Young people voted for climate action in the 2026 Scottish elections.
The Scottish Youth Climate Coalition are a group of young people who want to make sure that the next cohort of MSPs take action to tackle climate change and protect nature.
Ahead of the 2026 Scottish election, we turned the tables by asking candidates questions on their climate and nature commitments and grading their responses.
Scroll down this page to find out how candidates were graded.
83% of school pupils in the UK think it’s important for leaders to do more to tackle climate change.
We want to see:
- School students taught about environmental issues
- An energy transition that lowers costs and strengthens community
- Buses publicly owned, with a £2 fare cap and free for under 30s
- Our oceans free of rubbish and destructive fishing
- Legal implementation of circular economy measures
Check out our full list of policy demands.
How did candidates score?
Look below to see how we scored candidates.
Cara McKee
Jane Ann Liston
Patrick Harvie
Q Manivannan
Mark Ruskell
Alan McManus
Jackie Dunbar
John Forbes
Callum George
Charles Dundas
Kristofer Keane
About the Scottish Youth Climate Coalition
Teach the Future is part of the Scottish Youth Climate Coalition, a group of youth organisations calling for the Scottish government to take stronger action to tackle climate change and protect nature. The coalition includes Young Friends of the Earth Scotland, 2050 Climate Group, Young Sea Changers Scotland, Green New Deal Rising, and People and Planet Edinburgh. Ahead of the Scottish elections, we launched a candidate card campaign, inspired by Teach the Future’s previous successful General Election campaign. We developed a step-by-step guide on contacting MSP candidates to ask them to respond to five key questions. Candidates’ responses were then reviewed and given an overall grade from A-D.