Climate change: SNP leadership contest is an opportunity to get serious about global warming – Scotsman comment

Some will be dismayed by the suggestion that SNP leadership candidate Kate Forbes does not support the Scottish Government’s ‘presumption against’ new oil and gas exploration, while others will be delighted.

Forbes said she would “support the acceleration away from oil and gas at the right speed”, but that moves which jeopardised jobs and reinvestment in renewables were “problematic”. Asked specifically if she agreed with the presumption, she said: “I wouldn't support anything that hamstrings the oil and gas industry making the right progress, but I do think we should be moving away from oil and gas.”

However, given a ‘presumption against’ is not a ban and is open to interpretation, Forbes was expressing concerns about one vague concept with some more vague language of her own. What exactly is the “right speed”?

Admittedly, her remarks were probably more about creating what she sees as the right kind of mood music around her candidacy than anything else, and it is too early to expect detailed policies. However, given the current Scottish Government’s tendency to over-promise and under-deliver, the leadership contest is an opportunity to get serious about good governance, including policies on climate change.

In December, the Climate Change Committee, the Scottish Government’s independent advisors, published a report saying that while Scotland’s emission-reduction targets were among “the most stretching in the world”, it still did not have a “clear delivery plan” to actually meet them. If the laudable ambition to achieve net-zero emissions within just 22 years is to be achieved, there needs to be a coherent strategy. Forbes spoke of the need to avoid “cliff-edges in policy”, yet that is exactly what the current sense of drift risks creating.

Leaving aside her regrettable views on social issues – if that is possible – she appears to be the candidate with the best understanding of economic issues, someone who is pro-business and has a grasp of the importance of capitalism. She must, however, resist any siren calls to “get rid of all the green crap” like David Cameron in 2013, a decision that one analysis last year found had added a significant amount to domestic energy bills. Climate change is real, and it requires hard-headed politicians capable of leading the country through a potentially stormy period of transition to a prosperous, high-tech and net-zero future.