Scotland’s decisions on Rosebank will shape not just our climate future, but the human rights consequences tied to the companies set to profit from new fossil fuel expansion, says MSP Mercedes Villalba

There has always been a temptation to write off opponents to new oil and gas drilling as hand-wringing, naive types, obsessed with abstract things like ‘emissions’, and who don’t understand what is at stake for ordinary people. Sometimes, these caricatures have been accurate.

However, the uncomfortable truth is that our continued dependence on fossil fuels has an immense human cost. The damage that oil and gas expansion is inflicting on our climate is no longer abstract. Global heating, driven by fossil fuels, is accelerating faster than many predicted.

Across Scotland, the impacts of climate breakdown are already being felt. We are facing higher food bills and communities in my region of North East Scotland are suffering as a result of extreme weather.

The human costs are increasingly visible - both at home and abroad.

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