Hansard

That is good to hear, because we must begin this session of the Scottish Parliament with a degree of consensus. The point that I am making is that the fact that the media are effectively driving climate change denial is a real concern, because there is really strong public support for the solutions that work.

There is a real risk that political caution will leave us more vulnerable to climate change while failing to secure the benefits of action for people and for the economy. The Holyrood Government really needs to listen to what the electorate told it during the elections, when those who are aged under 30 voted overwhelmingly for the Scottish Green Party—a party that puts climate action first. That is why there is a record number of Green MSPs, why the former First Minister’s constituency is now a Green seat and why, for the first time, there is Green representation in every region of Scotland.

That generation is the future of Scotland and of our politics, and it is a generation that cares about what is coming in 2050. If political parties also want to have a future, they need to listen, because the members of that generation see the worsening extremes of weather, the displacement of people around the world and the wars that are coming due to shortages of water, food and oil, and they are anxious about what kind of world they will raise their own children in. They are also hungry for the opportunities and new jobs that can come from engineering a better future and from having a wellbeing economy that reinvests wealth in community, caring and nature. That generation of young people is also the first whose prospects look worse than those of the generation that came before, so it is no wonder that they are angry and disheartened. They have heard so many promises, but they have been let down time and time again. They deserve so much better.

I have stood here countless times and reminded the Government of the challenges that we face. I have said that we are behind on delivering climate action and will face a desperate race to catch up in the decades ahead. I have said that hitching our hopes to unproven technology such as carbon capture and storage is a huge gamble because, if those technologies do not materialise, sectors such as land use and transport will face more pressure to reduce emissions even faster. I have also said that ignoring simple programmes to make homes cosier and cheaper or to radically improve our public transport represents a real missed opportunity. We have made some progress, but the Government must show that it is ready for the challenges of 2050, rather than for those of 2007.

If that does not happen, failure will come at a high cost. We cannot cut ourselves off from the impacts of global climate change, as Reform would want us to do, just as we cannot opt out of global action by pretending that Scotland does not have huge advantages over other countries when it comes to reducing emissions. In a world where every country will face challenges, it is no advantage at all for Scotland to be in the slow lane, but there is every advantage in being among the first movers.

I welcome the cabinet secretary’s focus on delivery in this session, because we have spent too long debating targets without taking action. The climate change plan sets out a pathway, but it does not commit to detailed programmes that can be felt positively by everybody. Success or failure will come down to the political will of the whole Government to lead and to support sectors to deliver. It will need every cabinet secretary not just to mention climate change from time to time in speeches but to climate proof every budget and programme, to prioritise long-term thinking and to take risks.

If the Government does that, it will have a majority for climate action here in the Parliament, along with the Scottish Greens. If it does not, it will be letting down future generations and they will suffer the consequences.

I move amendment S7M-00434.3, to insert at end:

“; recognises that, despite a media backlash, a majority of the public continues to back strong climate action, especially young people; further recognises that local communities and workers must have a meaningful participatory role in developing and implementing local climate action, with the costs spread fairly across society; recognises that the latest Scottish Greenhouse Gas statistics indicate that progress to reduce emissions has flatlined in key sectors including agriculture, buildings and transport; believes that there must be no drilling of new fossil fuels reserves, in line with advice from the International Energy Agency; considers the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan to be undermined by a significant reliance on as-yet unproven technological solutions, including carbon capture and storage, and that the Scottish Government must develop an alternative pathway to meeting its net zero targets.”

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