 The next item of business is a statement by Roseanna Cunningham on the greenhouse gas inventory 2015. The cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of her statement and so there should be no interventions or interruptions. I call on Roseanna Cunningham up to 10 minutes, please, cabinet secretary. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I'm pleased to inform Parliament today of the sustained progress that the Scottish Government is making in tackling climate change. I will outline progress made against statutory emissions reduction targets based on the latest greenhouse gas emissions statistics published this morning. I will also provide an update on the climate change plan and set out the Government's proposals for a new climate change bill. I'd first like to make clear the Scottish Government's continued commitment to this global challenge. The news of the US withdrawal from the international Paris agreement is clearly regrettable, but it reinforces the need for more international co-operation on climate issues, not less. We continue to build our networks and co-operation globally. That includes our pledge to work with the state of California as part of the under two coalition, which covers over a billion people and a third of the global economy. That work will continue. It is also important to remember the role played by the European Union in global climate negotiations. As previously stated, we will work to ensure that Scotland continues to benefit from the EU's powerful voice. I want to be clear that the Scottish Government remains focused on being a world leader on climate change, strongly supports the Paris agreement and will continue to collaborate with international partners. 12 months ago, I informed Parliament that Scotland had met its statutory 2014 emissions reduction target. I'm delighted to report that statistics published today show that Scotland has met its statutory emissions reduction target for the second successive year. The level of the statutory net Scottish emissions account shows emissions in 2015 were 45.504 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. That exceeds the target level set in legislation. This is a significant achievement, particularly as it was realised against a background of on-going improvements to the underlying data. Those data revisions are outside of our control and reflect changes in the way that emissions are measured rather than changes in the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. They are necessary as they represent improved understanding of the challenge faced and ensure consistency with international reporting under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The cumulative effect of those revisions over the years mean that the baseline is now around 10 per cent higher than when the targets were set. The level of effort required to meet the fixed annual targets is therefore far greater than was envisaged when Parliament agreed the targets. The fact that today's statistics show a 41 per cent reduction since 1990, well in excess of the 35 per cent reduction envisaged when the targets were set, is a remarkable achievement in that context. Largly, as a consequence of technical revisions to the data, progress towards the 2020 target is not as advanced as reported in the 2014 release. However, what is important is that Scotland remains well on track to achieving its interim 2020 target. As a result of the most recent technical revisions, the forestry sink has reduced, but this sector continues to absorb significant amounts of carbon. We are committed to reversing the historic decline in woodland creation rates and protecting this important carbon sink, which has an important role in delivering our climate change commitments. Scotland was responsible for 83 per cent of all the woodland created in the UK in 2015-16, and the draft climate change plan sets out our ambition to increase woodland further. Another natural carbon sink peatland is also vital, and we set out a step change in our ambition for peatland restoration through peatland action. Returning to the statistics, despite the revisions to the data, I am pleased to report that actual Scottish emissions in 2015 are down by 38 per cent since 1990 and by 3 per cent since 2014. That is a clear downward trajectory that shows that emissions reduction efforts are paying off. The new figures also show that Scotland has yet again outperformed every other part of the UK over the period since 1990, the standard baseline year. Scotland is among the top performers of the European EU-15 countries behind only Sweden and Finland. As indicated and as previously committed to Parliament, I now wish to update Parliament on progress of the draft climate change plan. The period for parliamentary consideration of the draft has ended. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the process, including the four committees who undertook detailed constructive scrutiny. We have listened to industry experts, the public sector, parliamentary colleagues and the general public. That feedback, alongside the updated statistics released today, will help in finalising the plan. The Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee recommended that we engage further with stakeholders in finalising the plan. We are taking that forward by establishing an advisory group that will contribute to cross-cutting issues across the plan and advise on external engagement and communications. A number of key stakeholders have been invited to work with us on that group. We want to take time to work with our stakeholders to ensure that the final plan maintains ambition in meeting challenging goals, sets us apart as an innovator and global leader on climate issues and is supported and owned by the people of Scotland. For those reasons, we anticipate publishing the