The Scottish Greens have announced an extraordinary general meeting to discuss the future of the Bute House Agreement, following the Scottish government’s decision to abandon key climate change targets. The party is currently in a power-sharing agreement with the SNP to form the Scottish government. Co-leader Patrick Harvie has said that the party is responding to calls from party members for a debate about its future direction. Sources have indicated that the meeting, which is expected to hear a single motion on whether the party continues to cooperate with the Scottish government or not, will be binding.
Co-leader Lorna Slater has said that the purpose of the meeting is to allow members the opportunity to decide how the party “moves forward”. Slater has stated that the party has achieved more for people and the planet in the past 32 months than other parties have in decades. Now they want to hear from their members on how they want the party to continue this progress. The party has not announced when the meeting will take place, but members will receive email notifications about it soon.
The announcement of the vote comes a day after the Scottish government confirmed it will scrap its annual and interim targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Energy Secretary Mairi McAllan accepted that the 2030 net-zero target was out of reach. She said the government must act to chart a course to 2045 at a pace and scale that was feasible, fair, and just. Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie has expressed anger and disappointment following the announcement.
The Bute House agreement is a “shared draft policy programme” in areas of mutual interest such as climate change, economic recovery from the pandemic, and child poverty. It also takes in the natural environment, energy, and the constitution. Both the Scottish Greens and the SNP advocate for an independent Scotland. The Scottish government’s decision to abandon its 2030 emissions target has put the Greens in the firing line for criticism that is often aimed at the senior partners in the deal
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