MSPs returned to Holyrood today following the summer break, with the first order of business to approve the appointments of Scottish Greens co-leaders Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie as ministers in the Scottish Government.
Slater has been appointed as Minister for Green Skills, the Circular Economy and Biodiversity. Harvie has been put in charge of Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights. These are important briefs in assisting Scotland to meet its carbon-reduction targets and to move to a sustainable economy in a fair and socially just way.
The term circular economy refers to reusing, recycling and repairing in order to minimise and reduce the extraction and use of finite natural resources. A circular economy is key to environmental sustainability – instead of throwing waste materials away, they become the resources used for manufacturing.
The Conservatives seem to think that this and other Green objectives are a terrible idea. You might have thought that the Tories would have been a lot more sympathetic seeing as how Boris Johnson's cabinet is stuffed full of recycled broken-down politicians who really ought to have been thrown away because they were not fit for purpose. Gavin Williamson comes to mind. Boris Johnson is himself the ultimate example of a waste of space that for some reason just keeps coming back.
This piece is an excerpt from today's REAL Scottish Politics newsletter, which is emailed out at 7pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from the Wee Ginger Dug.
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