 That concludes topical questions. The next item of business is a statement by Michael Matheson on greenhouse gas emissions statistics 2020. The cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of his statement, and so there should be no interventions or interruptions. I call on Michael Matheson. Last autumn, Scotland was at the forefront of global climate action when we hosted the international community at COP26. We could not have imagined today's unprecedented cost of living and energy crisis, nor the deeply concerning new landscape of international relations. However, we must not lose track of the threat posed to all of our futures by the climate crisis, the facts around which are becoming even starker. In April, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a warning that it's now or never to limit warming to 1.5 degrees. In response, John Kerry US climate envoy said, we have to still fight for 1.5, as hard as it may be. I remain an optimist because I think that, if we do what we have promised to do, we can achieve a 45 per cent cut in global emissions between now and 2030. I too am optimistic and urge all countries to deliver on the Glasgow climate pact. Of course, that applies to us here in Scotland, too. The purpose of my statement is to update Parliament on the progress to Scotland's statutory climate targets and set out our next steps. Those steps are constrained by the current limits of devolved pilots. We will continue to work with and where needed to challenge the UK Government to ensure urgent action is being taken in key areas that remain reserved and where a lack of pace impacts the ability to meet our more ambitious targets. However, it is also clear that the contribution that Scotland could make to global climate action would be significantly enhanced if we had the normal powers of other independent states. Official statistics published this morning show that the interim greenhouse gas emission target for 2020 of a 56 per cent reduction from the 1990 baseline was met with a 58.7 per cent reduction achieved. The outcome is welcome, as is the fact that the data shows continued underlying progress in reducing emissions across many key sectors of our economy, such as energy supply and waste management. It also confirms that we continue to outperform the UK as a whole in delivering long-term emission reductions. However, it is also clear that the largest changes in emissions during 2020 were significantly influenced by the public health measures that were taken in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. In particular, transport activity was limited as people were asked to stay at home to save lives. There can be no satisfaction taken in emission reductions resulting from such economic and social harm. It must also be prepared for emissions from the transport sector to substantially rebound in 2021. All of that said, today's data does provide a valuable lesson regarding the scale of the transformational change needed in response to the climate emergency and the centrality of the transport sector to achieve that aim. The challenge before us is to achieve those outcomes in a way that is sustainable and just. Whilst 2020 data reflect the impacts of the pandemic, it did not yet capture the step change in action arising through the update of Scotland's climate change plan, which was finalised in March 2021. The updated plan is aimed at achieving our ambitious goals over the 2020s and early 2030s, which go beyond what is needed globally to achieve the 1.5 degrees goal as part of a green recovery from Covid-19. The latest set of annual monitoring reports on the plan laid in parliament last month, alongside our positive response to the climate change committee's latest progress report, contain more up-to-date information than today's high-level emissions statistics. Those reports show welcome early signs of progress on policy implementation and delivery across many sectors. The Scottish Government's focus is on urgently delivering the comprehensive policy package to ensure that future targets can be met through sustainable long-term reductions in emissions across all sectors. In transport, where the impacts of Covid-19 on emissions have been so pronounced, the updated plan contains actions across all modes and has already set out a positive route map for reducing overall car kilometres by 20 per cent over the longer term. The resource spending review confirms our commitment to increase investment by over 200 per cent in active travel from 2024-25 onwards. Low-emission zones have been introduced in four of our cities as of last week, and we are supporting the electrification of public transport, including Scotland's railways by decarbonising them by 2035. Scotland's shift to renewables and support for energy efficiency are also central to our plan. Those are the only real long-term solutions to the current crisis around energy costs. The resource spending review supports our climate actions, prioritises delivery of critical activities such as increasing spend on our heating building strategy and for nature restoration. Our national strategy for economic transformation has a journey to net zero at its heart. I want to look ahead to the key steps over the remainder of this parliamentary session. We are developing just transition plans for Scotland's sectors and regions, beginning with a refreshed energy strategy and just transition plan later this year, including detailed work to assess the pace of transition in the oil and gas sector. Those plans will form part of our economy-wide emission reduction plans, ensuring that future targets can be met in a way that is fair to all supporting green jobs and seize opportunities for sustainable economic growth through leading the global energy transition. We have recently