By the Rt Rev Susan Brown, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland

ON Saturday I joined friends on the Power Walk among the wind turbines of Scottish Power’s Whitelee wind farm. The walk was organised by Christian Aid Scotland to draw attention to how climate change is affecting our world and how Scotland can lead the way to a new low- carbon future.

Whitelee windfarm lies on Eaglesham Moor just south of Glasgow and it is a truly remarkable place. Stretching as far as the eye can see it is the largest onshore wind farm in Britain with more than 200 giant wind turbines. It was a great walk with friends but was also an opportunity to ponder the changes taking place in Scotland and what we need to do create an economy fit for the 21st Century.

As Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland I hear stories from around the world about the impact of climate change. The Church of South India informs us of the terrible impact of climate chaos on farmers. From Malawi we hear stories of drought and flood, and Pacific churches tell us that whole islands are at risk from rising sea levels. The human impact is huge and growing and it is the poorest who suffer most.

We live in a world where everyone and everything is interconnected. How we live in this tiny corner of the earth, the greenhouse gases that we produce, the way we use the world’s resources with little regard for the future: all create challenges for our own communities and communities around the world. And all of us will have to cope with the effects of climate change, which for many firth of these shores can be a matter of life and death. We need to live more considerately and cherish this planet as the gift it is.

It is for these reasons that the Church of Scotland along with other churches – and a growing number of faith-led organisations like Eco-Congregation Scotland, Christian Aid and SCIAF—are part of the Stop Climate Chaos Scotland campaign to make Scotland a net zero-emission economy by 2050.

We are proud that the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government have shown leadership in promoting climate action in the past and now have the opportunity to assert once again that Scotland has a leading role to play. This autumn the Scottish Parliament will debate a new climate change bill which sets out targets for the future.

We believe that Scotland has made impressive progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions since the 2009 Act. Targets that were previously thought to be unattainable, such as meeting an interim target of a 43 per cent reduction by 2020, have already been exceeded.

A net target of 100 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 might appear very difficult to achieve but with rapid decarbonisation of the economy envisaged in the draft Scottish Energy Strategy there is no reason to dismiss it. The Scottish Government could make this commitment and set a global standard for others to follow.

Adopting an ambitious target can make a difference. It encourages business to develop technologies, jobs and skills that will serve us well in the future, both in Scotland and for export around the world. It shows leadership in the UK and sends a powerful message to our partners elsewhere. Above all it shows that we care.

We recognise that this is a tremendous challenge and we in the Church will play our part. Working with Eco-Congregation Scotland we will reach out to over 400 eco-congregations across Scotland to help give them the confidence to make changes in their lives and in their communities to respond to climate change.

Walking with people in communities around Scotland, as I am doing in my year as Moderator, I hear stories of hope and of transformative change. At a time of uncertainty and some fear about the future I call upon the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament to make a commitment to be proud of: to make Scotland a net zero emission nation by 2050.