Charles Dundas

climate change and the future of our planet are issues which should go beyond party politics so I don’t propose to use this space to get into a meaningless squabble about which party proposes to plant the most trees or insulate the most homes, although the Liberal Democrats have given a lot of thought to these details and set them out in our recent policy paper 139 tackling the climate emergency which talks about embedding sustainability into every part of government spending, investing seriously in renewable energy, and taxing frequent flyers far more than those who only take an occasional trip.

But we don’t just face a climate crisis. there’s also a biodiversity emergency as we continue a global decline in the variety of habitats and species on earth. Here in Scotland 1 in 10 species face extinction unless we do something to help nature.

We need to improve the soils, plants and trees that lock up carbon and are homes to the wildlife that makes up our ecosystems. We must restore our wet peatland areas, expand our native woodlands, farm the land in a less intense industrial way and use fewer chemicals and plastics as we do so.

I love the beauty of the landscapes around West Lothian, from the moorlands around Fauldhouse to the views out over to the pentlands and the Borders from Livingston, and I want future generations to be able to enjoy them the way we do now so we must all act now to protect them.