announced the first £20 million of the just transition fund to support those efforts. We are then committed to setting out by November 2023 a draft for Parliament's scrutiny of Scotland's next full climate change plan. That will extend the emissions reductions pathway towards the ambitious 2040 target of a 90 per cent reduction and includes estimates of the costs and benefits of the policies to achieve that. In line with the requirement of the climate change act, I also wrote in April to the climate change committee to request its next set of regular advice on Scotland's statutory targets. That is expected in December and will help to ensure that our approach continues to reflect the rapidly evolving global landscape of economic circumstances and scientific evidence. In 2017, in Egypt later this year, we need to build from the legacy of Glasgow. I set out in our new global affairs framework, and building from the travelling of our climate justice fund over this Parliament, Scotland will continue to play a full part on the international stage, helping to ensure that climate action supports the most vulnerable people and communities. As I have set out today, we are also working to ensure a track record of domestic delivery that matches the high ambition set by this Parliament in response to the Paris agreement. The impacts of the Covid pandemic on emissions during 2020 has further highlighted the transformational scale of action needed in response to the global climate emergency and provided a terrible lesson in the imperative needed for that transition to be a just one. In response, the Scottish Government's commitment to building an net zero and climate resilient nation through planned approaches that are sustainable and positive for both people and the economy is unwavering. Thank you. The cabinet secretary will now take questions on the issues raised in his statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes for questions after which we will move on to the next item of business. I'd be grateful if members who wish to ask a question were to press their request to speak buttons now. At question number one, I call Maurice Cotland. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I thank the cabinet secretary for an advanced site of the statement for the first time in four years Scotland's emissions targets have been met. It is bittersweet news, though, because it was only accomplished through a nationwide lockdown. Even the SNP have conceded that point and accept that they cannot rely on lockdowns to meet climate targets, but that is exactly what they are doing. Before today, they had missed their emissions targets three years running. In addition, they had failed to meet a whole series of important targets such as household recycling, biodiversity, green jobs and active travel, not forgetting their failure to deliver a ban on sending biodegradable waste to landfill in 2021, as promised. Add in the green coalition's partner's failure to meet the renewable heat target and abandoning their manifesto promises on a deposit return scheme launch and banning new incineration capacity, it has been fail, fail, fail. All of this shows that the Scottish Government needs to be bolder and implement its proposed policies, particularly in heating, agriculture and transport. Chris Stark, the head of the Committee on Climate Change, predicted that the 2020 emissions target would be met, but he issued a warning that the 2021 target would, and I quote, almost certainly be missed. Does the cabinet secretary accept this expert view, or is Chris Stark wrong? I suppose that time will tell, but we do know that the likelihood is that transport emissions, which were a sizable component in the shift that we saw in the 2020 data during the course of the pandemic, are likely to rebound, which will have an impact on the figures next year, which I made reference to in my own statement. I recognise and agree that it is bittersweet that we are in a situation where we have met the targets and no one takes any pleasure from the fact that some of that has come about as a result of the lockdown circumstances. However, I would say to the member that it is simply wrong to say that we are progressing our climate change policy, depending upon taking forward lockdowns. That is not what we have set out in our climate change update plan, which we published back in March just last year, that sets out almost 200 different policies that we are taking forward in order to make sure that we meet our climate change targets. Alongside that, I am no doubt that the member will take the opportunity to consider the underlying data in some of that information that has been published today, which shows that we continue to move in the right direction in reducing our emissions overall and that, in the long term, we continue to be ahead of other parts of the UK. I went all parts of the UK to be in a similar trajectory and working towards reducing our emissions, but it is important that we continue to make the progress that we have been making. I also emphasise this point, because the member made reference to the need for the Scottish Government to get on with delivering the policies that they have set out, in heating, agriculture and transport specifically. I take that as an endorsement from the Conservative Party to support us in those key policy areas. Very often, when we bring forward key policies in those areas, we often find that the Conservatives are in opposition to us on those issues. If you are going to be serious and the Conservative Party is trying to be serious about tackling the climate emergency that we face, both at a domestic and at an international level, it also means stepping up to the plate and demonstrating the leadership that is necessary with the policy ideas