Fighting For A Fairer, Greener World
Scotland has been an outward looking nation, and a force for peace, human rights and climate action at home and across the world. At a time when authoritarianism is on the rise and international law is increasingly disregarded, our responsibility to put these ideals into practice has never been more important.
The world needs a strong framework of international law and cooperation to address global challenges like the climate and nature emergency, the prevention of genocide and occupation, regulation of new and dangerous technologies, ending poverty and protecting human rights for everyone.
The Scottish Greens were instrumental in ensuring that Scotland was the first country in the world to pass a package of Boycotts Divestment and Sanctions against Israel and companies complicit in its occupation of Palestine, but this has yet to be acted upon by the Scottish Government.
We have also successfully put pressure on the Scottish Government to stop providing public money to arms dealers that are profiting from occupation and genocide in Israel. This is a major step, hard won by the Scottish Greens, but still needs more action to put the decision into practice and to expand to withdraw all support for arms companies.
The climate emergency, widening global inequality, displacement of peoples and the persistence of armed conflict are not distant concerns — they shape lives and communities here in Scotland as well as globally every single day. Our international policy must be coherent with domestic action, recognising that global justice and local wellbeing are inseparable, whilst addressing Scotland’s historic legacy of colonialism and the slave trade.
Small nations can play an outsized role in advancing progressive change. By acting ethically, Scotland can help build alliances for peace, and contribute meaningfully to the reform of global institutions so they better serve people and planet.
No government support for war crimes
- Ban the United States Military, and other governments involved in and facilitating war crimes and genocide, from using Scottish Government owned infrastructure, including Prestwick Airport and HIAL airports.
- End Scottish Government contracts with companies linked to the Russian war economy, including the £1.2bn TotalEnergies gas contract.
- End all Scottish Government support for the arms industry, including enterprise grants, free business advice, and global marketing deals.
- Address the over-reliance on US information technology, including in government contracts and digital platforms, which is a national security vulnerability. We will begin the long term task of addressing this vulnerability, and seek co-operation with the other governments of the UK and EU to build consensus.
- Ensure that Scotland’s authorities take every opportunity to uphold international law, UN resolutions, warrants and rulings of the International Criminal Court, in holding accountable any individuals who are suspected of committing war crimes or crimes against humanity.
In solidarity with Palestine
- Ensure that any Scottish resident complicit in war crimes through their service with the Israeli occupation forces is prosecuted under the International Criminal Court (Scotland) Act.
- Implement the Scottish Parliament’s decision to endorse the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel through measures including a total ban on public funding, grants and other government support for companies identified as complicit in Israel’s crimes against Palestine and Palestinians.
- Push all public sector pension funds, including the Scottish Parliament Scheme, to divest from those same complicit companies.
- Impose financial sanctions on complicit companies through the Scottish Government’s regulation-making power to impose surcharges on non-domestic rates.
- Issue guidance to businesses in Scotland which urges them to immediately cease trading with Israel, exactly as the Scottish Government did in relation to Russia in March 2022.
- Allow councils to join the BDS campaign by repealing the Thatcher-era law banning procurement decisions on the basis of geographical origin and other non-commercial considerations, such as complicity in human rights violations.
Global collaboration
- Continue to develop Scotland’s relationship with our European partners, preparing for the day when an independent Scotland can gain full membership. We will seek the greatest possible participation for Scotland in appropriate forums for international cooperation, such as the World Health Organisation, the Nordic Council, the Arctic Council.
- Ensure Scotland’s voice is heard globally through expanded diplomatic engagement and representation, including expanding Scotland’s external representation networks to key global cities and regions, strengthening advocacy on climate, human rights and sustainable development.
- Ensure Scotland works towards a world free of nuclear weapons, including by committing to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and amending the Marine Scotland Act to ban the movement of nuclear weapons through Scottish waters.
- Establish a Scottish Reparative Justice Fund to support racialised communities in Scotland, global climate justice initiatives and partnerships with Caribbean and African nations affected by Scotland’s historic role in the slave trade.
- Support international calls for reparations for slavery and colonialism, including backing CARICOM’s reparations framework.
- Provide direct support to the Tibetan Government-in-exile, such as financial support and digital record keeping, recognising their role as the legitimate democratic representatives of the Tibetan people.
Trade and International Development
- Safeguard and expand Scotland’s international development programme, including the International Development Fund, the Climate Justice Fund and the Humanitarian Emergency Fund. We will use Scotland’s voice to support a feminist and anti-colonial approach to international relations, and to work for global debt, finance and tax justice.
- Take an approach to international trade and investment which combines economic opportunities and respect for human rights, for example by supporting Scottish whisky producers to shift exports from the United States into more stable markets such as Canada.
- Ensure coherence across all Scottish Government activities to ensure we are not contributing to the same global crises we are trying to solve, for example by contributing to humanitarian support in warzones where the damage has been caused by arms dealers in receipt of Scottish Government funding.
- Use Scotland’s trade links, including the Government’s office in Beijing, to hold China to account over the persecution of Uyghurs, Tibetans, pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, and others.