IT was a desire to deliver real and urgent climate action that brought the Scottish Greens into government in the first place.

It was always right at the core of our plans and was central to the co-operation agreement.

We always knew that there were some differences between our party and the SNP when it came to our environment, but we also saw the huge opportunities that would come from being in the room and being able to influence policy in government.

From new road-building projects to the role of oil and gas and aviation, we knew that there were going to be some disagreements.

READ MORE: SNP and Green members react as parties' governing deal ends

It is to their credit that, despite this, they invited us into government.

We worked in our portfolios and around the Cabinet table and pushed for the kind of climate action that our party has always stood for.

There were some really positive changes that we secured as a result: an end to permission for new incinerators, £65 million for fantastic nature restoration projects all across our country, ending fossil fuel heating in new-build homes, new and record investment in recycling and active travel infrastructure and the scrapping of peak rail fares.

These are real changes that are already having an impact and driving down emissions.

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Right from the start, we put these kinds of policies at the centre of our negotiations and the approach we took to being in government.

In the areas where we didn’t necessarily see eye to eye, we worked positively and constructively and were successful in delivering them.

I know that some have the idea of the “Green tail wagging the dog” that is so often repeated by the Tories and the more reactionary elements of our press, but, in reality, it was a lot more positive and a lot more collaborative than that.

We didn’t always get everything we wanted, and there were a lot of areas where the scale and pace of climate action were below where it needed to be, but we worked in good faith and were able to push the SNP out of their comfort zones.

Our influence was key to the Scottish Government taking a presumption against new oil and gas exploration licences in its draft energy plan and, more recently, its acceptance that we need to use our tax powers to reduce the number of flights taking off and landing in Scotland.

With Humza Yousaf having chosen to bring the agreement to a premature end, one of my biggest concerns is that in the months ahead we could see a scaling down of ambitions and a rollback of some of that progress.

The National: Humza Yousaf resigned as First Minister and leader of the SNP after the fallout from terminating the Bute House Agreement 

With a new first minister about to take office, and a new Climate Plan in the works, my Scottish Green colleagues and I will be acting to ensure that the Scottish Government doesn’t lose any of its climate ambition and that there is no backtracking to a 1970s-style vision of an oil-fuelled Scottish economy.

One of the first major tests will be the future of the A96.

As part of the Bute House Agreement we agreed on a climate compatibility assessment into the proposed dualling of the road.

There is no shortage of vested interests and conservative voices pushing for every last inch of it to be dualled, but this would only increase traffic at a time when we must be reducing the number of journeys being taken by car.

It would be far better for the billions of pounds that have been earmarked for dualling to instead be used on improving safety and supporting public transport and infrastructure for the people and communities who live along the route.

I was a climate campaigner and an activist long before I was elected to Holyrood. It’s why I joined the Scottish Greens, but it has never been party politics or political gossip that excites me, it’s getting things done.

The climate emergency isn’t going to go away.

It is the defining challenge for this age and for every age and every generation that will follow, and Scotland has an important role to play in global action.

There are lots of things that Scotland has got right, but, like all countries, we have a long way to go.

READ MORE: Scottish Greens report 'surge' in membership after end of Bute House Agreement

The role of Green politicians is to use the influence we have to deliver on our values and take us closer to a more sustainable future.

When the next first minister and their government do the right things then we will work with them and help them to deliver, as we have done time and again.

If they go back on their word, or if they water down the steps that they already committed to as part of the Bute House Agreement, then we will push them to go further.

There are some who hoped that the end of the cooperation agreement would keep us quiet and put us in our place.

That’s not going to happen. Our climate is too important and the cost of inaction would be far too great.