final plan in early 2018. In the meantime, we continue to strengthen the package of measures to address emissions. Today, the Minister for Transport and the Islands launched, switched on Scotland phase 2, an action plan for growth. That sets out the next steps in delivering the Scottish Government's vision to free Scotland's towns, cities and communities from the damaging emissions of fossil-fuelled vehicles by 2050. The minister also announced a further £8.2 million to support the low-carbon transport loan fund. Those loans are interest-free and, for the first time, will be available for electric motorbikes and scooters and plug-in heavy goods vehicles. We are also strengthening our support to communities to run locally-led projects that reduce carbon emissions. I am pleased to announce today that the climate challenge fund is now open for applications, offering multi-year funding to empower communities to tackle climate change. Communities will be able to apply for either one or two-year funding and to give communities as much time as possible to develop applications. We are making this announcement ahead of the forthcoming budget. In February 2017, Scottish Natural Heritage published a report on blue carbon that estimated that the amount of carbon stored within Scotland's inshore marine protected area network is equivalent to four years of Scotland's total greenhouse gas emissions. We will be supporting Marine Scotland to consider further opportunities to expand this valuable and remarkable research to better understand the role and significance of blue carbon. We are working towards a more targeted approach in ensuring that transition into low-carbon employment is supported by our transition training fund. That will ensure that more oil and gas workers can be supported to move into low-carbon sectors such as renewables and energy efficiency. In addition to all that and in line with our programme for government commitments, the Scottish Government has been working with the Committee on Climate Change to bring forward proposals for a more ambitious climate change bill. I am pleased to announce that the Scottish Government proposed to increase the level of Scotland's 2050 emissions reduction target to at least a 90 per cent reduction from baseline levels. This proposal is the more ambitious of two options set out by the Committee on Climate Change who advised that a 90 per cent emissions reduction target is a stretching contribution to the aims of the Paris agreement. The proposals will strengthen Scotland's position at the very forefront of global climate ambition and, in so doing, play a key role in supporting Scotland's sustainable economic growth. We also proposed to include provisions to allow a net zero emission target to be set as soon as the evidence becomes available, to reset the level of the interim 2020 target to at least a 56 per cent reduction from baseline levels, to set new interim targets for 2030 and 2040 and to set all targets on the basis of actual Scottish emissions. In response to requests, we also proposed to increase the scrutiny period for future draft climate change plans. We have been consulting with key stakeholders on the Committee's advice and will launch a public consultation on our proposals in the coming weeks to conclude, Presiding Officer. The statistics published today show that Scotland is making strong progress against ambitious statutory targets. This will be bolstered by the plans that I have set out for finalising the climate change plan to deliver a clear roadmap for meeting the targets and the new legislation. There is a huge opportunity to reap economic benefits from being at the forefront of a more resource-efficient and sustainable global economy. We are starting to see that in action, and the Scottish Government is determined that Scotland should seize the opportunity fully as well as fulfilling our moral obligations to future generations. Our actions provide the momentum and motivation to do exactly that. The cabinet secretary will now take questions on the issues raised in her statement, and I will allow around 20 minutes for that. It would be helpful if members could press their request to speak now if they wish to ask a question, and I call on Maurice Golden. I would like to thank the cabinet secretary for prior sight of the statement. I am pleased to see that the Scottish Government has met its climate change target for 2015. Although overall the progress is encouraging, it would be incorrect to paint a picture that there has been improvement across the board. Since 2014, emissions have increased from transport and residential sources. Transport is now the single biggest source of carbon emissions in Scotland, with overall transport emissions increasing by 0.4 per cent since 2014, and since 1990 we have seen no improvement in the sector. The Scottish Conservatives have a wide range of measures that will see a substantial reduction in transport and household emissions, from increased and incentivised electric vehicle ownership to improving the energy efficiency of the current housing stock to EPC rating C by 2030. It is clear that, when there has been milder winters, that helped to meet targets. Will the cabinet secretary continue to accept responsibility for those targets, even when there are harsher winters? We have a slightly harsher winter between 2014 and 2015, which is why we think that the residential emissions went up over that period. We live in the real world, and if winters are good, people will not use as much energy. If winters are bad, they will use more. We have to accept the reality of that. The draft climate change plan sets out our intention to reduce transport emissions by 2030 by a third compared to 2014. It is a long-term project and is underpinned by technological innovation and our behaviour change approaches. I