 The final item of business is a member's business debate on motion 2310 on the name of our fオiysil chargerry on linking food and climate change at COP26. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put. I would ask members who wish to participate to press the request to speak buttons as soon as possible and I call on Mr chargerry to open the debate for around seven minutes. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. The eyes of the world are on us here in Scotland. As the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26 took place in Glasgow recently. Parliamentarians, world leaders, campaigners and civil society activists were all gathered together with a commitment to tackle climate change. It was a privilege to be able to attend some of the events associated with COP26. There is no doubt that everyone has a part to play in response to the climate emergency. In this debate today, I hope to be able to highlight some of the commitments in the Glasgow Food and Climate Declaration. This declaration brings together all types and size of local authorities from small and medium-sized towns to mega cities, districts and regions, territories, federal states and provinces. To speak with one voice in renewing their commitments to develop sustainable food policies, promoting mechanisms for joint-up action and calling on national governments to put food and farming at the heart of global response to the climate emergency. The declaration was developed by Norwich Scotland in partnership with IPES Food, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO, the Global Network of Local Government for Sustainability, the Under 2 Coalition C40, the Milan Urban Food Policy, PACT and many others and was presented in Glasgow City Chambers during COP26. I commend the City of Edinburgh Council and West Lothian Council as two of the Lothian regional local authorities which have signed up to the declaration. On behalf of West Lothian Council, as one of the most recent signatories, Councillor Christian Sullivan emphasised with me how the declaration builds on strong partnership work with the West Lothian Food Network, which is committed to removing the barrier to accessing food as well as recently agreed food growing strategy in the West Lothian, which looks at how food has grown in the local communities. Integrated food policies and strategies will be key tools in the fight against climate change. I know that other members will be able to give accounts from their own regions of the steps being taken in these regards. The Scottish Government is also to be commanded for becoming the lead signatory of the Glasgow Food and Climate Declaration. The Scottish Government and growing number of Scottish local authorities are amongst around 100 current signatories to the declaration. Alongside regions such as Coimbra in Portugal, Catalonia in Spain and Cross River status in Nigeria, cities such as Sao Paulo, London, Washington, Paris, Vienna, Milan, Côito, Vancouver and, most recently, the Government of Honduras. I am pleased to be able to bring this declaration and all that it stands for to this chamber. Looking at the decisions taken at COP26, the important progress was made in many areas. We should note that food systems were not on the presidency agenda, despite accounting for around 30 per cent of global emissions. The COP26 agreement did include some commitments on farming. Forty-five countries pledged urgent action on making farming more sustainable, as well as the commitments on myth and signatories promised to invest in green agriculture practice in protecting nature. The UK Government stated that it is aiming for 75 per cent of farmers to engage in low-carbon practice by 2030, while Germany promised to lower emissions from the land used by 25 million tonnes by the same year. It would be very helpful if the ministers today could indicate how the Scottish Government will support Scottish farming in achieving the goals set out by the UK Government. There are many examples around Scotland of the efforts being made to contribute to tackle the climate change. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate one of the award winners at the recent RSPB Nature of Scotland awards, which was brought to my attention. The winner of the Food and Farmer award, sponsored by the James Hatton Institute, was Concluded Organic Nature Farm in Angus. The focus of this award is to demonstrate that it is in the power of Scottish Farmer to form their way out of the biodiversity crisis by placing environmental and biodiversity consideration at the heart of management decisions. The food system is hugely complex, so joined up food policies are essential to deliver on many different goals. Dignified access to good food for all, restoring nature on the land in the sea, improving health, tackling climate changes, creating good jobs throughout the supply chain and building stronger communities. The Good Food Nation Bill introduced to Parliament could lay the foundation for this joined up food policy in Scotland, although it needs to be strengthened. The cross-party support from the right of food bill as proposed by Elaine Smith MSP in the previous session and brought forward again by my colleague Rhoda Grant also shows the support for action now. As the rest of the economy decarbonise, food system will account for an increasing proportion of both Scottish and global emissions and we can expect food to be the higher up in the agenda at COP 27. Given Scotland leadership role in under two collusion of sub-national governments, I would encourage the Scottish Government to promote the Glasgow declaration on food and climate over the next 12 months of the UK presidency. In leading up to COP 27 in Egypt, let us match this global action with strong right-based Good Food Nation Bill at home. A national food plan can only be effective if local food plans are developed too and I hope for an assurance that local authorities