The Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater was at Saughton Park on Thursday to emphasise that the next UK Government must invest in green spaces in cities.
Ms Slater said: “Nature restoration is really important to our rural communities. But it’s also important in urban spaces. Urban green spaces allow people to experience nature and \ to have the mental and physical health benefits.
“One of the concerning things about the nature crisis is that the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries on earth. And while in government, the Scottish Greens made great progress in funding nature restoration, in setting out the footsteps towards protecting 30% of Scotland for nature by 2030.
“We need the UK to do its bit as well.”
We asked Ms Slater about the election campaign. She explained that the Scottish Greens are standing a record number of candidates and for her this gives the party a platform which otherwise they wouldn’t have. She said: “Because the climate emergency so often gets forgotten in the conversation – it seldom comes up in debates or hustings unless there is a Green in the room, so this is a significant opportunity for us to make sure that the climate is on the table in every part of the UK.
She admitted to being sad about the end of the Bute House agreement and no longer being in government. She pointed out that without Scottish Greens in government there will be backtracking on climate commitments and that the ambition will be lost.
Asked about the Green credentials of a potential Labour government, since this seems the most likely outcome of this election, she said: “I am very worried about how a Labour government might approach the climate crisis. They haven’t made any concrete commitments and even before the election they had backtracked on their £28 billion of investment – which they said they were going to invest in climate change – and now they are not. It is a worry for our economy as well. We could miss out on that green economy of the future. We will end up buying other people’s wind turbines and electric vehicles. By being a leader by setting that commitment to insulating homes, to installing heat pumps and heat networks to changing to 100% renewable energy we can draw in that investment and capture those jobs and opportunities for Scotland and the UK.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
