Why are the Scottish Greens considering leaving government?

Scottish Greens will make up their minds by the end of next month over whether their party remains in the governing pact with the SNP in Holyrood or withdraw from it and return to opposition.

Patrick Harvie said at the weekend it is the "biggest question" members have faced over their party's future.

The decision will be taken at a special extraordinary general meeting (EGM) which was called after more than 100 members demanded one in the wake of the Scottish Government announcement last Thursday that it is to drop its target to cut carbon emissions by 75% on 1990 level by 2030.

Both Mr Harvie, minister for zero carbon buildings, active travel and tenants' rights, and his co-leader Lorna Slater, minister for green skills, circular economy and biodiversity, want the Scottish Greens to remain in government under the Bute House Agreement with the SNP.

Their argument is that the party can do more to address the climate emergency and advance other causes their party champions when working inside Humza Yousaf's administration rather than from the backbenches. 

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For instance, they note the scrapping of peak rail fares, brought in as a temporary measure last October, and also to rent "freeze" measures introduced in 2022, and later extended to the end of March this year, which limited rent rises to a 3% and brought in extra protections for tenants from eviction.

Mr Harvie has also pointed to the introduction of the housing bill in Holyrood at the end of March which will allow Scottish ministers to create rent control areas – capping costs for tenants.

Popular among Scottish Greens members, the bill will place a duty on local councils to carry out assessments within their areas on the state of the private rented sector, making recommendations to ministers about the imposition of rent controls.

“We have achieved more for people and planet in the past 32 months than other parties have in decades," said Ms Slater on Thursday evening.

"The Tories, Labour, big polluters, greedy corporate interests and right-wing media commentators are so determined to try and have us fail.

“They fear the progress we have made on making big polluters pay, on rent protections, free bus travel for young people and record levels of spending on climate and nature, and they hate having a pro-independence majority in government at Holyrood."

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On the other side of the argument, some of those advocating the party return to the backbenches, say some of the Scottish Greens' key achievements in Holyrood have been made when they have been in opposition and in a position to leverage influence over the minority SNP Government.

They point to the decision by SNP ministers to back free bus travel for under 22s.

The policy was a key ask of the Scottish Greens in the budget negotiations in 2021 – seven months before the party entered government – and was pushed forward by SNP ministers in exchange for Scottish Greens MSPs voting for the government's financial plans that year.

Similarly, another key reform pushed by Greens to allow councils to charge accommodation providers a "tourist tax" – in a bid to generate more revenue locally – was part of a budget deal agreed with the Greens in 2019.

Green sceptics of the BHA are also now asking whether the measures proposed by the Scottish Government last Thursday to accelerate action on climate change are adequate to meet the longer term ambition for the country to reach net zero by 2045.

The new climate change policy package included 19 actions across policy areas including on transport and land use.

Green members will be closely examining the proposals over the coming weeks to assess how effective they will be and, importantly, what the chances of the government will be in delivering them.

An assessment by the Scottish Parliament's information unit appeared doubtful.

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"Many of the proposals in this package appear to have been previously discussed, proposed or committed to in one form or another," said a blog on the plans published yesterday.

"Further detail has been provided in some areas and the commitment to a JTP (Just Transition Plan) at Mossmorran is new, if not wholly unexpected.

"However in relation to transport (Scotland’s most polluting sector), there is a commitment to two new routemaps, a delivery strategy and a delivery plan. The actual impact of all of these commitments to emissions reductions appears uncertain."

While it's too early to say how Green members will vote at next month's EGM, it would be pretty safe to say that readers should expect a sharpening of the government's focus on climate action – and perhaps some more announcements by ministers – over the coming weeks.