Sanne Dijkstra-Downie
Scottish Liberal Democrats · Scotland
“The Parliament will be right to reaffirm Scotland’s commitment to net zero by 2045 and to call out the dangerous and ridiculous stance of climate change deniers—people who spread misinformation, undermine the evidence base and prioritise ideology over science. Regrettably, some of that thinking is represented in this very chamber.”
“That was five years ago, when it felt like the world was finally waking up to those threats. It feels like a long time ago, now. Meanwhile, climate change continues to wreak havoc on communities across the globe and right here at home. Whether we live in Kinshasa or Craigleith, climate change is already affecting us all.”
“In 2021, I spent a week at the 26th United Nations climate change conference of the parties—COP26—in Glasgow. I sat in on hours of negotiations, and it was in one of those large, tented rooms, filled with people from all across the world, that I met Martina, who was a delegate from the Democratic Republic of Congo.”
“It demands accountability. The climate change plan that was published earlier this year is a step forward, and we acknowledge that. However, significant gaps remain on decarbonising homes, transport, agriculture and industry. We need action, not aspirations.”
“That includes Scotland’s north-east, an area close to the cabinet secretary’s heart. The Liberal Democrats believe that the so- called just transition must be exactly that: it must be just, and it must be a transition, not a cliff edge.”
“A recent report to City of Edinburgh Council’s education, children and families committee showed that there were more than 2,000 violent incidents in Edinburgh schools last year, which was a 43 per cent increase on figures from the previous year. Our schools should be safe places for pupils and staff alike.”
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“That includes Scotland’s north-east, an area close to the cabinet secretary’s heart. The Liberal Democrats believe that the so- called just transition must be exactly that: it must be just, and it must be a transition, not a cliff edge. The Scottish Government is rightly ambitious on climate and, where it makes genuine progress, we of course support that. That is not in question. However, to date, progress has been too slow, the targets have too often been missed, and the excuses have too readily been offered. It is all of our role, as an Opposition and as a Parliament, to hold their feet to the fire. Bold rhetoric is easy. I know that. Bold action is what the Parliament and the planet actually need. 16:31”
“It demands accountability. The climate change plan that was published earlier this year is a step forward, and we acknowledge that. However, significant gaps remain on decarbonising homes, transport, agriculture and industry. We need action, not aspirations. The Scottish Liberal Democrats also believe that Scotland cannot afford to take any low-carbon technology off the table. An evidence-led approach means exactly that: following the evidence, not ideology. That is why we call on the Scottish Government to engage constructively with the UK Government on Scotland’s energy future, including the potential role of new and emerging technologies in our energy mix. Scotland’s clean energy ambitions must be built on pragmatism as much as principle, and must leave no community behind.”
“The Parliament will be right to reaffirm Scotland’s commitment to net zero by 2045 and to call out the dangerous and ridiculous stance of climate change deniers—people who spread misinformation, undermine the evidence base and prioritise ideology over science. Regrettably, some of that thinking is represented in this very chamber. We will not stand for it, and neither should the Parliament. However, we also owe it to the people of Scotland to be honest about where we are. Scotland set ambitious targets. For more than a decade, we missed them—not once, not twice, but eight times in 12 years. The 2030 target, which was once held up as a world-leading example of climate ambition, was quietly abandoned last year because the Scottish Government’s independent advisers said that it was no longer credible. That is not a record to be proud of.”
“That was five years ago, when it felt like the world was finally waking up to those threats. It feels like a long time ago, now. Meanwhile, climate change continues to wreak havoc on communities across the globe and right here at home. Whether we live in Kinshasa or Craigleith, climate change is already affecting us all. To small businesses that are flooded after torrential downpours, which are happening more often, farmers struggling with long periods of drought or coastal communities across Scotland seeing increased erosion and watching sea levels rise, climate change is not a future threat but a present reality. There is nothing to disagree with in the Government’s motion. Climate change is an emergency. The science is unambiguous; I know, because I worked alongside climate scientists for more than a decade.”
“In 2021, I spent a week at the 26th United Nations climate change conference of the parties—COP26—in Glasgow. I sat in on hours of negotiations, and it was in one of those large, tented rooms, filled with people from all across the world, that I met Martina, who was a delegate from the Democratic Republic of Congo. She and her colleagues were exhausted from trying to keep up with rich countries and influential lobbies. Martina was there not because she was a trained negotiator; she was a teacher, and she spoke English. English was the second language of us both, but we shared something that was far more important than a common tongue: a deep concern that the planet is warming and extreme weather is driving migration, poverty, famine and flooding on a scale that the world has not seen before.”
“A recent report to City of Edinburgh Council’s education, children and families committee showed that there were more than 2,000 violent incidents in Edinburgh schools last year, which was a 43 per cent increase on figures from the previous year. Our schools should be safe places for pupils and staff alike. I know that the Scottish Government has previously produced an action plan on behaviour in schools, but it is clear from those figures that that plan is not working. What further action will the First Minister’s Government take to properly tackle violence in schools?”
“The Government is very serious about tackling that issue.”