will be involved in developing any national food plan for our local authorities to take the steps needed in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from urban and regional food system. There needs to be far more support provided and I look forward to hearing from the minister on the steps that will be taken across Scotland to turn commitments in Glasgow ford and climate change declaration into a reality. I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate linking food and climate change and congratulate Foswell, Chowdry on securing it. It is clear that the Paris agreement and the Glasgow declaration from COP26 cannot be reached without addressing food systems. Farmers are at the front line of climate change, they experience the effects of extreme and unpredictable weather and they can and indeed are a huge part of the solution to tackle the climate emergency and support food security. Producing food and drink sustainably means rearing, growing and processing it in a way that helps preserve and protect the environment for future generations. During this year's Parliament's festival of politics, I chaired an event called Will Vegans Really Save the Planet. The event explored sustainable food production and the role our diet has in tackling the climate emergency. The event highlighted a university of Oxford report that the food system is globally responsible for a third of all greenhouse gases. It also explored whether reducing the amount of meat and dairy consumed helps to reduce agriculture's environmental impact. One of the conclusions of the event was that a vegan diet and meat substitutes can involve intensive water use, high air miles caused by flying certain products such as avocados across the globe and can significantly contribute to deforestation. One of the key messages for consumers was that procuring food sustainably means buying it from producers who minimise their impact on their environment, for example by reducing their carbon emissions and supporting the longevity of the industry. That is why schemes such as Scotland Loves Local, Shop Local and local farmers' markets such as Moffit, Dumfries, Cercwbri, Wigtown and a newly established market in Stranraer are so important to support. I thank all who support those initiatives. It was also clear from the event that a vegan diet is not the sole solution to tackle a climate emergency. Supporting our agricultural businesses to be sustainable is crucial. I welcome the steps that are being taken by the Scottish Government to support our agricultural sectors' transition to net zero. I am aware that the Scottish Government is moving forward to put in place a successor to the common agricultural policy that will guide farming, food production and land use for the future. I welcome comments or an update from the minister as to timescales for that. The Good Food Nation Bill, as was mentioned by Fousal Chydery, proposes local and sustainable food production along with the agricultural sustainability working group, led by NFU president Andrew Kennedy, Martin Kennedy, and also welcomes the steps in tackling the global climate emergency. I briefly want to mention local action by constituents. Chris Nicholson, who is the Scottish Tenant Farmers Association chair, Colin Ferguson, who is the DG chair of NFUS, and Kenny Adams and William Moses, macher, beef and sheep farmers, and filmmakers Willecky Van Rynn and Julia Farrington. The group has created an informative short film to coincide with COP26. It is called Talking with Farmers, Farming and Climate Change. You can find it on YouTube. The film highlights how important it is that farmers are supported and engaged with to tackle the climate emergency. The film provides insight and some solutions for the custodians of our land. I would encourage members to watch it and I want to commend all involved in making it. I look forward to engaging and learning from them how we promote food sustainability and how to tackle the climate and biodiversity emergencies. Finally, I was also struck by the statement that William Moses said in the film, too. He says, if we look after our soil, it will look after us. I would like to add to that so that we in Scotland can sustainably produce and provide what is recognised across the world as world-class food produced to some of the best welfare standards and also support an approach that helps to achieve the sustainable development goals. Thank you for bringing this debate to the chamber. I want to give the opportunity to discuss the importance of food production, food processing and procurement, linking nutrition, health, education and climate change. I have to say that it feels a wee bit like Groundhog Day, since I seem to be talking about this particular topic for the past five years, and it is disappointing how little progress we have actually made within that time. I have long championed the need to process and procure fruit locally. We charge our farmers with the production of the highest quality of food. We give them custodianship of the countryside. We pay the living wage. We make sure that they have the highest level of animal welfare, yet when it comes to public procurement, that is where we seem to fall down. We do not seem to recognise that there is a cost associated with making sure that our farmers are producing that high-quality food. I did a study early on in the last term around where all of food came from in our councils and in our hospitals, and I discovered that, through the Excel contract that the Scottish Government has, only 16 per cent of that food came from Scotland. I am doing that study again, just now I am redoing that investigation to see if anything has moved on in the last five years. I think that we should highlight that this is completely possible, because we all know that we have talked about this before. We have East Ayrshire, which is the gold standard when it comes to this. It is procuring something along the lines