THIS week saw the latest in a string of opinions polls suggesting the Scottish Greens can return a record number of MSPs at the Holyrood election next year. While I’ll never take such polling for granted, it’s encouraging to see that voters seem to recognise the constructive approach to opposition adopted by our MSPs, which has seen us push the Scottish Government to be bolder and deliver creative and transformative policies like free bus travel for young people and a fairer tax system.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, this constructive approach has not only been productive, it has been absolutely necessary, because of the impact the crisis has had on Scotland.

We knew people with insecure incomes and living arrangements would be the most vulnerable from the economic hit of Covid, so we have been in their corner, pushing for more stability for workers such as those in hospitality. And we won a ban on sheriffs evicting tenants over the festive period.

We’ve been working hard for the people who have been working on the front line of this crisis, winning regular, routine asymptomatic testing for care home staff in May, for NHS workers in November and we’re still pushing for this assurance for teachers and school staff.

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This year made us face up to a crisis, but of course our future is under threat from a far deeper crisis too – a climate and ecological emergency.

This week the Scottish Government published its long overdue update to its climate plan. This is a plan that makes some good noises, but we shouldn’t pretend it contains the ambition needed, like the commitment to transition away from fossil fuels we have seen from New Zealand and elsewhere.

The WWF have called it a missed opportunity, delaying big decisions over the future of farming and energy standards for homes.

The STUC said the plan was “more rhetoric than action”. This, after all, is the Scottish Government’s go-to position on climate. They have missed the last two years’ emissions targets, so just setting even more targets isn’t going to be enough.

Trade unions are a vital part of the Just Transition partnership, looking at ways to ensure that decarbonising Scotland leads to thousands of new jobs rather than leaving workers behind. No wonder they are disappointed. The new climate plan is far too light on plans for a just transition and there is no assurance on how the Scottish Government will protect the workforce and supply chain.

We need a plan that targets investment and job creation, so that the transition puts workers and communities first.

What’s more, if a transition is going to happen, it means facing the reality that fossil fuel extraction needs to end. Denmark has joined countries like France and New Zealand in stopping new fossil fuel exploration. It’s time we caught up.

Instead, the Scottish Government’s rhetoric remains focused on technology that hasn’t been fully developed yet, like hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, and even real long-shots like electric passenger planes. We can’t gamble on ideas still on the drawing board, when the point of no return is rapidly approaching.

Five years ago, the nations of the world signed up to an agreement to keep global warming below 2°C to prevent catastrophic climate breakdown, and aiming for 1.5°C. Now the UN tells us we are on course for three degrees of warming. We simply don’t have time to waste while we cross our fingers for future technology.

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The Scottish Government must use the technology we already have to drive the change. We have the solutions, like renewable energy, warm efficient homes, public transport, and less consumption.

Some of the most concrete, timetabled actions in the Scottish Government’s climate plan, like the introduction of free bus travel for young people next year, were policies hard-won by the Scottish Greens at last year’s budget. Elsewhere in the plan, there are contradictions. It contains a pledge to cut car use by a fifth, but this is contradicted by the Scottish Government’s spending priorities – billions continue to be ploughed into major road expansions, even though all the evidence shows us this grows the amount of traffic on them. Private car use continues to rise and is the biggest contributor to Scotland missing its targets, but current transport policies are making it worse, not better.

There’s a huge gap between rhetoric and action. That gap is narrowed by Green pressure in Parliament, so we’ll need more Green voices elected in May.

It’s clear that unchecked, an SNP administration would not have the urgency or radical policies required to stand up to vested interests and build a fairer and greener Scotland. That’s why it’s vital that we work to make the polling become a reality, and put an even stronger Green voice into Holyrood.