Tackling the climate crisis means cutting carbon emissions everywhere.

It’s not enough just to reduce emissions from transport and electricity generation if we’re still burning fossil fuels to heat our homes and other buildings.

Sky-rocketing energy bills make it doubly urgent for us to deliver the changes needed to heat our homes using less energy – and for that energy to be cheaper and greener.

This all requires a bit of a revolution in home heating, which is exactly what the Scottish Greens are now doing within the Scottish Government.

Our co-leader Patrick Harvie, who is also the Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, is leading that revolution.

Last month, Patrick set out proposals to reform how energy performance certificates (EPCs) work. Right now, they don’t give a lot of useful information, particularly to those looking to buy a new home.

Our new EPC system will raise standards for energy efficiency and incentivise more climate-friendly heating options like heat jumps, rather than gas boilers.

And, from next year, there will be no gas boilers in newly-built homes.

Predictably, those same oil and gas companies posting record profits while our bills go up have reacted with hostility to these proposals, as have their allies in the Labour and Conservative parties.

This even included the bizarre and totally inaccurate claim that heat pumps don’t work in a country as cold as Scotland, despite the five countries with the most heart pumps per head of population being famously chilly Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Estonia.

A recent poll commissioned by WWF Scotland shows four out of five people in Scotland recognise that higher oil and gas prices are driving the cost-of-living crisis.

The majority said they would support policies to phase out fossil fuel boilers, with 57% saying they would be open to purchasing a heat pump.

Seven in ten agree that fossil fuel boilers have a negative impact on the climate, eight in ten agree that oil and gas prices are fuelling the cost-of-living crisis and just over half back our plan to phase out fossil fuel boilers.

Only one in five oppose it.

Despite the massive constraints placed on our finances by Westminster, the Scottish Government is maximising the support available to those who want to swap their gas boiler for a heat pump and/or want to improve the insulation in their home.

For example, a £7,500 grant and £7,500 interest-free loan are available for help purchasing a heat pump, with an additional £3,000 for those living in rural areas.

More information on this and other support can be found at HomeEnergyScotland.org or by calling the freephone line on 0808 808 2282.