of 75 per cent of its food for schools comes from locally. It can even tell you which farm the eggs came from. The reality is that we import far too much of our food. When we are discussing biodiversity, I think that, as Emma Harper said, the development of products such as soya, palm oil and almond products are hugely damaging to our climate, and they are hugely damaging to the biodiversity, because swathes of land have to be cleared. I will always take her intervention. I am just wondering if Brian Whittle would agree that it takes about 136 litres of water to make one litre of almond milk. I love it when you pre-empt what I am just about to say, Ms Harper. That is exactly right. When you clear the land, especially the production of almond, it is so water-intensive that it is one of the worst biodiversity areas that you can have, and then you have the air miles to import that into this country. We also mentioned palm oil, which is also a hugely contributed factor in this country to obesity. Our farmers have been innovating towards net zero. In fact, if you Scotland have a target ahead of the Scottish Government target of 2040, they are doing some incredible work. I have seen it out in the farms as they do that journey towards that. Even things such as reducing the amount of ploughing that they have to do, which is ploughing releases carbon into the atmosphere, are innovating ahead of the game. 85 per cent of the farmland in Scotland said that the best crop is actually grass, and grass-fed livestock is the original circular economy. The sequestration of carbon into grass is much greater than it is, for example, in a woodland. We must be careful when we allow a noisy minority to lump all the global farming practices together and talk down to our farmers. What we should be doing is taking the way that our farmers produce food and exporting that knowledge to other countries. That is how we are going to tackle climate change. When we talk about meat production globally, it does not give you the whole picture. We have a farmer in here who will hopefully back me up on this. When we look at the practices that are in the US, South America and the Far East, they differ hugely from the way in which our farmers produce food. That is the way that we need to be. Food can be produced environmentally friendly, and we need to champion our farmers and their efforts to drive towards net zero. When it comes to food processing—I have four and a half minutes already, but I will get there—food processing, we send too much of it away outside of our borders to get package. Let us push local food production, support our farmers, develop processing locally and public procurement should always take Scottish food wherever possible. That positive impact on climate change and the health of our nation and the rural economy joined up thinking, Deputy Presiding Officer, what a breakthrough that would be. Thank you, Mr Whittle. Time flies indeed. Martin Whitfield, to be followed by Ari Amberg. Just four minutes, please. Very grateful, Deputy Presiding Officer. It is a great pleasure to speak in this Member's debate, and I extend my thanks to my friend, Foisal, for bringing it this evening and tackling such an important problem. I am going to use the word problem that faces Scotland going forward. It is a great pleasure to follow Brian Whittle, who made so much of what I was going to point out, so I am merely going to echo some of the elements of what he said and hopefully carry on for the small parts that he missed out. When we talk about farming and food, I think one of the phrases that you used about our farmers being the custodians of this country is so fundamentally important and unfortunately so frequently forgotten. I think back to my time as a primary school teacher when I always looked forward to going out and visiting our farmers to watch the faces of young people understand in some cases where potatoes and carrots came from, but more excitedly those that discovered that actually the jobs that sit in our farms are not muddy, they are not cold and wet jobs, they are highly technical IT jobs looking after the software that drives the tractors, the satellite navigation and the fact that I know of two individuals who were so taken by their journey to a farm that they changed what they wanted to do going forward to stem subjects and one of them I know has in fact ended up working on a farm and thoroughly enjoys working not with a tractor, not with a spade but with a robotic flying device that plucks out the weeds that sit in the farms and I raise that because that is one end of the farming and at the other end there are farmers who still travel out every day and labour but I raise it because farming has changed so much in the past 20 years and it is good to see the NFU through their members, through other farmers throwing themselves fully behind a net zero future and they do that not perhaps as sometimes people raise from the hope but actually from their knowledge and understanding of the countryside that they can achieve this and so I want to congratulate our farmers and urge the government to listen as I know they say they do to both the NFU but also to their members and in particular to the individual voices of unique farms that need unique support to allow them to make the changes going forward. I'd also like to offer a small tale from a few years ago which feeds into that concept of food processing where in East Lothian there was a farm that still does grow Brussels sprouts but just before Christmas its Brussels sprouts travelled all the way to Poland to receive a cross in the bottom of them to get packaged up and then come all the way back to be sold in a well known supermarket that literally overlooked the field that they were grown in and the farmer was just stunned that due to regulation due to finance that was the only way he could make his crop make money and that goes back to the other point that Brian raised