The Scottish Greens have urged people not to vote for the SNP at the next general election, accusing Humza Yousaf’s party of being “unwilling to step up when needed to protect our common future.”

The blistering attack on their partners in the Scottish Government came after Humza Yousaf claimed a vote for Patrick Harvie and Lorna’s Slater’s party would be “wasted.”

Over the weekend, the Scottish Greens revealed that they had selected 32 candidates for the looming election, up from the 22 fielded in 2019.

On Sunday, Mr Harvie insisted that there would be no electoral pact with the SNP and that he would not be having “those kind of conversations” with the First Minister.

READ MORE: Patrick Harvie rules out electoral pact with SNP at general election

Speaking to The National, Mr Yousaf said he had a “great amount of time” for the Scottish Greens.

“Of course they're partners of ours in government, but in a Westminster election, particularly when we're facing a challenge from Labour, the danger of voting Greens – who are not going to win a single seat in the General Election in Scotland, I think they would be the first to admit that – is that would be a wasted vote.”

He added: "If you want to advance the cause of independence, if you want a party that aligns with your values – whether that's social justice or on the climate or the wellbeing economy – then the SNP is the party that you need to be voting for.”

Ross Greer hit back. He told the paper that every vote for his party would send “the strongest possible message to Westminster, that Scotland demands urgent action on the climate and nature emergencies”.

“The world is burning around us and sadly all other parties have proven unwilling to step up when needed to protect our common future,” he added.

“Only the Scottish Greens recognise that capitalism is the problem and that half-measures simply won't do in the face of the greatest threat we all face.

“Every vote for the Scottish Greens is a vote to put people and planet ahead of corporate profits and the greed of the super-rich. We are proud to give more voters than ever the chance to send shockwaves through Westminster by voting Scottish Greens this year.”

At the last general election, the Scottish Greens lost all of their deposits, with none of their candidates winning more than 5% of the vote.

However, there were some marginal seats where their vote was bigger or nearly the same size as the SNP majority.

In East Dunbartonshire where Amy Callaghan beat Lib Dem Jo Swinson by 149 votes, the Green candidate, Carolynn Scrimgeour, won 916 votes.

Last month, the UK’s climate watchdog warned that Scotland’s pledge to cut its climate emissions by 75% by 2030 is “no longer credible.”

The UK Climate Change Committee (CCC) said ministers in the SNP-Green government had missed the annual emissions reductions required by law in eight of the last 12 years and had no meaningful plans for catching up.

It warned that most sectors, such as housing, transport and farming, remained so far behind their interim targets “the acceleration required [to] meet the 2030 target is now beyond what is credible”.