that will deliver on that, rather than just thinking about the next day's headlines. After years of environmental failures and mis-targets, last year's lockdown has granted the SNP-Green Government a state of execution. However, the cabinet secretary claims that we will perform the rest of the UK. He knows that our per capita greenhouse gas emissions remain higher than other parts of the UK. If this year's fault is not simply going to be a blip on the radar, we need to have a change, of course. Transport emissions fell this year, but does he really believe that we would have seen that fall had we not had the pandemic? What assessment has the Government made of the impact on transport emissions of the current cuts in rail services? Does the cabinet secretary really think that we will see a fall in transport emissions next year compared to pre-pandemic levels based on the current policy? Let me deal with the three points that the member has raised. The first point is wrong, because the baseline data that is used for assessing progress across the whole of the UK is set out in the climate change act, which is informed by the methodology that is set out by the Committee on Climate Change. It demonstrates very clearly that Scotland continues to be ahead of the rest of the UK on a long-term policy basis, and it is significantly ahead of areas such as Wales, where the Labour Party happens to be in control. Notwithstanding that, I want to see Wales doing well in tackling climate change as well, as I want that to be the case across the whole of the UK and a global level. Whether the pandemic would be a member target had the pandemic not taken place, as you will be aware, the statistics that are provided today do not provide that information. It does not disaggregate figures on the basis of a pandemic not taking place, so we do not have data that is able to demonstrate that. However, I acknowledge and recognise that meeting our very stretching targets, statutory targets here in Scotland, is challenging for us to make rightly so, but it is also important that we take forward the policies that will help us to achieve that. In relation to transport in particular, the range of measures is a very ambitious target of setting around 20 per cent reduction in car kilometres. The measures that we are taking as well as the investment that we are putting into active travel and helping to decarbonise our public transport network are all key contributors to helping to make sure that transport emissions become a smaller part of our overall global climate challenge here in Scotland. That is why I believe that those are policies that will help to deliver the outcome that we are looking to achieve. The independent climate change committee has been clear that Scotland's ability to deliver a green recovery and richer targets is very much dependent on action from the UK Government in areas that, unfortunately, as the cabinet secretary has indicated, remain reserved. What interventions does the cabinet secretary therefore think that it is important that we see at the UK level to help us to achieve our climate ambitions here in Scotland? There are a number of important factors that need to be taken into account. For example, we have raised now on a number of occasions with the UK Government the approach that was taken with its net zero strategy did not take account of policy decisions that are making here in Scotland. It did not consult us in that process to ensure that it was reflective of the domestic policies that are necessary at a UK level to meet our statutory 2045 target, because it is working to a 2050 target. There are a number of areas where greater flexibility would allow us to make greater progress. Fiscal powers, taxation powers, progress in carbon capture utilisation storage, as we have not been able to move forward with the track 1 process for the ACORN project. Alongside that, we ensure that we end the discriminatory charging against renewable energy projects here in Scotland in connecting into the GB grid. Those are policies that actively make it more difficult for us to meet our statutory climate change targets, which is why the UK Government needs to work with us in making sure that they are taking forward the policies that support us in meeting our 2045 target, because to date that has not been approached that they have been taking. Before I move on to the next question, I would be grateful if we could have more concise responses, because there is a great deal of interest in your statement, cabinet secretary. Dean Lockhart will be followed by Evelyn Tweed. The UK climate change committee has expressed doubts on whether the Scottish Government's 2030 climate targets can be met and has called for much greater detail and transparency on policy delivery. One of the policies that will be critical to deliver the 2030 targets is the retrofitting and decarbonisation of heat for over 1 million homes in Scotland. Will the Scottish Government accept the UK climate change committee recommendations, and will the cabinet secretary commit to publish annual targets for the retrofitting and decarbonisation of dwellings for each of the years between now and 2030, so that we have the necessary levels of transparency for delivery of those targets? I do recognise the challenge that is being made by the committee on climate change, the independent advisers on those matters. It is important that the Government responds constructively to the challenge, in particular the challenge that we have around decarbonisation, not just of domestic premises but non-domestic premises over the course of the period between now and 2030. I assure the member that in our heating building strategy we have a very ambitious plan in order to ensure that we achieve that target alongside record