THERE could not be more at stake in this election: for our planet, for our living standards and for our beleaguered public services. I am standing on behalf of the Scottish Greens because voters deserve real change – not merely a slogan attached to Conservative spending plans.

We are almost out of time to fix the planet and avoid catastrophe for future generations. It is time to move away from an economic system that has trashed the planet, exploited people and resources, and entrenched inequality, all in pursuit of enormous profits for the few.

For Lothian East, the question of energy is huge. Despite the abundance of renewable energy on our doorstep, too many people are still suffering from fuel poverty and mouldy homes. The Scottish Greens’ £28 billion Green New Deal would unlock investment to provide skilled, well-paying jobs for our young people and ensure that no one ever has to choose between heating and eating. We’d nationalise and invest in the National Grid, making the achievement of net zero its mission.

This opportunity will be missed if an incoming government simply leaves this to the private sector. The state has to take a firm lead in planning, investing in and delivering this transition – the lack of strategy is the cause of the deluge of battery storage planning applications for our countryside that do not take account either of energy needs or a balanced approach to land use.

In 10 years’ time, East Lothian could have a district heating scheme the length and breadth of the county. It would use proven technology to deliver cheap hot water to everyone’s homes, using captured waste heat, a sea-source heat pump and excess wind energy. The local Labour administration have dithered in support of this and, as a result, East Lothian Council has missed the opportunity for Scottish Government funding this year for a first-step feasibility study. Labour don’t grasp the scale of the problem or have the vision to pursue the solution. Meanwhile, the Conservatives are promising an annual round of oil and gas licensing, and the SNP are facing both ways, claiming that some oil fields might pass a “climate compatibility test”: something the UN’s climate scientists have clearly stated is impossible.

The Scottish Greens are the only party honest enough to look the scale of the climate crisis straight on, and to join the dots between poverty and climate change, proposing policies that will tackle both problems together. We would stop the £18 billion of tax breaks on oil companies and introduce a windfall tax, as well as introducing a wealth tax on the richest one per cent of residents. Our Green New Deal will cover not just renewable development but public transport, nature restoration and investment in struggling sewage systems.

Other parties will tell you we have to be satisfied with tweaks to the system: it’s not true. We can change the broken system if we have the ambition to demand it. Vote like our future depends on it: vote Scottish Greens.

Shona McIntosh biography - I became the first Green councillor for East Lothian in the local elections of 2022. Previously, I worked for over a decade in the university sector, first teaching English literature and then as an educational outreach worker. Most recently, I was part of the collaborative Hub for Success project based at Napier University, supporting care-experienced learners at all stages of their education. Since becoming a councillor, I have chaired the cross-party working group on climate change, as well as the East Lothian Cycle Forum. I have also passed motions calling on Lothian Pension Fund to divest from fossil fuel companies, condemning the genocide in Gaza, and calling for the Scottish Government to ban disposable vapes. I live in Musselburgh with my family and have two young children. I enjoy cycling and running.