Scottish Parliament Election 2021: Anas Sarwar launches ‘Green Labour’ climate recovery plan with pledge to create 10,000-strong ‘Scottish Conservation Corp’

Anas Sarwar has unveiled his party’s pledge to recruit a 10,000-strong “Scottish Conservation Corps” as he committed to a raft of measures aimed at achieving net zero emissions by 2045.

Speaking at the launch of “Green Labour’s” new Climate Recovery Plan in Cumbernauld, Mr Sarwar said the agency would be dedicated to restoring the natural environment across Scotland through projects that included plans to plant 15,000 trees each year.

Citing a 2020 report from the Committee on Climate Change that warned that Scotland is “not on track” to meet low-carbon heat targets, the Labour leader also promised to upgrade all homes in Scotland to at least an energy efficiency rating of C or higher by 2030.

Mr Sarwar argued the move would potentially save Scots thousands of pounds a year in addition to reducing energy waste.

If elected First Minister next month, he also pledged to establish a National Housing Agency to coordinate the roll out of insulation, double glazing, boiler replacement and renewable heat - creating around 7,500 green jobs in the process.

He said Labour would provide grants and interest free loans of up to £18,000 for Scots to cover the cost of renovations, and to double the number of homes upgraded annually to 80,000.

It would also guarantee free bus travel to under 25s, invest in interest-free government loans to help more low and middle income households to buy electric cars over the next two years, and increase active travel spending to 10 per cent of the overall transport budget.

Meeting with apprentices at a Scottish Power facility, Mr Sarwar insisted that Scotland must focus on averting the climate emergency ahead of constitutional issues,

“Climate change doesn’t know any borders, so we are on the side of anyone who thinks that our environmental recovery is more important than egos or old arguments,” he said.

“I am an environmentalist and I want the focus of our next parliament to be on averting the climate emergency.”

The Labour leader said he wanted Glasgow, which is set to host the COP26 climate conference in November, to be “synonymous with world leading action on climate change”.

He added that he wanted: “history to look back at a world saved by an agreement struck in my home city.

“But the first step we must take is to ensure that we are doing as much as we can, here at home, to make our contribution.

“So we will put our climate - and the opportunities for our economy it presents - at the heart of our campaign.

“It means confronting the climate emergency, and the threat it poses to our very survival, head on.

“But also ensuring that we create well paid jobs to ensure that the Scots see the benefits of going green in their wallets, as well as in our environment.

“And if you feel like we do, that economic recovery and climate action go hand in hand, then let’s work together to deliver a world our children will be proud of.

“Because Scotland - and our planet - deserve more than our government has delivered.

“Scotland needs a parliament focused on a recovery that tackles climate change - not more division.”

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