investment of £1.8 billion. I assure the member that the approach that we will be taking is one that is very focused on delivery and is an open and transparent process. How do we go about doing that? A recent report published by the Met office receptors indicates that climate change is having a significant impact on global rainfall patterns. Notably Scotland, along with the majority of northern Europe, is anticipated to experience increasing rainfall during winter. Communities in my Stirling constituency already struggle with the impacts of annual flooding, and with that anticipated to get worse. I ask the Scottish Government what investment is being made in flood defences and mitigations in Stirling. There is no doubt that we are experiencing the effects of the locked-in effects of climate change already, which is resulting in much more intensive weather patterns, which are having a disruptive impact on communities and our transport network, not just here in Scotland and the UK but on a global scale. We have all witnessed that over the last couple of years, which is why it is important that we take the right adaptive measures around climate adaptation. We are increasing our investment in tackling climate adaptation issues and flooding issues, with an increased investment of around £150 million over the course of this parliamentary session. We are also investing some £12 million in coastal erosion programmes for communities that have been impacted by that. If I recall correctly off the top of my head, there are projects in Stirling, Bridget Valley and Calender, all of which are focused on tackling flooding issues that have been supported as part of the funding. I hope that that reassures the member of the investment that we are making along with local authorities to tackle flooding in areas such as Stirling. Thanks to the decline in emissions from the energy sector, the statistics shows that domestic transport is now the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland. The report notes that there was a marked decline in the emissions due to the Covid lockdown, but now the circumstance is behind us. It is crucial for our climate target that we keep this emission as low as possible. This must include having a functional rail network and expanding it to rapidly growing communities like Winchborough in the Lothian region I represent to ensure that people have the choice to opt out of private transport. Does the Scottish Government truly understand the importance of functional and widely available public transport in meeting our net zero target? How will it get from the current chaos to that goal? I recognise the importance that reducing transport emissions has in helping to support us in achieving our statutory climate change target, which is why we have been expanding and developing a rail network, including the decarbonisation of a rail network, with further electrification programmes being taken forward to support exactly that type of approach that the member is looking for. I am also well aware of the issues in Winchborough that I visited the site as well, but the member will also be aware that developers have a stated interest in this matter, and it is very clear about where the financial responsibility for that rests. What I can assure the member is that investing in our public transport network and decarbonising it are key parts of our strategy going forward to meet our climate change targets. Cabinet Secretary will know of my deep concern at the frankly unbelievable decision by the UK Government not to give track 1 status to the Scottish cluster of carbon capture and storage project, which includes the Acorn project in the north-east in reference to Alasdair Allan. The economic and just transition issues are obvious and of great concern, but, on the other hand, can I ask him what discussions he has had with the UK Government counterparts on the impact that this decision has had on our drive to meet our net zero targets as set out in the climate change act? This is an issue that I have raised repeatedly with the UK Government because I believe that they got it badly wrong in not awarding track 1 status to the OACORN project. I think that many in the sector recognise that they got it badly wrong as well. The member can be assured that I will continue to press the UK Government on this issue, particularly as they move towards track 2, to get clarity on the timescale and the process for the Acorn project in order to ensure that it has every possibility of succeeding in achieving track 1 status. However, net zero and negative emission technologies such as CCUS are critical to meeting our climate change targets, and that is why we need to make sure that progress has been made on it. The final point that I will make is that the Scottish Government is fully behind the Acorn project, which is why I have agreed to make available £80 million to help to support the delivery of the project at a quicker pace. What we now need to see is the green light being given by the UK Government to allow the project to move forward so that we can meet not just environmental but also the economic and social benefits that will come from it. I thank the cabinet secretary for early sight of his statement and welcome his acknowledgement that our meeting of the emissions target after three years of failure has more to do with the lockdown that is attributable to Covid than the actions of the Scottish Government. For all the discussions of constitutional grievance, we know that more than 50 per cent of energy used in Scotland goes into heating buildings and that the SNP's funding promises fall short of achieving its retrofitting targets. Given that and the on-going cost of energy crisis, can the cabinet secretary explain how the Government plans to urgently