KNITTERS URGE FIRST MINISTER NOT TO CROSS CLIMATE ‘RED LINE’
A group of concerned citizens calling themselves the ‘North Sea Knitters’ gathered outside the Scottish Parliament yesterday to knit a ‘red line’, representing the critical limit of 1.5 degrees of global temperature rise.
Taking place during Scottish Climate Week, as the ‘Knitting for Climate’ group gathers outside the EU Parliament in Brussels, the North Sea Knitters’ message was simple: the Scottish Government needs to stop blaming the climate crisis on individuals and use its powers to speed the phase out of fossil fuels.
The group spoke to MSPs and gave out their famous hand-knitted red scarves to remind them not to lose sight of the 1.5 degrees limit of warming enshrined in the Paris Agreement.
Several MSPs including the First Minister could be seen sporting the red scarves and discussing vital climate issues like the Stop Rosebank campaign, the Peterhead gas power station, and the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The Scottish Government is currently considering whether to approve a controversial new gas burning power station in Peterhead which would prolong the lifetime of the fossil fuel industry and lock the public into high energy bills and fuel poverty.
Chris Aldred, a member of the North Sea Knitters Group, said: “Knitting is a craft that has been passed down through generations. It symbolises the hope that we can pass on, not just our skills, but a thriving future for all that come after us.
“The knitted red line represents the 1.5C threshold of dangerous planetary warming that nations have committed not to cross. Our scarves are being created through concern, uncertainty and fear for the future, but also through our joy, love and unity.
“The Scottish Government says that climate is a priority but it must turn these words into concrete action to cut pollution now and into the future. This means using its power to firmly reject new fossil fuels, standing up to the oil industry and prioritising the needs of workers through the transition.
“We are allied with our European friends in Knitting for Climate, a movement of people using the art of knitting to express concern over climate change and inadequate political response to the crisis that is already affecting us all. Through our grassroots efforts, we demand climate justice.”
The knitters’ demands for the Scottish Government are:
+ Refuse all on-shore planning permission for fossil fuel infrastructure, including the proposed new gas plant at Peterhead.
+ Oppose and work to halt extraction from all new oil and gas fields, including Rosebank.
+ Ensure all public subsidies and tax concessions to fossil fuel companies are revoked.
+ Back the call for a Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty.
+ Ensure that workers and communities have a Just Transition to renewables, without allowing the fossil fuel industry to call the shots for the transition.