People at the forefront of environmental revolution
2019 is beginning to feel like a turning point in the battle against climate change and it is people, not politicians driving change.
Whether because of recent extinction rebellion protests, interventions from young people such as Greta Thunberg, David Attenborough’s excellent television programmes, or campaigns like #packetin which saw people posting non-recyclable packaging back to suppliers, we are finally talking about climate change with a sense of urgency.
It was enough to cause both the UK and Scottish Governments to declare a climate change emergency and lead to an SNP u-turn on plans to cut Air Passenger Duty (APD) and the Scottish Government considering withdrawing support for a third runway at Heathrow.
I voted against Heathrow expansion last June, while SNP MPs abstained because they believed it would be good for Scotland’s economy.
As recently as October, Scotland’s Finance Secretary was defending cutting APD and Scottish Labour’s calls to scrap it were ignored. It is a remarkable turnaround, but the SNP are loathe to be on the wrong side of a popular movement.
Five-year election cycles can encourage governments and politicians to be short-termist, aiming for big headlines and quick wins. If we are to ‘win’ on climate change, it requires successive governments of all colours to plan ahead.
It means thinking about the climate as well as the economy in every single government decision.
Labour plans a combination of extra onshore and offshore renewable energy and home retrofitting policies which could see 50,000 new green Scottish jobs. An additional 15,000 jobs could be created in Scotland from our plans to invest £2.3bn per year providing financial support for households to insulate their homes, which is particularly important in towns with large numbers of older homes like Rutherglen and Cambuslang.
Going green can be expensive and policies such as interest free loans and new home energy and improvement schemes are an important part of tackling inequality.
That is why initiatives like the SNP’s workplace parking charge are misguided. In theory, more people leaving the car at home is a good thing, but it only works if we have an affordable, reliable public transport network that offers a viable alternative.
Many people are unable to easily get to their work using public transport and those who can are paying over the odds for a poor service. Under those circumstances, charging people to park at their workplace is punitive.
Scottish Labour’s plans to invest in free bus travel for the under 25s - with a long-term goal of universal free bus travel - offers a radical alternative to help reduce the reliance on cars for transport and improve connectivity.
Importantly, we must all be prepared to work together to have honest conversations and share transformative and ambitious ideas.
2019 feels like a turning point, we must act before it is too late to turn back.