scale up Scotland's retrofitting activity and capacity to ensure that we beat both our future emissions and fuel poverty targets? The key to tackling the energy crisis that we are facing just now and many households are suffering from is to help to reduce individual consumption. That is through greater energy efficiency programmes, which is why we have got record investment going into energy efficiency programmes and why we have committed to investing a record at £1.8 billion in the course of this Parliament to help to support the decarbonisation of domestic premises. That is the type of ambition that will help to deliver the scale of change that is necessary. Plus, we are also working with other private sector organisations to look at how we can lever in additional finance to help to support that transition even quicker. Between the level of ambition that we have set out in our strategy on tackling emissions from properties in our heating building strategy alongside the record investment that we are making with £1.8 billion over this Parliament is testament to the ambition and determination of this Government to reduce energy use in people's homes. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has made many countries rethink their energy policies and focus on energy security. Will the cabinet secretary agree that energy security is best achieved through a focus on renewable and low-carbon energy? The issue of energy security has become central in energy policy in a way that was not there six months ago. It is now very clear that to deliver energy security, if we look at the publications recently from the European Union, is that domestic renewable energy production is seen as being the key way in which we can reduce both energy costs and deliver greater security. That certainly accords with the Scottish Government's view, and its approach will be setting out in our energy strategy later this year. Although transport remains the biggest climate emitter, it is clear that the sharp rise in walking and cycling and decline in aviation and private car use led to huge cuts in emissions in 2020. Transport Scotland's own research into travel trends during the pandemic shows that a new normal for domestic travel is within reach. Does the cabinet secretary believe that demand reduction is important for all polluting modes of travel, including aviation? What plans does the Scottish Government have to establish that new normal? Demand reduction is an important part of trying to change behaviour, because we know that the vast majority of the actions that we need to take in order to reduce our emissions involve behaviour change actions. That is why we have set out in, for example, our national transport strategy, our investment hierarchy, which sees getting investment and into active travel and public transport before looking at single car use. Alongside that, we have also made a very clear commitment to work with the aviation sector to look at decarbonising aviation by 2040, while at the same time looking at the economic opportunities that are in producing sustainable aviation fuel here in Scotland. We believe that the policies that will be set out through the NTS and the wider climate change strategy will deliver on the types of reductions that we need to see in years ahead. One way of meeting targets will be to support rural properties to transition to renewable heat. The Scottish Conservatives pledged in our manifesto to introduce a rural heat decarbonisation fund, as was recommended by Scottish Renewables. The SNP and Greens copied that into their manifestos and restated it in the Bute House agreement, yet nothing has come forward. Can the cabinet secretary show that this Government is serious about delivering its targets by stating precisely when such a fund will be introduced? The member will be aware that we are presently looking at a range of measures around our heat decarbonisation strategy and how we can help to support both homes, urban and rural areas to decarbonise. There are specific aspects and challenges around decarbonisation of properties in rural areas, given that many of them are off-grid, and therefore the costs that can be incurred by rural households are much greater when it comes to decarbonisation. However, I can assure the member that that is an issue that we are presently giving consideration to and how we will make sure that funding is available for that. I will undertake to write to the member to set out more details on that so that he can share that with those constituents going forward, because I am aware that it is an on-going concern for the member. How we reduce our emissions is as important as the reduction itself, and Scotland is a world renowned for having underpinned our net zero targets with a legislative commitment to a just transition. Can the cabinet secretary provide an update on the Scottish Government's just transition fund, which is vital for my constituency, and whether there has been any indication that the UK Government would match that £500 million investment over 10 years? No, we have no confirmation from the UK Government to match your £500 million just transition fund for the north-east and Murray. We have opened up the consultation process just last week to ask for expressions of interest, with the initial £20 million being allocated to that to help to start some of the initial work around the just transition fund. That process is now open, and I would certainly want to take this opportunity to encourage the member's constituents and businesses in our constituency who have an interest in the just transition fund to engage in that consultation exercise and to make sure that we shape the way in which that fund is used in a way that delivers a just transition for the north-east and Murray.