THE Scottish Greens are gathering in Edinburgh for their spring conference today.

“The message for this conference is really about moving from climate targets to climate action,” Lorna Slater told The National in an exclusive interview with fellow party co-leader Patrick Harvie.

“The report from the Climate Change Committee the other week is a wake up call for all of us.”

The UK’s independent climate change watchdog said that the level of emissions reductions needed for Scotland to reach its 2030 targets is now “beyond what is credible” to achieve.

It also noted annual targets for reducing emissions had “repeatedly been missed” and noted the publication of Scotland’s new draft Climate Change Plan, which was due late in 2023, had been “delayed”.

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"We've had 15 years of targets which have not elicited the kind of action and implementation needed,” Slater said.

“Which is frustrating because the Scottish Greens have been calling for this kind of action.”

He added: “But now, being in government, we're in a position to really help the country make a step change in how we approach climate action.”

“So that's got to be the message here – how do we move from target to action?”

Harvie, meanwhile, told The National that this year’s conference is going to be especially big given it’s during a UK election year.

“There is still a huge amount of frustration, of course, that the UK Government still holds many of the powers that we wish we were exercising here in Scotland,” he said.

“But for as long as that's the case, we need to make sure that there is urgent pressure for a reset and an end to the approach that the current UK Government has of undermining devolution at every turn, undermining the action that we're taking – whether that's on climate and environment, whether it's on equality and social justice.”

The National: Climate emergency

Harvie added: "Many Greens around the country will celebrate as every little blue dot disappears from the election map on election night. But we will be worried, deeply worried that you'll then, in the morning, see an incoming Labour government that is still committed to Tory spending limits, still committed to Tory austerity that needs to change urgently."

The Scottish Greens have already announced they are aiming to run in more seats at the next General Election than in 2019 – which saw the pro-independence party put up candidates in 22 constituencies.

While the first-past-the-post system means the Greens are unlikely to win a seat, the presence of a party candidate on the ballot paper could affect the arithmetic in tightly-contested constituencies.

“We have loads of great candidates and it's so important to have as many Scottish Greens standing as we can. Because without us in the room, the climate doesn't get a look,” Slater said.

“When a Green is standing, there is somebody at every hustings, at every interview, talking about the climate emergency.

“We are at the cusp of a big change in the global economy. And if Scotland and the UK don't step forward into that space, we are going to be left behind.”

She added: “Other countries will be manufacturing the wind turbines, electric vehicles, the heat pumps – we need to step forward into this new economy so that it's us creating the green hydrogen, building the wind turbines and investing in our buildings and infrastructure.

“This will create jobs and investment.”

The Scottish Greens spring conference is taking place at Edinburgh Napier University’s Craiglockhart Campus on Saturday, April 6, 2024 from 9am until 5pm.