 The next item of business is a debate on motion 8073, in the name of Angus Robertson, on Arctic Connections, Scotland's growing links with the Arctic. I would invite those members who would wish to speak in the debate to please press the request to speak buttons and I call on Angus Robertson, cabinet secretary, to speak to and to move the motion up to 10 minutes, please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I move the motion in my name and signal the Government's acceptance of the amendments tabled both by the Scottish Labour Party and the Scottish Conservative Unionist Party. I hope that that reflects a positive cross-party approach to Scotland's relationship with our Arctic and Northern neighbours. Today's debate provides a welcome opportunity to highlight the importance for Scotland of continuing to collaborate with the Arctic region. Scotland is, in fact, the world's most northerly, non-Arctic nation. Unst in Shetland lies further to the north than Cape Farewell in Greenland, Juneau in Alaska and Whitehorse in Yukon. Scottish water stretched 200 miles into the Norwegian sea, well into the 63rd parallel north and similarly into the North Atlantic Ocean. From an Arctic perspective, Scotland's location, the edge of Europe, is far from peripheral, quite the opposite. We are in a key strategic position connecting the European Arctic with Central Europe and North America. There is growing international recognition of the constructive role that Scotland can and is playing as a close sub-Arctic neighbour. While our geographic proximity is a key asset, there is much more to Scotland's developing collaboration with the Arctic region. Indeed, present-day links build on centuries-old ties that remain visible across Scotland in place names, in heritage, in architecture and in culture. Scotland's compass is long pointed north in search of beneficial partnerships and knowledge to realise opportunities and now increasingly collectively address global challenges. Scotland's largely rural profile, sparsely populated regions and abundance of natural resources, are akin to the Arctic. That creates similar opportunities such as those concerning the blue economy and green energy production. However, shared issues are rising from remoteness in particular, for instance in relation to connectivity, to resilience to climate adaption, depopulation and public service delivery. Scotland has developed a wealth of expertise on such issues that is relevant to our Arctic partners. For that reason, Scotland was a valued contributor to the European Union's Northern periphery and Arctic programme. More than 40 per cent of the projects in the 2014-2020 round had at least one Scottish partner. The UK Government's choice to step away from the NPA and from other European programmes is yet another practical example of the harm caused by Brexit. The Scottish Government continues to explore channels to associate with the NPA and with other programmes in future. To reflect the strategic importance of collaboration with Arctic partners, the Scottish Government published Scotland's first Arctic policy framework back in 2019. My colleague Fiona Hyslop launched the document in strongness in recognition of the historic ties between Orkney and the Arctic. Our framework sets out how we will co-operate and share knowledge with Arctic partners. It is an invitation to pool expertise to unlock well-being and prosperity for Scottish and Arctic communities with a distinctive hands-on approach and strong community focus. Unlike other narratives, which often focus on taking from the Arctic, our framework sets out Scotland's offer to the Arctic and focuses on offering and on sharing. Since publishing the framework, we have intensified engagement with domestic and international stakeholders to open new avenues for Scottish Arctic co-operation. The engagements that I have undertaken recently make clear that Scotland's expertise is increasingly warmly received and warmly sought after. Last October, I addressed the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik and was joined by a large Scottish contingent of researchers, third sector and cultural organisations. At the assembly, I opened a session on rural mental health, organised by the Scottish Government, in partnership with the Research Council of Canada, and the University of the Highlands and Islands. Exactly one month ago, I was in Tromsa for the annual Arctic Frontiers conference, where I was invited to join a panel discussion on rural re-population in a session with the Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Garstora and US Senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska. Later this month, on 17 March, we will partner with Arctic Frontiers to host a one-day forum on Scottish Arctic collaboration at the Aberdeen Science Centre. I hope that colleagues from across the chamber will consider attending the event. Our framework commits us to support Scottish organisations to pursue deeper and broader collaboration with Arctic partners. With that in mind, in 2021, we launched a new Arctic stakeholder fund. To date, the scheme has supported 20 innovative and value adding projects, and work is now underway on a new round of the fund. Many of the projects work with indigenous organisations, including to promote and protect indigenous languages. One of the brilliant projects that we have supported this year is led by the Polar Academy, which is a West Lothian charity that works with young Scots experiencing mental health challenges. After a rigorous training programme, the academy takes them on a life-changing polar expedition in Greenland. This year's expedition will set off in the coming days, and I want to wish all the participants an exciting but safe trip. Perhaps the best examples of