'Smart Successful' Scotland Still Not Sustainable
Thu., November 11, 2004. 00:00.
Whilst welcoming the Scottish Executive's adoption of a Green Jobs Strategy (first proposed by Robin Harper MSP in the 99-03 session of parliament) Green MSPs said that the 'refreshed' Smart Successful Scotland Strategy published today provides nothing new to change the unsustainable direction of the economy as a whole.
Greens were particularly disappointed that the Executive remains wedded to the idea that economic growth is more important than environmental protection or social justice. Greens argue for a more balanced approach which acknowledges the relationship between all three and aims for quality of life as a measure of progress. Scotland's waste mountain, traffic congestion and level of climate change pollution is still increasing year on year.
Shiona Baird MSP, Green Speaker on Enterprise and Green Co-convener, said: 'Whilst I welcome the adoption of our idea of a Green Jobs Strategy, it's the same old incoherent waffle about sustainable development. Of course economic development in unsustainable directions, like promoting more road traffic and pollution, or waste production or climate change pollution - has to be restricted in favour of a more sustainable path. To promote a Green Jobs Strategy on the one hand and carry on business-as-usual on the other is inconsistent and a pretence. It simply continues the charade that this Executive is really serious about anything other than serving the interests of corporate shareholdings in any direction as long as cash is made. It lacks any credibility or real vision; great talking, not much doing.'
The Executive failed to set out any compulsion on the enterprise networks to focus on waste reduction or reduced energy use. Neither was there any acknowledgement of the need to move away from a fossil fuel based economy or to reduce consumption of global resources as part of the 'global connections' criteria for economic development.
Baird added: 'If the Executive was to make commitments to targets for waste reduction, energy efficiency or traffic level reduction we might begin to see these act as drivers for economic development and the £600m spent on the enterprise networks every year. The tone of this document makes it clear that when it comes down to a choice between sustainability and growth, the Executive will go for growth every time.'
On using GDP as a main measure of progress, Baird said: 'That's a bit like measuring my well-being by how big my waist band gets - it's internationally recognised as an outmoded and inadequate measure of sustainable progress. I predict that the new measure - of CO2 emissions - will continue to reveal how badly co-ordinated Executive policy is. The ongoing contradictions at the heart of the Executive such as the M74 extension, the Aberdeen Bypass, the commitment to ever more air travel, the acceptance of GM crops and more - these will completely undermine the Green Jobs Strategy and will amount to a lot of huffing and puffing and Scotland remaining an international embarrassment on sustainable development.'
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