THEY say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I suppose I should be pleased to see the Tories talking about restoring nature, Labour rebranding themselves green and the SNP talking about land reform. Never before has the environment been so high on an election agenda.
But that’s because the need to act has never been so urgent.
It’s true that we are now less than a decade away from the deadline set by the Paris Agreement as a point of no return for the climate crisis. We need all parties to get behind the effort to tackle that head on.
But I’m not convinced the other parties get the urgency. None of them will even consider stopping exploration for new oil reserves, like countries such as New Zealand and Denmark have done.
Despite the huge role forests and peatlands play in capturing carbon, there is little detail in the Tory plans for how they will protect and restore them at scale.
READ MORE: Scottish Greens launch 'bold' manifesto with pledge to hold indyref2
To unlock Scotland’s potential, we need to address the fact that land ownership is concentrated in very few hands. The SNP have again talked about this in their manifesto, but like promises to reform council tax, there has been very little action taken in 14 years in government.
Our manifesto is clear that if you want things to change you need to act. We would introduce a new act in the next parliament that would extend the rights of communities to buy land and tackle monopolies.
Governments have been too short-term in their planning, and too often this has been driven by vested economic interests. That has not been good for Scotland’s environment.
We need new watchdogs to hold the powerful to account including a future generations commission and an environmental court in Scotland.
We need to actively invest in nature recovery too. In the last Scottish Budget we won a £10 million nature restoration fund which is just a first step to what is needed. Our manifesto pledges to expand it to £150m – growing a national nature network that can span the nation and create new rural jobs and give our struggling tourism industry a boost.
And with one in nine species at threat in Scotland, we need more than what the other parties are proposing. Greens would rewild a third of public land and give new support to farmers and communities for projects to allow nature to flourish.
In our towns and cities, the pandemic has made us realise how precious our local green spaces are for our physical and mental health. But many of these are poor quality or under threat and need better protections and funding to expand and improve.
Of course, Scotland’s energy mix is the big talking point. We just cannot duck the tough decisions when it comes to fossil fuels. This is not about losing jobs, as the other parties try and level at us. It’s about securing a future for those communities who work in an industry in decline.
It is a basic scientific fact that Scotland and the UK cannot burn the known reserves of oil and gas in the North Sea and comply with its commitments under the Paris Agreement. That’s why we need to start investing in the alternatives now to create alternative jobs and transfer skills across.
Of course, frustratingly energy is largely reserved to Westminster, and this is why Scotland’s renewable energy has been held back. It’s a major reason why the Scottish Greens support independence for Scotland. But there ways Scotland can use devolved powers to stimulate the sector and ensure jobs in the supply chain are created and kept in Scotland.
We need to upgrade onshore wind to meet an increasing capacity as more transport and heating switches to electric. That means replacing older turbines with more powerful models and expanding the sector.
Tidal power, which has enormous potential, needs a cash boost to get going, and the Greens will provide that.
READ MORE: SNP to open European trade hubs to counter Tories' 'isolationist Brexit'
The other parties at this election offer false solutions instead. Carbon capture and storage is largely unproven and is being promoted by an oil industry keen to maximise extraction for as long as possible. Hydrogen produced from fossil fuels has the same problem, so it was concerning to see the SNP pin so much hope to this.
We’ve shown during the last five years that Greens are willing to work with other parties to get things done. The reform of income tax, free bus travel for young people, free school dinner for all primary kids, banning evictions during the pandemic have all come from that constructive approach.
That is how we must face the common challenges ahead, and why we called our manifesto “our common future”. We need everyone pulling together to secure our survival.
It is of course welcome to see the other parties step up to the plate and begin to talk about the need for green solutions. But it is clear they have yet to see the urgency of what is required. The fact is if you want green, you are going to have to vote green.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel