Nature charities demand increased urgency from politicians on climate crisis

The leaders of Scotland’s political parties are not responding to the combined climate and nature crises with the “urgency required” a coalition of nature charities has insisted.

Twenty-six groups have joined to write an open letter aimed at the leaders of the five parties represented at Holyrood – the SNP, Conservatives, Labour, Greens and Liberal Democrats.

The organisations, including RSPB Scotland, Friends of the Earth Scotland, WWF Scotland and the National Trust for Scotland, insisted they were “deeply concerned” about the situation and the lack of action from political leaders.

Adding that Scotland has a “moral obligation to show leadership”, they called on politicians from all parties to come together to “rapidly support measures to reduce emissions” in a bid to meet targets already passed by Holyrood and to work to “halt and reverse nature loss”.

They told the SNP’s Humza Yousaf, Douglas Ross of the Conservatives, Labour leader Anas Sarwar, Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater of the Scottish Greens and Liberal democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton: “As political leaders, the public expects you to deliver on your own party commitments and to work together in the interests of our shared future.

“Your actions will determine whether future generations, and the public today, will thank you for your courage and foresight in doing enough to reach a net zero, nature positive Scotland in a just and equitable way.”

The groups insisted: “Acting decisively now will demonstrate to Scotland’s people and our future generations our collective commitment to a just transition into a future worth living.”

In their letter they insisted that “without significant action” on the environment Scots could face “increasing disruption to our lives and face escalating impacts on food production and human health”.

The intervention comes as the organisations told how “extreme heat, dangerously warm seas, and out of control wildfires are causing havoc around the world”.

Amidst these “unprecedented extreme global weather events”, the groups – who have more than 500,000 supporters between them – said they were “deeply concerned that our political leaders are not responding to the intertwined nature and climate crises with the urgency required”.

They added: “The status quo is not sustainable. Yet we have seen key environmental commitments shelved or delayed, and increasing signals that differing views on environmental policy will be exploited for electoral purposes or treated as disposable.”

They urged all parties to support “increased ambition” for reducing emissions, as well as “ambitious ” legal targets for nature restoration – which they said should be delivered via a “well resourced” biodiversity strategy.

In addition they called for the system of agriculture and forestry funding to be reformed so if delivers for “climate, nature and people”.

“Urgent progress” is also needed in delivering enhanced marine protection, along with a “drastic reduction” in the consumption of raw materials, the groups added.

They insisted: “The business case for tackling climate change and nature loss has never been clearer.

“Investing now is better and cheaper than the alternative, and as well as improving our national resilience, government leadership can unlock future investment and economic benefits through the transition.”