By Peter Quinn

With the COP26 conference taking place in the next few weeks in Glasgow, Scotland’s climate policy will be under global scrutiny over that period. With world leaders coming to the city to discuss the climate emergency, it is useful timing that the SNP have entered into a cooperative agreement with the Scottish Greens to form a majority government.

The Scottish Green party will be organising several events throughout the conference, with marches, artwork and other action all lined up. They will be working from the “Green Hub”, where they will work alongside other Green parties and representatives from around the globe. They are hopeful that their new position in the Scottish Government will help increase engagement and awareness of the issues they promote.

“For us as a party, I think that there will be more engagement and there will be more attention on us” said Scottish Green party candidate Scott Bevan. “Since we entered into the cooperation agreement we have seen our membership rise, so I think that its something which has certainly increased people’s awareness of us as a party.

“What I think it does more than anything else at the climate conference is that it lends the Scottish government a little more credibility on the climate than they might have already had.”

The SNP are also optimistic about the impact their agreement with the Scottish Greens will have in the lead up to the COP26 conference. The introduction of some new ministers and input from their colleagues in the Scottish Green party is a welcome addition at an important time for the party, as explained by an SNP councillor for Glasgow City Council.

“I think it will bring a really good perspective to the Scottish government,” City Treasurer Richard Bell told UWS News. “I think the SNP have been in power for a number of years now and every government gets tired after a while, so I think that adding new ministers to the table and bringing fresh ideas will be really positive.”

Hopefully these fresh ideas will help to show Scotland in the most positive light possible as the eyes of the world turn to Glasgow. The input of the Scottish Greens will be important as the Scottish Government seek to display the work the country does to combat the climate emergency.