Exclusive:Scotland has 'failed' in its quest to become climate leader, says Scottish Greens

Scotland has failed in its quest to become a climate leader, Lorna Slater has claimed, as she warned her party will not support the SNP’s climate legislation.

The co-convenor of the Scottish Greens warned there is no longer a consensus in Holyrood for climate action - as she stressed Scotland has lost its reputation for protecting the environment.

The Scottish Government, particularly during Nicola Sturgeon’s administration, perceived itself to be a leader on tackling the climate crisis - including setting the agenda for ground breaking loss and damage funding at COP27.

The Scottish Government has published legislation to water down its climate targets and replace them with five-year carbon budgets - axing the commitment to cut emissions by 75 per cent by 2030 - something Ms Slater said she could not support without a “credible plan” to reach net zero by 2045.

Scottish Green Party co-leader Lorna Slater. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

“We are no longer climate leaders”, Ms Slater told The Scotsman.

She added: “We had ambition to be but we have failed at that.”

Ms Slater said that axing the 2030 target, if agreed by MSPs, will be “hugely disappointing”.

Read more: Lorna Slater confirms Greens will not support John Swinney’s budget

She said: “Without that credible plan, which is going to have to have difficult stuff in it and have things like demand charging for roads, a carbon land tax to change how land use is done, changing incentives around agriculture, we can’t support it.”

Ms Slater warned that “politically, the consensus on climate has changed”. 

She said: “When setting those targets, everyone thought it was a good idea. When it comes to doing something about it like charging people to drive, all the other parties skedaddle - they can’t deal with it. Even something as basic as a deposit return scheme, suddenly it’s a hot potato. 

“On highly protected marine areas, everybody had something like that in their manifesto - but when we come to implement it, everybody disappears. 

“There is not a political consensus in the chamber for action on climate. That is a problem in Scotland.”

Hitting out at her now-former government partners, she claimed that “SNP backbenchers cannot stomach the kind of reality we need”.

The heat in buildings bill, which will gradually remove fossil fuel heating systems by 2045, will be brought forward by the Scottish Government in the next year, but Ms Slater is “very concerned” it could be watered down.

Scottish Green party co-leader Lorna Slater with SNP net-zero secretary Mairi McAllan Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA

She also called for a conversation about “the amount of subsidy that goes to beef production”, controversial as the Scottish Government tries to promote the Scottish food and drink industry.

Ms Slater, who until April was an environmental and circular economy minister in the Scottish Government, called for subsidies for producing beef to be removed and go towards more sustainable forms of agriculture. 

Ms Slater said: “That is a conversation that is very difficult to have.

“We cannot continue to subsidise beef at this rate. That is a lot of public money going to food stuff that is not that good to us and is very harmful for the environment. 

“If we are worried about food security, maybe those subsidies should go to food that is doing less damage - it is better for people’s health anyway.”