Greens co-leader Harvie unsure of future of Bute House Agreement

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie has said Scotland is “years behind taking action to reduce emissions” and admitted he does not know if the SNP coalition will continue.

The SNP’s powersharing agreement at Holyrood could be under threat, as the Greens announced they will hold a fresh vote on the future of the deal after the Scottish Government ditched its 2030 climate change targets.

The Bute House Agreement, which was voted for by members of both parties in August 2021, brought Greens into government for the first time anywhere in the UK, and gave the SNP a majority in the Scottish Parliament when its votes there were combined with those of the seven Green MSPs.

Mr Harvie, appearing on The Sunday Show on BBC Scotland, said focusing on targets is not enough.

“It’s been clear for a long time now that Scotland is not on track to reach that target,” he said.

“The truth is that we are not where we should be – we are years behind on actually taking action to reduce emissions. Targets do not reduce emissions.”

Mr Harvie branded some of the rhetoric “self-congratulatory”, and said: “Other parties which voted for targets voted against the actions.”

He added: “This is a moment that is critical for the future of climate policy in Scotland, which is, you know, the reason Greens are in politics in the first place.

“It’s critical to the future of our party as well, and over the next few weeks we have probably the most important decision to make that we’ve ever had to make about the future of our party.

“And I want to make sure that we’re all listening to each other and making sure that we genuinely understand and share, not just the sense of urgency and the deep disappointment and anger about the fact that Scotland is not on track at the moment, but a focus and determination on action.

“And my worry is that, if we if we walked away at this point, we would decelerate the climate action, we would see the hand strengthened of the likes of Fergus Ewing, backbencher in the SNP now, who’s constantly popping up and having a go at environmental policy and urging the Government to slow down.”

He cited achievements including rent controls, scrapping peak-time rail fares, and free bus travel for young people,

Scottish Conservatives chairman Craig Hoy said: “Patrick Harvie takes no accountability for his party’s shameful record in Government.

“Both he and Lorna Slater (minister for green skills, circular economy and biodiversity) have spent the last three years pitifully trading environmentalism for nationalism to the fury of their members who now want out of this toxically incompetent coalition.

“(First Minister) Humza Yousaf is so weak that he has lost any authority he had, and even after the disaster they’ve been in Government, it’s still the Greens calling the shots.

“If Humza Yousaf had any backbone, he would be pulling the plug himself on this shambolic deal which is harming Scotland’s economy and jeopardising our oil and gas industry.

“Instead, he is at the mercy of the Green vote, and the coalition of chaos he inherited from Nicola Sturgeon is now hanging by a thread.”