Three crucial numbers for this general election - Lorna Slater
There are a lot of numbers thrown around during an election, but as I told a packed out hall in Edinburgh’s Summerhall centre when launching the Scottish Green manifesto, there are three really important ones we should all think about on July 4.
The first is five years. That is how long scientists say we have to turn things around for our climate.
Earlier this month, the UN Secretary-General warned that “the battle to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees will be won or lost in the 2020s.” That means it will be won and lost here in the UK by the government we will elect next week.
The second number is £28 billion. Experts say that’s the minimum we should be spending on our green transition every year if we are to have a sustainable future.
That would mean a transformative upgrade for our rail infrastructure, renewables, housing and energy efficiency, and so much more.
That scale of investment wouldn’t just help our environment, it would turbo charge our economy and create thousands of high quality jobs.
The third and final number is 60 per cent That’s how much of the world’s oil and gas we need to leave in the ground if we are to meet our climate commitments and leave a liveable world to future generations.
New oil and gas licences are a fast-track to climate breakdown. Any party or politician that tells you otherwise is, I’m afraid, simply denying basic climate science.
These numbers and these values are central to the manifesto that I was proud to launch. They should be mentioned in every debate and shouted from every rooftop if we are to have a serious discussion about our environment.
Yet, even in the face of climate breakdown and when every month for the last year has set a new global temperature record, there is an unreality about the way we talk about it.
Instead of focusing on how we transition our economy and preserve our planet, the other parties are all arguing about how many commitments they can drop or how many new oil fields they can get away with giving a greenlight to.
In politics it is really easy to think in terms of annual budgets and short election cycles, but when we do that we lose sight of the big picture and the future we are building.
As these three numbers show, there are a lot of key decisions that will need to be made in the months and years ahead. I want as many Green voices as possible to be in the room when they are.
By voting for the Scottish Greens next Thursday, Edinburgh can send the loudest possible message and a clear call for change.
Lorna Slater, Scottish Green Party co-leader
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