‘Shamefully lacking in climate action’ – Programme for Government reaction

Climate campaigners have reacted to today’s Scottish Programme for Government 2026-2027 saying that it was “shamefully lacking” in transformative climate action.

Friends of the Earth Scotland welcomed the move to cap some bus fares but said it was a ‘sticking plaster’ on a bus system that should be brought back into public ownership. The group also criticised the failure to declare a moratorium on the proliferation of monster data centres facing sustained community protests across the country.

The Met Office today said that Summer 2026 was expected to be the hottest on record, yet the First Minister repeated his demand for lower taxes on oil companies.

‘Slashing’ environmental protections

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s head of campaigns Caroline Rance said: 
“Coming at the end of the UK’s hottest ever summer, this plan is shamefully lacking any urgent climate action to improve people’s lives and cut pollution. John Swinney spent more time demanding tax cuts for oil companies than on people impacted by extreme weather.

“The Scottish Government is slashing public bodies protecting the environment whilst opening new ones tasked with selling off the country to private investment. The SNP rhetoric about ‘energy in Scotland’s hands’ is meaningless if they are just going to hand our renewables to multinational companies.

The First Minister continues to blame Westminster for a lack of transition planning whilst his government has gone backwards on climate promises and chosen not to deliver meaningful investment into retraining for oil workers and creating decent green jobs.  

Bus fare caps welcomed but ‘sticking plaster’

On the promise of £2 bus fare cap for Glasgow and the West of Scotland, Rance continued,

“The Government has recognised that private bus firms have set fares at unaffordable levels, but only those people lucky enough to win the postcode lottery and live in an area with capped fares will welcome this move while the rest of the country is stuck with ever increasing ticket prices.

Fare caps are a sticking plaster over a broken, unregulated and privatised bus system that has left people isolated by unreliable companies, service cuts and ageing fleets. This move will reduce the cost for some passengers, but the Government still tops up the rest of these expensive fares, effectively subsidising millionaire bus company owners.

“Just like our buses, there is no reliable timetable for the Better Buses legislation which Ministers have previously promised. The only way to deliver genuinely affordable, reliable and sustainable public transport run for communities is by bringing bus services into public ownership.” 
 


No Halt to Data Centres 

Pressure had been building for a moratorium on data centres as protests mounted across Scotland in reaction to proposed developments. Fourteen local hyperscale data centre campaign groups are planning a rally at Holyrood on Thursday 3rd September to bring their concerns about local impacts, as well as excessive water and energy use directly to MSPs.

Many hoped that the Programme for Government would include a temporary ban, or at least steps to ensure the environmental impact of projects was properly assessed.

Rance concluded,

“The Scottish Government has failed to listen to or protect communities across Scotland from the growing threat of data centres. The lack of detail and timescales leaves communities in the dark and will embolden developers looking to Scotland for their next supersized data centre project.”

“Instead of a moratorium on data centres until proper safeguards are in place, Ministers want to develop a plan to attract even more investment in data centres on top of the 24 projects currently proposed.

“Communities are protesting these monster developments as they threaten to destroy local habitats, increase climate pollution and lock Scotland heavily into supply chains for harmful materials.“