“Gillian Martin: I thank the member for her warm wishes, and I welcome her to her role in the Parliament. On retrofitting and housing quality, I will be working with my Cabinet colleagues, including Shirley-Anne Somerville, who will lead that work. Stephen Gethins, who is sitting beside me, will take forward the strategy on heat in buildings. The member pointed to the fact that reducing emissions is not a role for only one cabinet secretary, the Cabinet or the Government; there is a role for the Parliament, local authorities and private enterprise. We need a whole-society change, but there is also a whole-society opportunity. On fuel poverty and warmer homes, I think that we can all agree that action to decrease bills and provide drier and warmer homes will have an impact on generations of families.”
“I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of her statement, and I welcome her to her role. I very much share the cabinet secretary’s ambition in relation to climate change requiring sensible and practical solutions, not ideological blockages. However, the Government repeatedly failed to meet the majority of its climate change targets in the previous parliamentary session. The cabinet secretary talked about making homes warmer. In my Edinburgh Northern constituency, many people live in old tenements, where it is much more difficult to get consensus on insulating homes and upgrading heating. Will the Government establish a specific fund to help those who are most in need with the costs of insulation and heating upgrades? How will the Government make progress on retrofitting tenements in this parliamentary session?”
“On a point of order, Presiding Officer. My app would not connect. I would have voted yes. The Presiding Officer: Thank you. Your vote is recorded.”
“I will work with the Government with passion and positive energy to use the powers that we already possess to deliver for the people of Edinburgh Northern. 16:31”
“It is why we want to protect funding for colleges, as we did in the most recent Scottish budget, to make sure that young people can gain the skills that they need in order to get good green jobs and that our society needs for a just transition to an economy that does not rely on fossil fuels. It is why we want the UK Government to follow through on a full decoupling of electricity prices from expensive and volatile gas prices, so that heat pumps, heat networks and other electrified heating and transport options are feasible and affordable. It is also why we want to remove barriers to microgeneration and community energy projects, so that more renewable energy is generated near to where it is used.”
“All of those things are what energy means to the people of Edinburgh Northern and, as their MSP, it is my responsibility and privilege to help to find ways to address the issues that they face. That is why the Liberal Democrats want to insulate cold homes through an emergency home insulation programme and help the most vulnerable households with their fuel bills. It is why we want an expansion of renewable energy to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and to reform community benefits, as my colleague Liam McArthur highlighted, so that communities truly benefit from projects on their doorstep.”
“However, energy is also about the primary 7s in Wardie and Blackhall primary schools who spoke to me about how they would design the city of the future. Some of their ideas were a little outlandish—I remember that they had a real thing for living underground—but their love for the environment and their enthusiasm for innovative clean energy gave me immense hope for the future. Energy is also about people working together as neighbours to produce their own renewable energy. It is about groups such as the Dudleys eco-community, whose members are collectively navigating the planning system to add solar panels and heat pumps to homes within a conservation area, because they want to play their part in reducing our carbon emissions.”
“Energy might be about someone worrying about their family’s bills rising sharply because of conflicts far from our shores that have impacts that are felt in our homes. It might be about people putting off important financial decisions or forgoing things in their lives that they value and enjoy, or it might mean that someone’s business is struggling to keep up with rising production costs. It might be about a young person who wants to go to Edinburgh College to become a heat pump installer but cannot get a place to study because there is not enough money in further education to meet the demand for places. Energy is also about the Granton waterfront heat network plans falling apart at the 11th hour because the cost of electricity is so high that it is difficult to make the numbers stack up.”
“One thing that unites all those communities is the energy that powers their people’s lives, so permit me to forget about Scotland’s energy for a minute and instead ask what energy means to the people of Edinburgh Northern. As a councillor and a candidate, I have spoken to thousands of people across the constituency over the past four years, and I have found that energy means a lot of things to them. On a chilly day, energy is about someone making decisions about whether to buy food or heat their cold, draughty home, or to keep their windows firmly shut to waste no heat, but then ending up with mould on their walls, which makes their children sick, with a persistent cough that means that they miss school.”
“Within such a tight geography, the constituency is made up of many different communities, each with a distinct character, history and identity. There is the centuries-old coastal community of Newhaven village, with the best fish and chips in the city, just minutes away from brand-new developments on the Granton waterfront. There are vibrant high streets in Stockbridge and Davidson’s Mains. There are residential communities such as Trinity, Powderhall, Bonnington, Granton, Pilton, Muirhouse, Drylaw, Silverknowes, Craigleith and Blackhall, each with a deep sense of its own identity, its own much- loved green and blue spaces, and dedicated local organisations that enhance the lives of the people living there. It is where I have built a life, raised a family and found a community.”
“Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and congratulations on your election. It is a profound honour to stand here as the MSP for the new constituency of Edinburgh Northern. I pay tribute to my three predecessors: Angus Robertson, Alex Cole-Hamilton and Ben Macpherson, whom I congratulate on his ministerial position. I am conscious of my responsibility to build on their good work, and I am grateful to them for their words of support and guidance. Edinburgh Northern is a compact constituency. As members would expect of somebody with a Dutch background, I can cycle from one corner to another in 27 minutes, and I often do. My route takes me along a beautifully rewilded former railway network: the Roseburn path, which stacks up against any cycling route in the country.”
“I, Sanne Carlien Dijkstra-Downie, do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm, that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors, according to law. Ik, Sanne Carlien Dijkstra-Downie, verklaar hierbij plechtig, oprecht en naar waarheid, dat ik trouw zal zijn en loyaliteit zal betonen aan Zijne Majesteit Koning Charles, zijn erfgenamen en opvolgers, overeenkomstig de wet.”