Teenage John Swinney once bought his teacher a teddy bear

One of First Minister John Swinney's former teachers was among environmental campaigners protesting outside the SNP conference urging him to "try harder to protect the climate".

Caro Wilkinson, who taught Mr Swinney German when he was a pupil at Forrester High in Edinburgh, was part of the Edinburgh Climate Coalition who positioned themselves to lobby delegates on the first day of the gathering.

She recalled her former student as being "intelligent and caring", adding: "His kindness was clear when he organised a class whip-round when I was pregnant to buy me a teddy bear for my new baby."

However, she also insisted the First Minister was "clever enough to know how urgent the threat of climate change is", adding that she hoped he "cares enough for the planet to take the action that's needed".

Ms Wilkinson said: "If he does, he'll speak out against the huge Rosebank oil field, reject the proposed Peterhead gas-fired power station and do what he can to put the Scottish Government back on course to fight climate change."

READ MORE: John Swinney's first conference as First Minister

Climate targets ditched

The conference comes after the Scottish Government ditched its target to reduce emissions by 75% by 2030 - although ministers insist they are still committed to the overall goal of reaching net zero by 2045.

Commenting after the protest, Edinburgh Climate Coalition spokesman Luke Henderson said: "People around the world are already suffering from the impacts of changed climate in fires, floods and landslides, but the Scottish Government is going backwards and slowing down the action that will improve lives and cut climate pollution.

"Renewable energy is already far cheaper than new fossil fuels whilst solutions like making public transport more affordable and accessible will help more people get to where they need to be."

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