Greens call for corporations to act on climate change
PEOPLE have a once in a lifetime opportunity to halt climate change, the Greens leader will tell his party today.
The Scottish Greens meet for their annual conference in Glasgow today with Patrick Harvie leading calls for a transformation to save the world from “climate catastrophe”.
Mr Harvie will say that corporations must change their behaviour as well as individuals if a disater is to be averted.
After the UN issued a call for action to save the planet, Mr Harvie will call for the Greens to ramp up their campaigning efforts to elect more Green councillors and MSPs to take the environmental message into communities across Scotland.
Mr Harvie is expected to say: “Greens know our response to climate change must go beyond technical arguments about targets, it’s important to get them right for full net-zero ambition, but the climate emergency must inform every aspect of how we run our economy.
“People are doing what they can as individuals, but that will never be enough and is not where the true responsibility lies when just 100 giant corporations are responsible for nearly three quarters of global emissions, and when industries like aviation and fossil fuels still wield political power, and are rewarded with tax breaks by governments here at home and around the world.”
As the Prime Minister looks to secure a deal for Brexit, Mr Harvie will outline his opposition to leaving the European Union.
He will say: “Brexit Britain doesn’t sound like the kind of place I want to live and as a party we remain committed to a positive vision of Scotland’s future as an independent country and a full member of the European family.
“The events of the next few weeks and months will pose a critical threat, not only to the immediate prospects for our country and for our neighbours, but a critical threat to the very basis of our democracy, with the traditional principle of the sovereignty of the Scottish people being torn to shreds by a UK government determined to lash us to the deck of HMS Brexit Britain.”
The Glasgow MSP will highlight what he sees as success of the Greens in Holyrood.
He will add: “Let me be clear – that change to fairer income tax wouldn’t have happened without the Greens leading the change, without our determination to push the SNP beyond their comfort zone.”