IT’S time for climate justice! Or rather, for the most vulnerable, climate justice is long overdue. 

But this, the year of Glasgow’s COP26, Scottish Labour is determined it is finally and comprehensively delivered. 

Our message is empathy, hope, and unity — and these are also the key to success at COP26. 

In the Scottish Parliament we have been the unsurpassed advocate for climate justice, and now I’m delighted to be COP26 spokesperson for Scottish Labour, the only Scottish party to give the conference a dedicated position. 

Scottish Labour’s vision for the Climate Change Act was the meeting of pragmatism and principle.  

We backed the SNP into a corner to support our ambitious interim target.  

We put the principles of climate justice and the just transition into statute and set duties on ministers to ensure Scotland always stands in solidarity with those on the climate front line, in the global South. 

When the First Minister makes grand speeches now and at COP, let it be known that much of those accolades are thanks to us in the labour movement — achieved despite the SNP, not because of them. 

And the most meaningful amendments were rejected by SNP and Conservative votes. 

Together they blocked reference to principles of equity and our common but differentiated responsibility. 

They refused to ensure in statute that Scotland does not negatively affect developing countries’ ability to meet their own climate ambitions. Reasons for this are hard to comprehend. 

And they blocked Scottish Labour and the Just Transition Partnership’s design for a statutory long-term and independent just transition commission (JTC) — all the way to net zero.

Despite all of this, the Scottish government has set its themes for COP as “people” and “just transition,” which of course is welcome. What that means, however, remains to be seen. 

Now more than ever, we need the labour movement at the heart of government to deliver a fairer economy and society and protect people from the suffering and social upheaval of an unjust transition. 

The Scottish government’s iteration of a JTC has now concluded its work with a final report. Credit and thanks go to the commissioners, who urge the just transition to be “a national mission” for the next government. 

These recommendations, along with those of the STUC, must be implemented with haste — but it is obvious that this can’t be the final word. Workers and communities need a JTC to steer future governments of any colour for as long as our economy is adapting. 

The opportunities for a just transition here in Scotland are manifold. 

This will need government strategies and intervention for skills development and to create new skilled, well-paid jobs across Scotland — urban, rural and coastal. North Sea jobs in marine renewables and decommissioning, local jobs to finally make our homes warm and tackle fuel poverty, to create green spaces and food-growing places and safe active travel routes, manufacturing jobs in the new circular economy and more.

In addition to government funding and the Scottish National Investment Bank, there will be a need for private finance with strict criteria and regulation set out to ensure fair work, union recognition and low-carbon commitments. 

If the Westminster and Scottish governments fail on fair representation, from local to international, at COP26, then COP26 is a failure. 

Solidarity with the global South, with the small island nations and with those on the front line of climate change and its harshest effects must be non-negotiable. 

Financial contributions for the loss and damage caused by climate change must be high on the agenda at the negotiating table. 

The Westminster government’s recent cut to the overseas aid budget was disgraceful, and the SNP hasn’t increased its contributions to the Climate Justice Fund in 10 years since its introduction. Scottish Labour calls for an increase.

We and other long-term high-polluting nations must listen humbly, make the hard decisions and be bold.

Regrettably, the SNP in government has not displayed these abilities to date. 

The Climate Change Plan Update is an example of the complete lack of these traits and a failure of democracy. 

Four Parliamentary committees spent hours with countless experts and stakeholders, scrutinising the Scottish government’s draft plan update, each writing comprehensive unanimous reports. 

Despite this, on the final day of the Parliament session, claiming they had run out of time, the SNP announced it will be implementing its original draft. 

This is a deep disrespect to the Scottish Parliament. But it also leaves the people of Scotland with a weaker plan for climate action, with few clear pathways, a failure to provide costings and no clarity on how just transition is embedded as we hurtle towards 2030 and our challenging 75 per cent target. 

More promising is the work of the Citizens’ Climate Assembly, whose report shows the citizens of Scotland won’t settle for climate spin and demand a better deal for workers of today, our communities and for future generations. 

The assembly was made up of 100 citizens from across urban and rural Scotland, 16-year-olds to 82-year-olds. 

COP26 will take true leadership — there is no time for SNP fluff or Conservative steps backwards. 

Instead we should heed the assembly’s demand: for courageous and collective action before it’s too late.