THE Scottish Government has been urged to have “bold and transformative” climate action policies at the heart of its governing plans.
The Scottish Greens published the Climate Reset policy paper, which outlines proposals for Scotland to accelerate climate action and build “a greener future”, on Sunday morning.
The papers call for the Scottish Government to decarbonise transport by scrapping its plan to reintroduce peak rail fares, which are due to be reintroduced by the start of October, and to divert funds from plans to dual the whole A96 into public transport.
“Real and urgent” plans for the transition of the energy sector are also called upon in the proposal and for the Scottish Government to maintain its “presumption against new oil and gas exploration”.
Scottish Greens co-leader, Patrick Harvie, said the Scottish Government cannot underestimate the scale of change that is needed and urged the SNP to commit to a greener future.
He said: “With the Programme for Government and the new Climate Bill only days away, we need to see the kind of bold climate action that will make a difference.
“With global temperatures continuing to soar well beyond the records of the last century, and with growing threats from extreme weather events in Scotland and beyond, the time for business as usual is over.
“From rejecting new fossil fuel exploration to investing in public transport and reducing the number of cars on our roads, we have laid out our priorities for the kind of action we need to see from the Scottish Government.
“Particularly over recent months there have been very worrying signs of the Scottish Government moving away from its climate commitments. The SNP spent an election trying to face both ways on oil and gas, then they hiked up rail fares and asked councils to raid the nature restoration fund. These are not the actions of a government that is doing all it can for our climate.
“We cannot underestimate the scale of change that is needed, or the importance of the decisions that will be made in the weeks and months ahead.”
The paper also outlines its demands for the “groundbreaking” Heat in Buildings Bill to be introduced in the Autumn to deliver warmer and greener homes.
The bill proposes making new laws around the heating and energy efficiency of existing homes and workplaces.
This includes investing in clean heating systems like heat networks and heat pumps, as well as other electric systems which don’t produce emissions.
While also stating there should be record funding for Scotland’s nature to help put Scotland on track to meet its climate obligations.
Scottish Greens MSP Harvie (above) said that the 2030 targets for climate action are now out of reach which underlines the scale of the failure to turn words into action by the Scottish Government.
He said: “The challenge we face today has been made infinitely harder by 14 years of Westminster failure on top of decades of climate inaction and an assumption that it was someone else’s problem to deal with.
“The fact that the Climate Change Committee has said our 2030 targets are now out of reach underlines the scale of the failure to turn words into action.
“We cannot afford to repeat those mistakes. Every government needs to act, and Scotland must lead the way.”
