SNP Ministers “all mouth and no trousers” on environment

Today’s report on Scottish Ministers’ own environmental performance shows a continued record of failure. (1) In particular, the Scottish Government’s buildings were responsible for higher emissions, up by 2.5% on last year, and travel-related emissions are up a substantial 6% in just one year. (2) Although the total volume of waste generated by the Scottish Government is down, the proportion being recycled is at its lowest level since 2004. (3) Just over 6,000 Scottish civil servants also racked up 8,602,895 kilometres of air travel, equivalent to more than 16,000 flights to London. (4)

Patrick Harvie MSP said:

“It’s little wonder that SNP Ministers are desperate to postpone any real, binding emissions reductions – they can’t even clean up their own act. Today’s figures show that the Scottish Government itself is significantly more polluting than last year, that civil servants and Ministers continue to fly as if there’s no tomorrow, and that the proportion of waste they recycle is at its lowest level in years.

“This is a symbol of what’s wrong with Scottish Ministers’ policies on climate change, but it’s not the core of the problem. The bottom line is that without significant u-turns on issues like green energy, public transport, insulation and binding annual emissions reductions, this Government will be as abject a failure on the environment as the last one. The public don’t want Ministers simply to talk about doing the right thing, they want action. Scotland cannot afford another administration which is all mouth and no trousers on the defining issue of our generation.”

Notes

1. The 2007/08 report is available here:

2. See pages 6 & 8 of the same report.

3. As above, see figure 6 on page 18.

4. As above, see figure 8 on page 20.