indicated what the minister has said today and the announcements that he has made today. We invest over £1 billion per year in public and sustainable transport to encourage people on to public transport and active travel modes. I appreciate that we are now in a situation where transport emissions are now higher than energy emissions were before. That, in a sense, is reflecting the improvements that have been made in terms of energy. Indeed, we will have to look very carefully at transport. In terms of domestic residential emissions, good progress is being made. The share of the most energy-efficient dwellings—that is the EPC BAMC that Maurice Golden referred to—increased by 74 per cent since 2010. We are doing quite well there. I appreciate that there is a desire to move to a target in terms of EPC BAMC. We have sought views on target setting in the consultation on seep, as I understand it, and that closed on Tuesday 30 May. We will fully analyse and consider the responses before publishing the seep route map in 2018, but I would anticipate that the issue of targeting BAMC properties may arise in the context of that. Claudia Beamish I thank the cabinet secretary for prior sight of the statement. It is indeed to be welcomed that the Scottish Government has met its targets for the second year in succession. I also welcome the focus on blue carbon. However, it is very concerning that transport is now the heaviest emitter with growing emissions. Every year, the Scottish Government reports the emissions inventory. We have seen transport emissions barely change and likewise for agriculture. We have called for more action through the climate change plan. However, it does not appear that there are new actions in spite of the switch on Scotland phase 2. How is the Scottish Government addressing modal shift in terms of climate justice? How can the cabinet secretary justify air departure tax and why is the Scottish Government restricting eligibility to bus passes? Finally, does the Scottish Government agree that if a transition training fund is to be effective, significantly more funding is required? Roseanna Cunningham A slight consternation about our apparent restriction of bus passes. I am being told that we are extending them rather than restricting them. Perhaps there is a bit of a misunderstanding developing there. In terms of modal shift, the draft plan includes a number of measures to influence the decisions of people in businesses such as low-emission zones, workplace parking levies, active travel funding and consolidation centres. Those build-up measures are under way to reduce demand and encourage modal shift to active travel and public transport and to infrate from road to rail. There will probably be a fairly vigorous discussion around the low-emission zone commitment made by the Scottish Government to have one in place by 2018. I know that a number of local authorities have now flagged up their desire to be involved in that, and I do think that bringing low emissions on forward will begin to focus minds in respect of the advantages of changing modes of travel. As I indicated in an earlier answer, we are investing over £1 billion per year in public and sustainable transport and active travel modes, and we will continue to invest record levels in active travel for the lifetime of this Parliament with respect to aviation. At the risk of repeating myself, we did get advice from the Climate Change Committee. They advised that the intention to do what we are doing in respect of air transport duty is to change its name. I still tend to think of it as its earlier incarnation. It was doable, it would require extra effort. If you look inside the overall figures for transport, you will see some transport contributions down compared to others, so it is not just a very straightforward figure across the board. We have taken the advice of the Climate Change Committee. We are putting effort in across the board and it is that overall target, which is the one that we work towards and which we have met. We will have to be a bit sharper on the questions and the answers if we get through everyone who has requested, so I call Graeme Dey to be followed by Alexander Burnett. In welcoming the figures, Jim Dentsham from Stock Climate Care Scotland said that they showed real progress was being made towards securing a clean energy revolution and that to hit future climate targets we must now build on the early successes. However, we have learned in the past couple of days that plans for four wind farms in the first of day and fourth are once again being threatened by the RSPB. Could the cabinet secretary outline just how important a part of the wind is required to play in achieving the future of targets? I cannot comment on anything that involves continuing legal proceedings, but I can say more broadly that the draft energy strategy proposes a new 2030 all-energy renewables target, which will be an ambitious challenge to deliver the equivalent of half of Scotland's heat transport and electricity needs from renewable sources. Offshore wind is a large-scale technology with the potential to play a pivotal role in our energy system over the coming decades. There is a lot of optimism for further development of offshore wind in Scotland. 