about how we can localise both the growth of our food the distribution of our food but also the purchasing of our food through our schools through our hospitals through our local authorities and to start to make the same circle the virtuous circle that our cows have achieved through 300 000 years of evolution. Just before I finish I would like to make mention of one group that's raised in this and that's in respect of seafood and the Scottish Creel Fishermen's Federation and their support for low impact and sustainable development of our local seas and I would ask the minister tonight whether or not she can comment on whether or not there should be a protective circle around our Scottish waters to stop trawling which is damaging the Creel Fishermen's going forward. Thank you Deputy Presiding Officer. Thank you Mr Workfield and I call on Ariane Burgess to be followed by Stephen Kerr for a minute, Ms Burgess. Thank you Presiding Officer and thank you for so chowdery for securing this vital debate. At COP26 the Scottish Government joined the 50 by 30 coalition recognising the necessity of cutting emissions by 50 per cent by 2030. Agriculture and food systems will play a crucial role in this effort. I commend the Scottish Government on signing up to the 4 per 1000 initiative which aims to boost carbon storage in agricultural soils and reduce global carbon footprint. Presiding Officer, soil is where all begins. Healthy agricultural soils have huge potential to store carbon. 80 per cent of Scotland's land is used for agriculture so we should maximise this nature-based solution through better soil management. Soils play a crucial role in storing water which prevents flooding. This will become even more important as we feel the increased impact of climate change. Healthy soils also produce nutritious, flavoursome and filling food. This is why when considering food and climate change we need to start from the ground up. We must develop a holistic policy which shapes and supports the entire system, from soil management to regenerative farming techniques to local food supply chains to access to good quality food, all benefiting nature, climate and wellbeing. Here are some steps that Scotland should take starting with improving soil health. By developing a national nitrogen strategy we can end the excessive use of inorganic fertiliser, reduce air and water pollution, improve soil health and slash greenhouse gases. We should set a bold target, 25 per cent by 2025, for organic public procurement. That would incentivise farmers to shift to organic production and help us to reach our target of at least doubling the area of land under organic management during this parliamentary session. Moving from soil to wider land use, we need to find the right balance for how land is used between food production, carbon absorption, nature restoration, renewable energy infrastructure and housing. Agriculture and nature restoration do not always have to compete. The nature restoration fund should benefit farmers and crofters who contribute to nature corridors. Many farmers, crofters and growers such as Phil and Laura from the wildlife croft on sky are starting to practice agroforestry, where trees and agricultural co-exist. However, they have found that the current crofting grant system and agricultural payments do not support that, despite the co-benefits for food production, soil health and climate biodiversity. I will certainly take an intervention. I appreciate you taking an intervention. Could you perhaps tell the chamber how long it takes for a farmer to transition to be an organic farmer and how would the loss in production be compensated for in that time that it took to change to be organic? Thank you for that, Mr Carson. As we have heard in the rain committee, it takes considerable amount of time to transition, and that is why we are only calling on at least doubling the current 1.8 per cent of organic land that is currently under organic production. We want to go far, and what I am calling for is an incentivising to point farmers in a direction based on conversations that I have been having with people from the NFUS. Continuing on, we must change the incentives to support our food producers to adopt climate and nature-friendly practices, and we must start offering that support as soon as possible. The agricultural bill is a once-in-a-multi-generational opportunity to reshape food production. The Government has said that 50 per cent of the new support payments will be conditional on providing environmental benefits. That is encouraging, but the percentage that is conditional can be increased. Before that, we need greater investment in a just transition for agriculture to support those who produce the food that sustains us and encourage the Government to establish an advisory service to provide training and advice support, support pilot programmes and knowledge transfer, and to scale up good practice. Finally, the good food nation bill should spell out the vision for a good food nation and include outcomes that the plan should help to deliver, including food systems that promote ecological regeneration and align with climate targets and empowerment through food education and community food production. In this parliamentary session, we can transform our food system. Let's place soil, land use and nutritious food at the heart of the response to our climate emergency. I call Stephen Kerr to be followed by Stephanie Callaghan. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and congratulations to Foslow Chowdry on bringing this debate to the chamber. We have a great deal to be proud of in the way food production has evolved in Scotland, and we have a strong future to look forward to. The world wants our products, and I know that from personal experience. We have always been innovative in this regard in Scotland. As the world moves away from high-yield, low-quality meets towards more environmentally friendly options, the long history of sustainability in the Scottish beef herd will put our products at the heart of a high-quality, low-yield carbon-neutral farming future. We have a great history, too, in aquaculture in Scotland. Farmed fish consumption globally makes up half of the global fish consumption, and that is projected to grow. We have the expertise and we have an excellent product to sell the world. Despite the fearmongering, the sector still represents a huge part of Scotland's food exports. What is the minister doing to encourage and support the aquaculture sector? The same variety of issues come up when we look at the Scottish Government's attitude to the use of gene-editing technology in crops. A gene responsible for drought resistance in barley crops was recently found. It is a defence against the effects of climate change. Last year, the European cereal crop was badly affected by the lack of water and gene-editing technology offers a solution. We still remain closed-minded to gene-edited crops. It is a wholly mistaken attitude. When will the minister review the retrograde and anti-science policy? I already know the answer to that question, because, just minutes before I stood up, I had a written response from the minister to a question similar to this. I had already posed and she said, basically, when are masters in Brussels tell us that we can do it? It is pre-disappointing. This is a series of disappointments that I have had in parliamentary questions, as it has emerged that the Scottish Government was not supporting any aquaponics projects. This is a type of food production that mixes fish farming and the growing of crops. It is efficient, recycling nutrients within a closed system. Similarly, the Scottish Government has not looked at any recent projects in respect of vertical farming, which is an essential way of growing food that reduces the need for low-paid seasonal workers in the food production sector and reduces land use. That is essential as we move towards rewilding and more forestry in Scotland. I know that those issues are subject to an on-going review, but what in Scotland today is not subject to on-going reviews. Sometimes in Government you have to make decisions with the minister update us on the progress of this review and tell us what actions they plan to take forward to support innovation. In a country where the average age of farmers is now 59 years old, we know that there is a huge challenge ahead of us in producing enough food to feed a growing global population. We know that this challenge is made more difficult from the need to reduce carbon emissions. We know that land use will change fundamentally as a result of climate change. Therefore, innovation is key in this area, as in so many other areas in response to the call for us to become net zero in terms of carbon emissions. Farms need to diversify, but too often in Scotland this has meant opening up a glamping pod or getting a grant to reweld the land. All of that is worthy, but how are we to feed ourselves when farms are turned over to custodianship? The Scottish Government must stand alongside Scotland's farmers, be open to innovation. I will. I was on my last three words, but if it's all right with you, definitely not sir. I'm happy to have Jim Fairlie intervene. Thank you for taking the intervention, Mr Kerr. I'm confused because you're talking about when the Scottish Government is going to give production. If I understand you correctly, when the Scottish Government is going to give production its priority. However, the UK Government has already said that its entire support system will be based around access to land and environmental transfer. The Scottish Government has already said that food production will be 50 per cent of the policy that it is bringing forward. We are committed to producing food in this country. The UK Government is committed to going into an environmental side of things that we have been doing for generations, so I just don't understand your logic when you went with that point. Stephen Kerr, I'm very happy to take the intervention, but that would come a lot better from a member of the SNP if they came up with some proposals about the future of farm payments. At least the UK Government has produced something that has been debated and discussed and is on-going in that process, but in this Parliament we have heard nothing. Would the member like to intervene? Would Stephen Kerr agree with me that farmers cannot meet climate change objectives with an SNP Government that cuts agri-environmental climate change funding? I think that there is a world of difference between what the rhetoric of the SNP Scottish Government is about and what it actually does and what it actually delivers in terms of outcomes. That is why I call upon the minister to respond to my invitation to her and her colleagues to stand up and stand alongside Scotland's farmers, to be open to innovation and to embrace science. How about being pro-science and pro-free trade? Thank you, Mr Kerr. I now call on Stephanie Callaghan to be followed by Paul Sweetie. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and thank you to Fossil for bringing this important debate to the chamber. The global food system is not only a victim of climate change, it is also one of the world's main polluters. The World Wildlife Fund tells us that food production is one of the biggest threats to our planet. They do have a point that food systems are responsible for 60 per cent of global nature loss and over one third of total greenhouse gas emissions. COP26 rightly focused on important topics such as deforestation and emissions, but I was disappointed that the impact of food systems and climate change was less prominent. Fortunately, food was in the menu during many of the round-table discussions, and while food presents a threat to climate change, there are global opportunities, too. As Susan Aitkenley, the Glasgow City Council, noted, food is the point where climate change and health come together. It is this connection between food systems, climate change and inequality. That is why I will always champion Scotland becoming a good food nation. For me, the Glasgow food and climate declaration was getting a bit heated, so I won't at the moment. For me, the Glasgow food and climate declaration was a significant output from COP26, placing food and local action at the heart of our climate emergency response. Almost 90 sub-national Governments have signed up to that declaration that seeks to tackle the climate emergency through developing integrated food policies. Scotland is one of the delegation signatories, and I am delighted that the South Lancer Council is one of seven Scottish local authorities to sign up. That is great news for Oddingston and Baleshill residents across my constituency. Beyond the Glasgow declaration, our Scottish Government has also trained a series of interventions that provide opportunities to transform our food systems and respond to environmental challenge. Central at the Scottish Government's response is the Overaction Good Food Nations Scotland Bill, which will see national and local Governments creating good food nation plans that deliver local responses underpinned by national policy peratives. While supporting the environment's key, there are broader benefits to health, social and economic wellbeing. I share the anxiety of many climate activists that COP26 has been big in promises but less clear in delivery. It is vital that nations transparently report and progress as food systems are redesigned, and I welcome the Scottish Government's intention to publish progress reports against our good food nation plan every two years. COP26 activists rightly highlighted that transparency is critical to accelerating responses to combat climate change. Scotland can co-produce solutions that provide us all with affordable access to local produce by continuing to work collaboratively with its world-class farming sector. Scottish farming is rightly renowned for its sustainable approach. With Scotland's strong foundations, we can reimagine our food system, harvest in more local, organic and plant-based produce, is achievable. I trust that we can harness our collective will and reputation for innovation to make that happen. School students from right across Lanarkshire have already lobbied me about the lack of sustainable vegetarian and vegan options in school canteens. I hear them and I agree with them. We must work harder to increase balanced plant-based food options and work harder to offer more local produce. As discussed at COP26, the Scottish Government is also delivering policies and interventions that place food at the heart of our responses to tackle inequalities. Extended free school meals and best start food grants confirm Scotland's focus on improving people's wellbeing while reducing harmful emissions and nature loss. Our Scottish councils are already spending around £65 million per year in food supplies. COP26 can either be a turning point for how our global food system works or it can turn out to be nothing more than a two-week jamboree for world leaders and celebrities. We owe it to our grandchildren and their children that are the former. I look forward to Scotland leading the global response as a good food nation. Ms Callaghan, I call on the Prime Minister and the open debate. Paul Sweeney, four minutes please. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. It's a real pleasure to join this debate. I congratulate my friend Faisal Chowdhary from Molding region for securing it. It's a very apt moment to discuss the issue. I'm very proud that Glasgow as a city gives its name to this declaration. It's as vital as it is for the survival of mankind. What an opportunity for our collective economic potential is also something that's often overlooked. It's not about a sacrifice, it's about realising entrepreneurial spirit and realising a potential opportunity for our cities and regions across the world. I've already rehearsed much of the issues around the waste that is so apparent in our society when we realise the sheer scale of it. It is staggering 36 million tonnes of greenhouse gases from food alone and 1.3 billion tonnes a year globally, from the UK's share of that. The cost of that in terms of financial and economic costs in the UK businesses, homes and food manufacturers throwing away 9.5 million tonnes of food worth £19 billion a year. What an amazing opportunity to address that and at the same time contain our emissions. I'm happy to give way. I'm really grateful for the member to take her interventionist point because I've been trying to get into this for ages. I wonder if he'd agree with me that the fact that a third of the world's food is going to waste and accounts for something between 8% and 10% of global emissions. If food wastes were a country, it would be the third highest carbon emitter after the USA in China. Does he agree with me that it seems ridiculous that, in a time when we have such food poverty, we're not joining up those dots and reducing that kind of wastage? Absolutely. I'm really striking an analogy or mechanism of describing that to think that it's the third highest emitter in the world. I think that that is true. We have no global institutional capacity to recognise where surpluses and deficits are occurring and how we address that. I think that that is something that the international community must take much more into cognisance as we look forward. It's very hard to sometimes reconcile the macro level, the global level, of this discussion and the effects with how we can meaningfully adjust matters more locally. I think that that's why it's quite important that this was announced in Glasgow because there are practical steps being taken in the city to address this issue. I think that it's worth exploring those opportunities in more detail. As often was said, we have to think