Nicola Sturgeon’s successor as First Minister has a “golden opportunity to make climate history” by speeding up the move to net zero, a Green MSP said.
The party’s climate spokesman Mark Ruskell praised the outgoing SNP leader for “opening the door” on greener policies and calling for change on the international stage.
And the Scottish Greens politician, whose party is in a power-sharing deal at Holyrood with the Nationalists, hailed investments in nature, active travel and public transport during her tenure.
Ruskell said: “By opening the door and inviting Scottish Greens into government Nicola Sturgeon will go down in history as being the First Minister who recognised the climate crisis was so urgent, so grave, that only by politicians working together could we tackle the crisis.
“With the Scottish Greens as part of her government, we have seen record amounts invested by the Scottish Government in nature, climate action, walking, wheeling and cycling, in how we heat our homes, free bus travel for young people. And we are on the eve of delivering the UK’s first deposit return scheme.”
However, Scotland’s delayed DRS - covering plastic bottles, cans and glass - has proved controversial, with the drinks industry claiming it will be punitive for small producers.
Ruskell insisted work on that and similar schemes would continue as part of the Bute House Agreement struck with Sturgeon’s SNP, which saw Green co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater become ministers.
The MSP added: “The next First Minister will have a golden opportunity to make climate history, by accelerating the pace of change and taking decisions that drive our ambitions even further - to build on that legacy by pushing harder, faster and smarter than ever before.
“They can send a strong signal that the era of fossil fuels has passed by setting an end date for oil and gas, they can open up the discussion on tackling aviation growth and look at how far Wales has gone with its new climate-proofed roads policy.
“We hope the next First Minister recognises the urgency of the climate crisis, shows courage in their leadership to tackle it here at home and on the international stage, and continues to work with us closely in helping achieve that for this generation and those that follow.
“Much will be said in the coming days about what their priorities should be including independence, and a range of domestic matters.
“But we can agree the climate crisis is something all of us have to face, together, and we stand ready to do so.”
Last month, we revealed criticism of Sturgeon from eco charities over her failure to sign Scotland up to an international alliance on phasing out fossil fuels joined by countries including Denmark, Wales and France.
She’d said back at COP26 in 2021 that it was “highly likely” Scotland would join the scheme in some form but, so far, that hasn’t happened.
However, her SNP-Green government’s updated Energy Strategy, published last month, proposes a “presumption” against new oil and gas projects in Scotland - although North Sea licences are reserved to Westminster.
North east business figures branded the policy a “betrayal” of oil workers. On the other side, eco charities criticised the strategy for failing to set a formal end date for fossil fuels in Scotland.
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