25 per cent of Europe's offshore wind resource can be found around Scotland's coastline. Alexander Burnett will be followed by John Mason. Residential emissions have increased by 3 per cent between 2014 and 2015. Will the cabinet secretary address that by committing to improving energy efficiency so that, where practical, all Scottish homes have an EPC band of sea or above rating by 2030? I would much rather be able to commit to starting out Scotland's winter climate to ensure that that was not something that was quite so challenging for us. I think that I dealt with some of the EPC band issues in my response to earlier questions. I am aware that there is a desire on the part of some people to set a target for all homes to be EPC band sea by a certain point. Work is on-going to develop our energy efficiency programme. I would remind the chamber that, as I understand it, half a billion pounds is available over the next four years, and by the end of 2021 we will have allocated over a billion pounds since 2009 on tackling fuel poverty and improving energy efficiency. We are making good progress in respect of energy-efficient dwellings, but members are correct to point out that we can do more. John Mason, followed by David Stewart. Yesterday, the economy committee visited the hydrogen office in Methil in Fife, which is really exciting and it looked like Scotland is really at the cutting edge. Can she say anything more about where Scotland stands in the international field in comparison to other countries? Roseanna Cunningham? We punch above our weight in international efforts. As I indicated in my statement of the Western European EU 15 countries, only Sweden and Finland have delivered greater reductions and the EU 15 country average is a 20 per cent emission reduction in 2015 from the 2009. Scotland, 37.6 per cent, is well ahead of that. David Stewart, followed by Angus MacDonald. I welcome the statement and acknowledge that Scotland has met its statutory emissions reduction target for the second successive year. The cabinet secretary referred to the role played by the EU in global climate negotiations. The EU emissions trading scheme is a crucial vehicle to achieve future emissions targets. Of course, there is no guarantee that the Brexit negotiations will achieve continued membership for the UK within the EU ETS. Will the cabinet secretary agree today to run the times model without the EU ETS to provide a realistic future scenario for a new climate change bill? That is an interesting question from David Stewart, and I will speak to officials as to whether that is feasible. I do not know just off the top of my head whether that is a feasible option. He is absolutely right, however, to highlight the importance of the EU ETS and the considerable degree of uncertainty that now arises, because we have no indication of what our future involvement there may be or whether or not, if we are to be removed from EU ETS, whether or not there will be some form of replacement. The last time I raised this for UK ministers, it was clear that they had not really been giving it very much thought, which is a concern. I think that it is very important that we remember how big a part the EU actually plays in global climate change debate and in terms of global effort. It is really important that we ensure as much as possible that that is not disturbed by Brexit. It is imperative that all parties are on the same page when it comes to tackling climate change. Does the cabinet secretary share my view that the Tory party's friends and allies in the DUP are simply wrong when they describe the Paris agreement as a delusion and climate change itself as a hoax? I rather suspect that the people sitting on the benches here privately share the views of Agus MacDonald in respect of his concerns about the DUP when it comes to climate change. I do them the courtesy of assuming that their concerns will be as real as ours. The overwhelming consensus of international climate change scientists is that climate change is happening and it is exacerbated by human activity. The Paris agreement was secured through long and difficult negotiations in 2015 and followed more than 20 years of international consensus building. The Scottish Government is committed to playing its part in that agreement and capitalising on the opportunities that it presents to strengthen our economy. It will be a great sorrow if climate change denial becomes embedded at the heart of government at the Westminster level. Mark Ruskell, followed by Liam McArthur. I join other members in welcoming the meeting of the annual targets for the second successive year and the intention to set a net zero emissions target, which I think is significant. Given that transport has overtaken energy now as a largest emitter, how can a zero emissions target be met, particularly while there are plans to increase air travel, particularly at Edinburgh port to the expansion that is planned there, an expansion that will be facilitated by cuts in air passenger duty, a project that has no environmental impact assessment associated with it. So far, we have seen zero interest from the Scottish Government in holding that project to account in climate terms. Roseanna Cunningham. Just to be absolutely clear that in terms of net zero, what we are doing is committing ourselves to bringing that in when the evidence is there for us to be able to do it. It will not be absolutely on the face of the bill to begin with. I think that I have already dealt with some of the issues that Mark Ruskell raises in respect of both transport in general and aviation in particular. I simply go back to the fact that we are operating on an evidence-based presumption. We are doing that with the Committee on Climate Change. If the Committee on Climate Change begins to look again at that, that is something that we will be taking on board. At the moment, the advice from the Committee on Climate Change is that what we intend to do in terms of the aviation tax is doable as long as there is sufficient effort across the board. That is evidenced by our reaching the target again for the second year's succession. Liam McArthur, followed by Kate Forbes. I join with others in welcoming the achievement of the target for the second year in succession. I also point the Cabinet Secretary to the views of the Committee on Climate Change that recommends that 65 per cent of new car sales should be electric