Green Vision

Life on Earth is under unprecedented pressure. People, animals and plants are threatened with massive destruction of their environment. Conventional politics are destroying the very foundations of our well-being. The malaise that afflicts our land and our people is political, economic and cultural. Our whole society is in the grip of a value system and a way of understanding the world which is fundamentally flawed.

Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, society has expected continual increases in material affluence for the rich of the world. Some nations, such as our own, have become wealthy but within them there is still abject poverty. The poor nations of the world are becoming poorer as wealth continues to be transferred to the rich nations from the poor ones.

The relentless pursuit of economic growth has brought humankind to the brink of a disaster which is unprecedented in human history. There’s a growing realisation that we cannot go on indefinitely exploiting and wasting the natural resources of a finite world. If humans continue to promote policies which require the unlimited consumption of raw materials, it will lead not to more riches, even for the few, but poverty for all.

Traditional politics divides humans from nature and the individual from society. The rejection of this way of seeing the world is fundamental to Green philosophy. Rather than set them against each other, the Scottish Green Party seeks healthy interdependence of individual, nature and society.

As human beings, we all have the potential to live co-operatively and harmoniously with each other, and with reverence and respect for the complex web of life of which we are a part. Yet it has become increasingly obvious that this potential cannot be realised while basic human needs remain largely unmet.

By basic needs we mean not only the physiological needs of food, water, air, shelter and sleep, but also psychological needs. These include the need for love, respect, autonomy, security, and meaningful activity within our communities.

The fact that many people’s basic needs are not met has far reaching consequences. This is expressed as anxiety, insecurity, and aggressive behaviour towards others, and exploitation of their environment. These personal factors give rise to and are then perpetuated by, social institutions which actively encourage oppression, pollution, resource depletion, poverty and military conflict.

The Scottish Green Party places both personal and political change at the heart of its response to the ecological crisis and is committed to creating a society in which individuals, through their ability to satisfy their basic needs more fully, are then able better to contribute to future sustainability. This principle is reflected in the radical Green agenda both for changes in values and lifestyles, and for reformed social, economic and political structures.

The Scottish Green Party values the diversity of ways in which people relate to each other and the natural environment. It recognises that there are many things which contribute to human well-being, rather than stressing one at the expense of all others. It refuses to treat any single value, whether freedom, wealth or equality, as a supreme criterion of political success. In an ecological society a wide range of lifestyle choices will be promoted as individuals and communities seek to establish the most appropriate means of living sustainably.

The election of Robin Harper as the UK’s first Green Parliamentarian was a landmark achievment in the Scottish elections of May 1999. The European elections that followed in June 1999 confirmed the emergence of the Scottish Greens as an electoral presence. In 2003 the really big breakthrough came with the election of seven Green MSPs to the Scottish Parliament. In the years which followed we successfully challenged many of the stereotypes held about green ideas, and earned credibility on issues from economic development to civil liberties.

Although the 2007 election dealt us a hard blow, cutting our numbers in Parliament to just two, we found ourselves in a more influential position than ever before, given the nature of minority Government. As a result we’ve been able to deliver policies like the £27M Climate Challenge Fund, an end to the threat of ship-to-ship oil transfers, and legislation to help tackle hate crimes. We’ve also made improvements to Government legislation like the Climate Change Bill, though on other issues like roadbuilding, coal power, aviation expansion and economic policy we remain the only party ready to challenge the consensus.

Green local councillors also took their places in the 2007 election, making the Scottish Green Party a route to achieving change at local level as well as in Holyrood – our councillors have scored successes like reforming parking charges to target the gas-guzzlers, and boosting local food production and city greenspace.

At the 2009 European election, we scored our highest share of the vote ever, placing us in a strong position to return more Green MSPs at the next Holyrood election.

So we’ll continue to make the case for a radical vision for Scotland, and challenging the consensus which so often exists between SNP, Labour, Liberal and Conservative parties.

We are only one part of the wider Green movement in this country. The principles and ideals that we present are not unique to the Scottish Green Party. They are shared with a wider network of campaigning, voluntary and grassroots groups that make up the Green movement. Our shared Green vision sets a challenge to the individualistic, materialist consumer culture, but has origins that go much further back. In making common cause with the Scottish Green Party you are making common cause with the most important challenge on earth.

There has never been a better or more important time to join the Greens, and to become part of the world’s fastest growing global political movement.