, under the banner of the Climate Coalition, reached 36 million people. It had an impact on politicians, too: the campaign culminated in a ‘leadership pledge’ before the UK general election from David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg, with commitments including that of seeking a fair, strong, legally-binding global climate deal that limits temperature rises to below 2°C.

Scotland’s way ahead

WWF Scotland was one of the founding members of Scotland’s Low Carbon Infrastructure Task Force in 2015. It’s identifying low-carbon infrastructure projects that will help transform Scotland’s future, in line with the requirements of Scotland’s Climate Change Act. The work of the task force is helping to build the case for investment in such projects. It brings together experts from public and private sectors, construction and finance, the charity sector and academia. Infrastructure such as energy efficiency for homes and businesses, district heating networks, and cities set up for active travel and public transport will reduce carbon emissions, help tackle fuel poverty and health problems caused by air pollution, and create new green jobs across the country. The task force has delivered a shortlist of potential projects to the Scottish Government, which was welcomed by the climate minister Aileen McLeod.

Building on Scotland’s energy efficiency

In a major success, WWF Scotland secured a commitment from the Scottish Government to establish energy efficiency as a National Infrastructure Priority. It means all buildings in Scotland will be given support to achieve a good energy-efficiency rating. This was among the significant new commitments on energy efficiency we secured during the year while we led negotiations with senior officials and ministers on behalf of various NGOs. It was part of our efforts to get the Scottish Government back on track as it narrowly missed the target in its fourth annual climate budget.