by 2030, while the Scottish Government is proposing a figure of just 27 per cent. Given that an £8 million transport loan fund is unlikely to make up the shortfall— Will the Cabinet Secretary commit to strengthening the final climate change plan to ensure that we see delivery of far greater uptake of electric vehicles and low-emission vehicles? Roseanna Cunningham? That was an occasion when we felt that what the Committee on Climate Change was suggesting, all of the evidence that we had suggested that was probably not going to be achievable. We are in a situation where we have to try and set stretching but realistic targets. If it becomes the case that it does look as if we are going to be able to increase the percentage of new car sales being EV vehicles, I would be absolutely happy to start pressuring my colleague here on the left in order to confirm that that is possible. At the moment, the advice that we were getting from transport in Scotland was that that was unlikely to be achievable, and factoring that in into those longer-term commitments would be in danger of distorting them unnecessarily. Kate Forbes, followed by John Scott. We will inevitably hear calls for 100 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. What advice has the Committee on Climate Change given on going even further than the Scottish Government proposes? Roseanna Cunningham? The Committee on Climate Change provided two options for the level of long-term ambition. The first option was to keep the 2050 target at its current level of 80 per cent emission reductions. It noted that that was already stretching. The second option was to increase the ambition of the 2050 target to 90 per cent emission reduction. The words that were used by the Committee on Climate Change said that that was at the very limit of feasibility. We have taken a very deep breath in the context of the draft legislation that will be before us at some point in the future and decided that we would go for that 90 per cent. They were unable to produce a scenario that reduces net greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. That would be the 100 per cent cut. The UK Committee on Climate Change could not produce a scenario that delivered that. I think that in those circumstances to have said we would do it or to be pushed into doing it at this point would be very, very unwise. We have come to the last two questions. John Scott to be followed by Emma Harper. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I thank the cabinet secretary for the advance copy of our statement. Others have noted that progress in reducing transport emissions since 1990 has been poor and there is little or no improvement. Will the cabinet secretary accept that we must be more ambitious in our electric vehicle uptake targets to bring them more into line with other European nations? If they can do it, why can't we? Will the cabinet secretary also ensure that electric car ownership is made more attractive and is incentivised by the Scottish Government by adopting measures such as installing more charging points and the possible use of interchangeable batteries and considering bus lane usage? Roseanna Cunningham. That may be a level of technical detail that I would be unwise to engage in at this point. I am sorry, but I missed the member. Did he give a comparator somebody else that was producing a much bigger target? Mr Scott. Other European countries seem to have greater ambitions in terms of the introduction of EVs than we do. There are a variety of ambitions that has to be said across a number of different countries. Although it is important to take care to investigate exactly what is being proposed in some of those supposed ambitions, not that many countries have the kind of tied-hand statutory approach that we have been taking to things, so it would be useful to know country by country what some of the targets were and how they propose to achieve it. I know that Norway is one, but no other country is planning to ban traditional petrol and diesel vehicles, although there is a debate. There are a variety of different targets and discussions, and different countries and markets are going to differ in their rates of electric vehicle adoption for a whole set of reasons. I think that our vision represents an ambitious and challenging target. Before I move on to the last question, I remind members that if we are going to have conversations on the front benches, it is very loud in my left ear particularly today. Emma Harper Will the cabinet secretary outline how the memorandum of understanding with the state of California will help to address climate change and potentially create low-carbon jobs? A key part of the Scottish Government's agreement with California is to increase co-operation through the work of the Under 2 coalition. That is the big coalition that I referred to, around 1.2 billion people from 35 countries across six continents who are all committed to ambitious emissions reduction measures. The opportunities through this collaboration for Scotland and our partners are great. Collective effort is key. Our work with California and the Under 2 coalition will be focused on key areas that will help all partners to maintain momentum in cutting emissions and reap the benefits that there are. There are some very much more specific commitments involving a major climate change conference in California in 2018, where we will be providing support and also some expert advice to explain and demonstrate good practice and technological developments driving the low-carbon transition because that is of interest to people from outside Scotland. There are other detailed parts of that agreement that I can update Emma Harper on separately. That concludes questions on the statement. I will give a couple of moments before we move on to the next item of business.