Patrick Harvie has signalled the Greens could quit their coalition deal with the SNP if the next first minister backslides on opposing new oil and gas drilling.
The Scottish Greens co-leader said any shift towards supporting further extraction in the North Sea would be a “retrograde” and “damaging” step.
Under Nicola Sturgeon, the Nationalists have notably moved away from backing new drilling projects - such as the controversial Cambo oil field, eventually outright opposed by the outgoing FM.
And in the Scottish Government’s new draft Energy Strategy, published this year, it proposes a “presumption against” new North Sea developments - although licensing is ultimately reserved to Westminster.
Humza Yousaf, the SNP establishment favourite, has vowed to continue Sturgeon’s eco policies on a “just transition” away from fossil fuels and wants to keep the Greens on board.
However, rival candidates Kate Forbes and Ash Regan have both suggested they would slow down the move away from oil and gas, with Forbes saying oil profits should be used to create a sovereign wealth fund like Norway.
Harvie’s party signed the Bute House power-sharing agreement with the Nats in 2021 and claims credit for shifting Sturgeon away from a stance backing “maximum extraction” of North Sea oil.
Speaking to the Record ahead of his party's conference in Clydebank on Saturday, the Scottish Green MSP agreed his party couldn’t credibly stay in government with their principles intact if the next FM reversed that shift.
Harvie said: “That’s probably a fair comment. The Greens are very clear that no new oil and gas licensing should be granted.
“We should be winding down and revoking some of the undeveloped fields that have been granted licences but not yet in production.”
He added: “I think it would be a retrograde step and a damaging one - and very short sighted in terms of the communities that need to see a just transition- if any political party was to move back in the direction of supporting the lethal fossil fuel industry.”
Asked if that meant he would quit as a minister, Harvie replied: “You would see us continue to advocate for green politics.
“And if there was a pro-oil and gas agenda coming back in… (saying) you don’t need that fastest possible transition away from oil and gas, obviously, that would be essentially ripping up the Bute House agreement.”
Addressing journalists on a visit to Star Renewables factory in Thornliebank, Glasgow, which makes eco-friendly heat pumps, he also revealed Scottish Green politicians would hold a summit as early as Monday on their next steps after the result of the SNP leadership contest is announced this weekend.
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