globally but act locally, and I think that this is a very good example. I joined Glasgow businesses during COP26, who are launching the Plate Up for Glasgow campaign. It's being piloted by the Glasgow Chambers of Commerce through the Circular Glasgow initiative and funded by experienced Glasgow food and drink and the drink regional group. It was hosted and has been led by Giovanna Eusebi of Eusebi's deli, one of Glasgow's great restaurants. One of the amazing things that Eusebi's have been doing is promoting the idea that the tradition of southern Italy was that you would never throw things away, that it would be seen as sacrilege to throw food away, that the poverty of some of those communities meant that the scarcity of food was treated as precious. I think that the abundance of food in our rich society has often led to having a very wasteful attitude. So trying to take that culture into our current behaviours is so important. The idea that you would adjust portion sizes, that recognising that Glasgow businesses, if you're running a restaurant in Glasgow, you're likely to throw away £10,000 worth of food a year. Trying to adjust that issue, trying to reuse as much of the ingredients as possible to minimise waste. It was really a great insight into how businesses can adjust and reduce their costs and improve their efficiency and competitiveness, as well as reducing waste in the community. Furthermore, the idea of a circular economy. Glasgow's parks have seen a budget cut of 70 per cent in the last 10 years. There's 5,150 acres of parkland in Glasgow. If we can start to cultivate that land, more of it, certainly not all of it, but certainly a significantly larger share of it, we can actually be growing more of that food locally, earning money commercially in the city by selling the produce to local restaurants, and that can help to create a sustainable model for the management of Glasgow's parks. Just another example of how, rather than having a dependency model where we're having to cut things and retrench and retrench, we can have a more entrepreneurial approach by managing public assets like parklands to realise income from them and create a more sustainable circular economy in the city. I really want to commend Play Up for Glasgow for what it's trying to achieve in Glasgow, and I would urge you to have a look at their website, playupforglasgo.co.uk. It's just really great to see how we can take that global impact and adjust it to local policies that can really potentially make a big difference. Thank you, Mr Sweeney. I now call on Mary McCallant to respond to the debate minister for around seven minutes, please. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. It's been great to hear the debate this afternoon. I should like to begin by thanking, as the others have, Foswell Troudry for lodging this really important motion, and I thank all the members who have taken part. There have been lots of good ideas shared, such as the nature of this discussion when it pertains to climate change and environment. We touch on so many aspects of the economy and society, so it should be. There was some consensus, which I think is very good. A lot of posturing and full outrage from the Tory benches, which is deeply ironic, given that it was their chums in Westminster who, in post-Brexit trade deals, have undercut, undermined and, crucially, have ignored the calls from Scottish farmers, indeed the pleas from Scottish farmers, to be listened to. They ought to be ashamed of themselves for that. I'll make progress now, but, if you want to come in later on, I'd be glad to take an intervention. Presiding Officer, it is hard to overstate how important food systems are to us all. Food sustains us through the nutrition and energy that it provides, but it also connects us with our culture, our history, our land. It plays a crucial role in our economy and, as has been set out a number of times this afternoon, will be a key theme in our journey to net zero. Having COP26 in Scotland was an immense opportunity for Scotland. We are not yet a state negotiator, but, as a sub-national host government, it provided us with a unique opportunity to showcase our world-leading action, but, perhaps more importantly, to learn from others around the world about the action that they are taking, including on food systems. The Glasgow Declaration on Food and Climate unites signatories around a pledge to accelerate the development of integrated food policies, and, crucially, it calls on national authorities, who are so often holding the tools and the funding that is required here, to take action to ensure that food policy is aligned with credible and tangible change. The Scottish Government has long valued the role of food in our national wellbeing, our economy and in the very fabric of our society, and that is why we were so proud that Scotland was the first national government to sign the Glasgow Declaration pledge and to demonstrate our wholehearted commitment to the joined-up approach. Just while we are here, I take the opportunity to thank Nourish Scotland, who has been one of, if not the key partner, in drafting the Glasgow Declaration. The fact that so many have signed up to the Declaration is testament to their hard work. We are very proud that the project began in Scotland and I welcome the consensus across the chamber and the support for the project that the Scottish Government was so pleased to get behind. The recognition of that is welcome and, again, I thank Foisal Childry for the opportunity to discuss it. Of course, though it is not just for Governments to take action, the public sector could never take this challenge on alone. Business has a really important part to play. During COP26, on 9 November, the Scotland Food and Drink partnership launched its net zero commitment, a plan to unite industry consisting of five long-term commitments underpinned by a programme of practical interventions. Gene editing techniques allow