SCOTTISH Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie has said he would be more concerned if policies introduced under the power-sharing agreement with the SNP were not coming under attack.
The Scottish Government minister said the move towards a more sustainable society was “of course” about change and he would be more worried if there was no-one saying it is “going too far or too fast”.
Speaking to the Sunday National to mark the two-year anniversary of the Bute House Agreement (BHA) with the SNP, he also said he believed Green politics were here to stay across the world and not just in Scotland.
The BHA gave the minority SNP a majority in the Scottish Parliament and saw two Green MSPs enter government for the first time in the UK.
But policies it aims to deliver such as Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) have provoked controversy and come under attack, including from some high-profile SNP figures.
Harvie said it would be “silly” to deny the attacks were taking place but also that they would have been “pretty easy to predict”.
“I think it was inevitable and it will continue to be inevitable that there are many people in politics who are willing to support the climate targets, but then will vote against everything that we need to do to actually meet those targets,” he said.
“If we are going to do this, if we are going to transition to a genuinely sustainable society and a sustainable economy, and achieve a fairer and more equal society at the same time, of course there will be pushback because there will be people who have benefited from the status quo, the harmful status quo that we need to move beyond.
“In many ways, I would be more worried if no-one was pushing back, if no-one was trying to say you’re going too far or too fast.”
Asked how to get people on board with taking action such as installing heat pumps, Harvie said while individual behaviour is important, system change was also required.
As an example, he said while Scotland offered the “most generous and flexible financial support” for people on energy efficiency and switching to zero emissions heating, billpayers were not seeing the benefits of cheaper renewable electricity because the UK Government has failed to break the link between electricity and wholesale gas prices.
He added: “Setting targets is the easy thing for governments to do and actually reaching them is hard. It is going to require substantial change.”
When it comes to the achievements of the BHA, Harvie pointed to examples such as providing free bus travel for under-22s, increasing the Scottish Child Payment and investment in active travel and nature recovery.
Beyond individual policies, he said a benefit of the alliance had also been “changing the way government works”.
“It’s an extra opportunity to bring fresh ideas in and to challenge the way things are happening within government and to make that a constructive challenge,” he said.
When asked about criticism of the Greens coming from within the SNP, he said it had been a turbulent time for the party and it was understandable some of the “iron discipline” it used to be known for was not happening.
He added: “I think the most important thing to do is to hear and understand the difference between those who bring constructive challenge, those who for example say, as some people are doing, the heating buildings programme is really important, decarbonising our homes is really important, we want to help make that happen – but it has to happen differently in a rural than an urban area.
“That’s an entirely legitimate argument to bring and its one that government needs to take seriously and engage with.
“You need to distinguish between that kind of argument and those who are simply trying to unravel what is the most progressive political cooperation agreement there has been I think in the history of these islands.”
He also said: “Perhaps some of those voices within the SNP who are making the SNP appear a bit less united than they used to be, they should maybe reflect on the value of having a party that is clearly united.”
Harvie said it would be a “huge” challenge to deliver the five-year programme outlined in the BHA against a backdrop of issues such as the cost of living crisis, UK Government cuts and geopolitical instability.
“The world does not have its problems to seek at the moment, so this is incredibly challenging,” he said.
“It will be something to learn from and I’ve no doubt as we move through the rest of this session of parliament both political parties will look at how we have delivered this, see what has worked well, what could be refreshed or built upon or be taken in a different direction.
He added: “I am absolutely convinced Green politics is going to be of huge and growing relevance to the world – not just of Scotland, but of the world’s future. It is literally our only liveable survivable future.”
