CLIMATE: HARVIE CALLS FOR AMBITION ON HOUSING AND TRANSPORT
Patrick Harvie, Scottish Green MSP for Glasgow, today called on Scottish ministers to be bolder in their policy actions following their failure to meet Scotland's climate change targets for four years in a row.
Since the Climate Change Act was passed in 2009 Scotland has put nearly ten million tonnes more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than the targets allow.
This afternoon's statement by the climate change minister includes a commitment to national action on energy efficient homes - a policy championed by Scottish Green MSPs for over a decade.
Patrick said:
"Scottish ministers have been resisting Green proposals for ambitious action for years and only now after four failed targets appear to be catching up with the need to pursue policies that make our country greener and fairer.
"My colleague Alison Johnstone secured an agreement from deputy first minister John Swinney last November on our longstanding policy that energy efficient homes should be a national infrastructure priority to cut bills, cut emissions and create jobs. We pursued this during the last budget process, resulting in an increase of £20million but it's nowhere near enough.
"On transport, while the minister says she has sought opportunities, her government's track record shows the opposite. Their policy on scrapping air passenger duty would increase emissions by 60,000 tonnes a year. And they still only spend one per cent of the transport budget on walking and cycling infrastructure.
"On energy we know that even if the Scottish Government meets its targets on renewables, only three per cent will be community or locally owned, limiting the creation of revenue for investing in local low-carbon economies.
"Today's statement is the latest in a long line of paper promises and yet more small scale pilot projects when we already know what needs to be done."