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Supporting Scotland’s green recovery from COVID-19

Dr Tony Craig, head of our SEGS department (c) James Hutton Institute
“The Institute is exceptionally well placed to provide evidence about behaviour change, and how such changes may be best encouraged at the population level, in order to help Scotland reach its ambitious emission reduction target”

A social scientist of the James Hutton Institute has been appointed to the Scottish Government’s Sustainable Renewal Advisory Group, a collective which has been tasked with identifying opportunities to embed sustainability in Scotland’s recovery from COVID-19.

Dr Tony Craig, Head of our Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences department, will join twenty individuals representing a cross section of stakeholder groups to explore the challenges and opportunities Scotland faces in achieving a 75% reduction in emissions within a decade, and how behavioural change can help reach this goal.

The Scottish Government’s Environment and Climate Change Secretary, Roseanna Cunningham, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has been an unprecedented global crisis which has fundamentally changed every aspect of our lives and the immediate focus for Government continues, rightly, to be on protecting lives and livelihoods. However, we also recognise that the dual emergencies of climate change and biodiversity loss have not gone away and must form a central part of our recovery from this difficult time.

“How we structure our recovery will set the direction for our economy and our nation and so, in my view, it is vital that Parliament and our wider society is involved in these discussions from the outset. This group brings parliament together with stakeholders from across academia, industry, business, trades union and environmental organisations and I look forward to working with them.”

Dr Craig commented: “I am very pleased to be able to contribute to this group. The James Hutton Institute has for many years been a trusted source of evidence-based advice for policymakers.

“The Institute is exceptionally well placed to provide evidence about behaviour change, and how such changes may be best encouraged at the population level, in order to help Scotland reach its ambitious emission reduction target.”

Membership of the Sustainable Renewal Group includes:

  • Roseanna Cunningham, Environment and Climate Change Secretary
  • Mairi Gougeon, Rural Affairs and Natural Environment Minister
  • Ben Macpherson, Public Finance Minister
  • Finlay Carson, Scottish Conservative Party
  • Claudia Beamish, Scottish Labour Party
  • Mark Ruskell, Scottish Green Party
  • Rebecca Bell, Scottish Liberal Demecrat Party
  • Cllr Steven Heddle, Orkney, COSLA Environment and Economy Spokesperson
  • Dave Reay, Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation
  • Andy Kerr, Director UK and Ireland at Climate-KIC
  • Sara Thiam, Chief Executive Officer of the Scottish Council for Development and Industry
  • Fabrice Leveque, Interim Head of Policy at WWF
  • Tom Shields, Chief Executive Officer of Spring Rise and Just Transition Commission
  • Susan Love, Policy Manager at Federation of Small Businesses
  • Keith MacLean, Chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Research Councils' Energy Programme.
  • Richard Hardy, Prospect Union and Just Transition Commission
  • Dr. Katherine Trebeck, Wellbeing Economy Alliance
  • Andrew Thin, Chair of the Scottish Land Commission
  • Dr Tony Craig, James Hutton Institute
  • Jonny Hughes, Chief Executive Officer of the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre
  • Dr Kate Pangbourne, Leeds Institute of Transport.

Press and media enquiries: 

Bernardo Rodriguez-Salcedo, Media Manager, James Hutton Institute, Tel: +44 (0)1224 395089 (direct line), +44 (0)344 928 5428 (switchboard) or +44 (0)7791 193918 (mobile).


Printed from /news/supporting-scotland%E2%80%99s-green-recovery-covid-19 on 29/03/24 05:30:15 AM

The James Hutton Research Institute is the result of the merger in April 2011 of MLURI and SCRI. This merger formed a new powerhouse for research into food, land use, and climate change.