An Orkney Climate COP 2025
The climate language is changing. For long it’s warned us of the dangers of the Earth’s temperature rising to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels, and the single message was MITIGATE – cut down on greenhouse gas emissions. Now that the 1.5 mark has been reached, with 2 degrees looking to be on the way, the message is widening out to include ADAPT as well.
Adaptation is a process that involved communities directly, asking the questions: What are the risks ahead? And how do we head them off? And some of the risks that need to be looked at don’t only come through a changing climate.
We’re going to have four core sessions, each with two speakers with the remit to put forward recommendations for action that can be taken at an Orkney scale – whether by the Islands Council or other agencies, or by communities, or even by individuals. A panel of five people will give a verdict, as will the audience.
There’s energy and big questions about Orkney’s future. There’s food from the land and the question of how to become more self-reliant. There are massive questions in housing and in transport.
We have keynote speakers to open and round off, and further talks and workshops before and after the Climate day on Monday 8 September. We hope that the structure of the Orkney Climate COP can provide ideas for other communities to share.
The climate is changing and we need to cope with it. The one-day Orkney Climate COP has four sessions – on Energy, Food from the Land, Housing, and Transport. Speakers set out actions that can be taken Orkney-wide, or by communities. The day is opened by Prof. Tim Lang whose report on the UK's food security earlier this year highlighted the need for national and local action.
Should Orkney export all its energy or use it to create new local industries? How can we produce cheaper electricity for local homes and businesses? For offshore wind, have we missed the boat? Could direct carbon capture from air or sea, using local energy, be the industry of the future? How do we get the benefits of industry without further industrialising the landscape? Neil Kermode of EMEC and Dr Gareth Davies of Aquatera examine the options and put forward a list of proposals for you to assess.
Could Orkney, today so dependent on the supermarket distribution system, become more self-reliant in food? UHI Agronomy and Agriculture Institute director Dr Henry Creissen highlights a range of possible new crops for humans and livestock. Gardener Ed Bollom describes the range of vegetables and fruit that can grow in exposed situations elsewhere, and the potential for expanding food-growing in all situations, from fields and gardens to pots and polycrubs.
Houses in Orkney have quadrupled in price in little more than 20 years, with young people unable to find a home. School rolls are falling, with the population slowly becoming an ageing one. How many houses are needed? Luke Fraser draws on many years’ experience in Orkney’s housing sector to set out the figures. And in practical terms, how can Orkney gear up to build what’s needed? Stephen Kemp of Orkney Builders, a former president of the Scottish Building Federation, responds.
Are there better options to current ro-ro routes? True ro-ro with more terminals and shorter and more frequent inter-island links? Expanded air freight to augment the inter-island air passenger service? Fixed links? Or a carefully-integrated mix? Howie Firth summarises the story of today's pattern and sets out questions. Prof. Aseem Kinra of Heriot-Watt University shows how transport is a system, with each element chosen to help the whole overall flow. A speaker from the Sustainable Aviation Test Environment (SATE) outlines new air freight options.