the breeding of new crops more quickly, which is essential right now to mitigate the challenges posed by climate changes. The James Hutton Institute, which is often quoted here and part of the work that the Government has done, has welcomed plans, unveiled by DEFRA, to pave the way to enable gene editing technologies in England. Gene editing can unlock benefits for nature, environment and health farmers, develop crops with enhanced resistance to pest disease and extreme weather conditions that we are likely to see in the future. Why does the minister oppose that without basing our decisions on scientific evidence, but more with obsession with keeping pace with the EU? Will he tell us why he will not consider the Government's position, which will ultimately damage Scotland's ability to innovate and use facilities such as the Hutton Institute, which are world-leading, and should be at the forefront of tackling the implications of climate change? I will not tell you anything, Mr Carson, but I will ask the minister to respond to your intervention. I am happy to respond and, firstly, to assure the member that we do not take decisions in absence of scientific advice and we take it all the time. I am very clear about the progress as regards gene editing and the judicial reasoning coming out of the EU as regards the separation with gene modification. It is a very important subject. I am following it closely, but the Scottish Government's position on gene modification has not changed at this stage. The leading body on environmental protection. We would do well to follow the EU in that regard. Today's motion rightly asserts that our journey to net zero must go through the farm gate. Scottish farmers and producers are central to driving this agenda. Our agriculture reform implementation oversight board, co-chaired by Martin Kennedy and the Cabinet Secretary, Mary Gougeon, is working really hard to find out and to plan how we can support farming and food production in Scotland to become a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture. I would point members who have asked about the picture on that point. I am very grateful for the minister to take the information. Can she explain to us why? One of the things that drives me is the fact that Scotland is the unhealthiest nation in Europe, yet it has produced some of the highest quality food in the world. Somehow or other, those two things are not being joined together through the public procurement process. That has been the case for the last five years. Can you tell us what plans the Government has to try to join up those dots? Thank you. I thank the member for the intervention. I am happy to explain just on the point of procurement. I am sure that you are already aware of the figures, but, for the sake of others in the chamber, Scottish products are estimated to account for around 48 per cent of public sector spend, which is up from 34 per cent in 2007. It is increasing, albeit, that work has to be done. I hope that the Good Food Nation Bill, which will acknowledge that Scotland has this incredible natural larder, will tackle that problem, that too many people are not able to access the nutritious value that is here, which is being produced in Scotland. I was talking about supporting farmers and crofters to produce more of our own food needs sustainably and to farm and croft with nature. Make no mistake that finding solutions to the problem posed by climate change will require action at all levels. We aim to learn from different communities, organisations and individuals that are already building local food systems with innovative approaches. I am conscious of the time that has taken so many interventions. In that regard, in the vein of learning from others, we remain committed to increasing the sourcing of local produce in the public sector. Our support for the soil associations food for life programme, which I am sure the member is aware of, continues. It is now operating in school settings across 17 local authorities, which is more than half. It has already made a big difference to the lives of many young people across this country. The programme contributes to our goals of becoming a good food nation, reducing inequality and achieving net zero emissions by 2045. We are in active discussions with the soil association on options to extend that programme into other public sector settings, which I know was mentioned in an earlier speech. I really must make progress, but hopefully next time. I mentioned reducing inequality. The Government is committed in everything that we do to driving social justice and ensuring that no one is left behind. In climate action, that means putting people at the heart of our efforts and enshrining the principles of just transition in law that this Parliament did. I really must make progress. It is the same as it was five seconds ago. That very much applies to food policy. This ethos underpins much of the action that we are already taking by becoming a good food nation by 2025. As has been mentioned, we introduced the good food nation bill to this Parliament recently. The bill will enshrine our ambition to be a good food nation where people from every walk of life take pride and pleasure in and benefit from the food that they produce by cook, serve and eat every day. It will underpin a whole lot of work that the Scottish Government is already undertaking. As I said to the member after his intervention, it is the foundation upon which we will build a country where everyone can access Scotland's delicious and nutritious natural order of meat, fish, dairy, oats, kale and much more. It will provide the overarching framework for clear, consistent and coherent future food policy that is in line with the aims of the Glasgow declaration. I will take this opportunity in closing, Presiding Officer, simply to encourage other Governments to follow where Scotland has led in embedding sustainable, fair and integrated food policy.