the pace at which Scotland's collaboration with Arctic partners has progressed has come from the academic sector. When our policy framework was published in 2019, Scotland had two members in the University of the Arctic, an international network of institutions producing research in and about the Arctic. Today, nine Scottish universities are members of UArctic, and I am confident that more will join. We have more members than Sweden and of any other non-Arctic nation with the exception of China, something that we should be proud of. In recognition of our growing status within the network, UArctic chose St Andrews to host, with Government support, a leadership conference last May. We have also helped to fund the establishment of a Scottish Arctic network, bringing together academics and researchers from across Scotland with expertise in the Arctic. I am very pleased to inform Parliament that, on behalf of the network, the University of Edinburgh will host the Arctic Science Summit week in 2024. This is one of the world's largest gatherings of Arctic research organisations. Supporting research and making best use of available scientific evidence is critical to tackling the dramatic changes that the Arctic is experiencing. Melting glaciers, sea level rises and the escalating pace at which the region is warming is illustrative of the devastating effects of climate change. Those changes do not stay in the Arctic, they reach our islands and our coastal communities, too. As a pioneer of renewable energies and decarbonisation, Scotland can offer expertise and help to international efforts. Tackling the climate emergency has become the single most important element in Scotland's partnership with Arctic nations. As we know, the green shift is also an economic opportunity, particularly for our partnership with Arctic nations and Arctic regions. Together, they represent more than a quarter of our exports, and there is ample potential to increase that. Our draft energy strategy and just transition plan further underline the opportunities to work with northern neighbours to create shared strategic advantage and establish regional infrastructure to meet domestic and international renewable energy demand. In addition, our Arctic policy framework and the new national planning framework for highlight how Scotland can create a near Arctic marine transport and logistics hub. The University of Strathclyde, hosting the 27th conference on port and ocean engineering under Arctic conditions, the first time in the UK is further evidence of that. In conclusion, today's debate has created space to set out all that Scotland is already achieving in our partnership with Arctic nations and to demonstrate our ambition to grow these powerful links further. We are strategically located and have a wealth of relevant experience to make Scotland not only a key partner in the Arctic but also a shareholder in its future. In moving the motion in my name, I hope that Parliament will support and welcome those ambitions for Scotland and for our Arctic neighbours too. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I move that amendment in my name? We welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate on how we can continue to enhance our relationship with our Arctic neighbours. Of course, while international relations is a matter reserved to the United Kingdom Government, I stress that the Scottish Conservatives believe that it is important for Scotland to engage with Arctic nations in order to promote and advance Scotland both economically and culturally. Of course, neither Scotland nor the United Kingdom is technically an Arctic nation, but it remains vital that we work alongside the Arctic nations to enhance our own climate goals to build on our existing security commitments in the region as well. That latter point is particularly critical, given Russia's on-going illegal invasion of Ukraine and the need for other states to remain united in their condemnation of that conflict. The Arctic region is a unique and fragile ecosystem that faces a range of challenges from climate change to resource extraction from the aforementioned geopolitical tensions to indigenous rights. As a global power, the United Kingdom clearly has an important role to play in promoting sustainable development, protecting the environment and supporting the people of the wider region. However, as has already been said, Scotland too shares many cultural, environmental and economic ties with Arctic states, and it is evident that we also here in Scotland have a unique role to play. I would like to focus my remarks in this speech on that role and also on the need for the Scottish Government and the UK Government to work together on enhancing stability and security in the region. We welcome, for instance, the publication of the UK Government's updated Arctic policy framework, which we believe should complement the existing work that was detailed in the Scottish Government's 2019 framework. Both Governments rightly place climate change at the heart of each of their respective frameworks and the need to work in partnership with other nations who face similar challenges as Scotland. The need to share best practice on tackling the climate crisis is recognised by both Governments, given the fact that, as a country in the United Kingdom, it is directly affected by changes in the Arctic region as one of its near neighbours with much shared biodiversity. It is deeply concerning that the Arctic is warming at four times the global average, which is increasing the risk of extreme weather, flooding and environmental degradation. By 2028, Arctic summer sea ice cover will have declined by 155,000 square miles, an area 1.5 times the size of the UK. With that in mind, it is welcome that tackling the climate crisis and halting followed biodiversity loss are key tenets of both frameworks. We also acknowledge the need to promote a prosperous Arctic, where economic and commercial development is achieved in a way that is safe, responsible and sustainable. As we continue to recover from the pandemic and rebuild our economy, it is right that we work with other Arctic nations to grow our trade links. The Scottish Government's 2019 framework notes that Arctic countries account for around 27.5 per cent of our total exports and five of our top 20 export destinations as of 2017. From a Scottish perspective, we know that further development can be achieved through the Global Scott and Trade Envoy Network, which we recognise the benefit of on those benches. However, as the UK framework notes, we must ensure that any new trade with the Arctic region does not damage the Arctic's natural environment or destabilise peaceful co-operation, which is fundamental to the prosperity of many Arctic communities. It is vital, particularly when we consider the rights of indigenous groups in the Arctic region, and that is something that both Governments' frameworks emphasise. Can I turn to the security aspect of this debate? Russia's on-going conflict in the Ukraine poses several major challenges for the Arctic region, not least because Russia has held the chairmanship of the Arctic Council since 2021. Its term is due to end later this year. In addition to that, it is plain that Russia views the Arctic as strategically vital to its prosperity and security, and has increased recently its military presence in its Arctic territory. Other areas of concern include the fact that Russia has established a new northern joint strategic command and has reopened Cold War-era bases above the Arctic Circle. Those are just some of Russia's recent actions, and it is vital that the UK Government continues to work closely with our strategic partners in the region to monitor this further. To that end, I welcome the Ministry of Defence's recent publication of the UK's defence contribution in the High North, which reaffirms the UK Government's commitment to the wider High North region. That includes several key objectives, including the need to protect critical national infrastructure, the need to ensure our freedom to navigate and operate across the wider region, the need to reinforce the rules-based international system, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and finally the need to contest malign and destabilising behaviours. Those are important objectives, and while defence, of course, again remains a reserved matter, I hope that where joint working is possible between the Scottish and UK Governments on this matter will come to fruition. To close, Deputy Presiding Officer, it is clear that Scotland has an important role to play as a non-Arctic nation alongside the key Arctic states. Whether that be through the joint working on tackling climate change, growing our economic interests or enhancing the region's security, Scotland and the UK can be major contributors to those shared endeavours. The UK and Scottish Governments clearly share several common goals, something that may be rare but is extremely welcome. To that end, I can confirm, Deputy Presiding Officer, that we will be supporting the Scottish Government motion today, as well as the Labour amendment. I now call on Sarah Boyack to speak to and move amendment 8073.2, around five minutes. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I do want to welcome today's debate and believe that there are two contexts to it, climate security and global security, so I move the amendment in my name. I want to start off by saying that I very much agree with the general thrust of the motion, and indeed the speech is made both by the Cabinet Secretary and by Donald Cameron. Climate security has to be a key priority for this Parliament and for legislators across the world. The last few years have shown us a devastating impact of failing to address that climate emergency. It is something that we discussed at our January cross-party group in Pakistan in terms of how we support their rebuilding their economy and their country after a third of that country experienced massive floods, something that we had been unheard of 10 years ago. Last year, we also had excellent discussions in our Commonwealth parliamentary associations online seminars where we shared the work of our Scottish Parliament on sustainable development. There is much more that we could do in sharing best practice, but it is absolutely central. I thought that it was great that our Presiding Officer led a delegation to the Nordic Council last October. For our islands, our rural communities and coastal regions in particular, we need to exchange best practice on low-carbon energy production and heat networks, especially now, given the cost of living crisis that we are experiencing. For our cities, the work that Denmark has done on building municipal low-carbon heat networks, for example in Copenhagen, is something that we urgently need to adopt. We need to reduce our transport and building emissions if we are to deliver on our own climate targets, but there is so much more to work with our neighbouring countries and our neighbouring legislatures so that we can work together to enable that transformational shift that the world needs. Given the climate crisis, our work with our Arctic neighbours has got to be part of our agenda as a Parliament as well as the agenda of the Government. The Arctic Council has already been mentioned. It brings together those nations with territory in the Arctic Circle, the USA, Canada, Russia, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Norway and Finland. It is worth noting that they have worked together since 1996 to promote co-operation, giving indigenous nations a formal voice and addressing conservation as a key priority. The council has co-ordinated work on addressing biodiversity, conservation, pollution, sustainability, tourism and shipping. The UK is an observer at the Arctic Council and has contributed to several of the papers that it has published, particularly on biodiversity and pollution. We had the Scottish Government's Arctic Connections paper published in 2019, again highlighting the common challenges and opportunities, and as the cabinet secretary focused on academic links in particular, I do agree that we need to strengthen and build those academic links with universities across our regions, but I also think that we need to focus on enabling our students to have more opportunities to study in neighbouring countries and to build our connections for the long run, too. I think that that is important. I also wanted to highlight one of the key recommendations that the Scottish Labour proposed last year in Gordon Brown's commission, which was looking at being able to sign international agreements in devolved areas. In the aftermath of the annex and excellent connections that we made at COP26 in Glasgow, I think that that is something that we would be very keen to pursue. There is an awful lot in this motion that we are able to agree with, but I wanted to amend it because it does not mention the other issue that countries in the Arctic Circle are currently focused on, which is global security. As we debated in Parliament last week, Putin's invasion of Ukraine has shifted global politics, so it is important to acknowledge that, in relation to the Arctic, the Russian Government has decided to make changes to its state Arctic policy, which has removed reference to co-operation with the Arctic Council and instead prioritises solely Russian national interests. I think that that is deeply concerning and I wanted us to note that as a Parliament, because although climate change should be our priority, we cannot afford to delay the radical action that we need to protect our communities. We know that sea-level rise, melting glaciers and extreme weather are becoming increasingly prevalent and the Arctic region is particularly vulnerable. Given our global climate crisis, we need global co-operation, regional co-operation with Governments working together, Parliament sharing best practice, not pursuing agendas that undermine that collective ambition. As we debated last week, peace in Ukraine, with Ukraine's sovereignty recognised and a withdrawal of Putin's troops from Ukrainian cells, is absolutely critical, but we also need to acknowledge that that invasion has actually impacted on wider global security and work together. I want to conclude, Presiding Officer. I support the broad thrust of the Government's motion today, I also support Donald Cameron's amendment and I wanted to flag the damage being done by that invasion, which is impacting on global security and diverting the political energy that we all need to work together to address our shared climate emergency. We should support our Arctic neighbours given that the temperatures in the Arctic continue to rise way above the global average. We need to promote that joint work across our neighbouring Governments and Parliaments. It is not just in our interests, but it is absolutely vital to the interests of our future generations. I warmly welcome the fact that the time has been set aside for this debate. It may reflect the Government's desire to keep Parliament's agenda rather uncontroversial over the next few weeks, but if that is the case, then today's debate represents the acceptable face of the SNP leadership contest. I congratulate members who have spoken so far, both on the tone and the substance of their contribution. The islands that I represent are often described in the chamber as remote. They have even been called communities at the edge. When it comes to the Arctic and discussions about what Scotland and the UK's strategy should be in relation to the Arctic, Orkney is smack bang at the heart and the centre of things. Not just geographically, Orkney's connections to the Arctic circle are long standing and ones of which we are enormously proud. Orkney and Shetland, of course, were a Norwegian province up until 1472. Workers for the Hudson Bay Company started heading across from Orkney in 1670, and Orcarians made up two thirds of the workforce by the 1800s. Orcarian explorer Dr John Ray discovered the final link in the north-west passage in 1854, although sadly history has yet to fully afford him the recognition, respect and gratitude that he's due for those astonishing efforts. During the world wars, the Royal Navy was based in Scapa Flu and Orkney's strategic location served as an important departure point for the Arctic convoys delivering vital supplies to the north of Russia. The names of our people, homes and our natural habitat are often unmistakably Nordic. Little wonder then, as the cabinet secretary reminded us, that when the Scottish Government was looking for somewhere to launch its Arctic policy framework back in 2019, Orkney stood out as the perfect location. Can I pay tribute to Fiona Hyslop, who was the minister at the time, and who I know retains a very passionate commitment to these issues? Indeed, she and I, along with Mark Ruskell, attended the Arctic Circle Assembly late last year referred to by the cabinet secretary. A visit that, for me, certainly reinforced the conviction that these are ties, relationships we need to build and broaden, as a Parliament, through government and local government, and through business, academia and wider civic society. It's a model that we've already seen proving enormously successful in the development of Scotland's relationships with Malawi, and I see no reason why it can't be adapted to suit the Arctic context as well. There's no lack of policy areas where these closer ties at all levels are desperately needed and which could deliver real immediate and lasting benefits. Climate change is the obvious example and was very much the focus of much of the discussion in Reykjavik back in October. Temperatures in the Arctic continue to rise at four times the global annual average, rapid loss of sea ice, melt events on the Greenland ice sheet, wildfires and permafrost straw all contribute to rising sea levels and extreme temperature events beyond the Arctic. In fisheries too, we have a direct interest in the Arctic region in promoting sustainable use of stocks and responsible science-led management of our respective waters. With vast natural resources and strong expertise in energy innovation, Scotland and the Arctic countries can continue to lead the way in the development of marine energy and green hydrogen. Reykjavik also underscored for me our shared interest in finding low-emission solutions to ferry transport and cruise line traffic. To my earlier point, those are areas where I believe that Orkney can be in the vanguard on behalf of Scotland and the UK, while also acting as a stepping stone for Arctic countries and regions looking to develop relationships the other way. In concluding, I urge the cabinet secretary to support Orkney Islands Council and other partners in developing Orkney research and innovation campus in Stromnys as a centre of excellence for Arctic and Nordic research and partnership. Will he agree to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Fiona Hyslop and organise a follow-up to the 2019 conference in Orkney with a focus on building economic, political and research relationships? I look forward to a positive response from the cabinet secretary to those suggestions and look forward to a consensual debate throughout the course of this afternoon. Thank you. I will now move to the open debate. I would advise members that we do have some time in hand for interventions or perhaps additional points that members would wish to make. I call Fiona Hyslop to be followed by Jamie Halcro Johnston. Presiding Officer, I am very pleased that Parliament is holding this debate today. I have a long-standing interest in Scotland's Arctic connections. As a then cabinet secretary, I published the Scotland's first-ever Arctic policy framework, having previously mobilised Scotland's many academic business community, scientific, environmental, transport community and health connections in an Arctic summit in Inverness, and I am delighted that there will now be an international Arctic exchange conference in Aberdeen. I also hosted Nordic ministers at the first-ever Nordic council meeting held here in Edinburgh and have twice attended the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik. Why Scotland and the Arctic? We all have an interest in protecting and promoting the Arctic, and Scotland has great scientific monitoring on sea temperatures, for example. Parts of Scotland share the experiences of remote living and important strands of sharing our connections of our young people, digital health expertise and our higher education connections made through membership of the virtual university of the Arctic. It is good to hear the expansion of that membership of our universities. Liam MacArthur led our parliamentary delegation in October to the Arctic Assembly, where we met ministers from Iceland and elsewhere and discussed tunnel links with the Pharaoh's Minister. Icelandic MPs were also interested in our mission-led Scottish National Investment Bank. To give a sense of knowledge exchange more widely by thousands of global delegates at the Arctic Circle Assembly, Scottish experts shared our insight on renewable wind energy developments where we are seen as world leading. Inuit knowledge to live with the environment and the rich culture of the sea, the sky and living in tough circumstances was a powerful testament. Of course, Arctic countries are interested in our management of wetlands. We shared the bad experience of degrading peatland in the 1980s with inappropriate tree planting, as they consider tree planting. It is also profound to hear that when the tundra thaws in Alaska houses built with no foundations just collapse while families sit at home watching TV. We were delighted to host the Icelandic Environment and Communications Committee that we met in October here in January in a joint meeting with the Net Zero Energy and Transport Committee. We are heating building standards, onshore wind and wetlands management and carbon capture were on the agenda. Iceland is investigating onshore wind developments and are interested in our experience. They see potential to export hydrogen through major grid connections, although politically that is contested. I will touch briefly on more geopolitical and environmental interests. The melting of Arctic ice will bring rising sea levels and it will also see the reopening of the north-west passage, which will mean freight shipping will be able to cut many miles and much energy use in traversing the world using this route. Deep water ports on route with potential for hydrogen fuelling of energy of hydrogen to power them is a common interest. I know that Orkney and others are interested in that longer-term development, but it also brings marine defence issues and mineral exploitation issues. Much of the governance issues need to be resolved but resolved by Arctic nations. Arctic nations are cautious of many economic and military interests, so countries need to be sensitive in approaches, for example, for observer status of the Arctic Council. However, as with the Nordic Council, Scotland has insight and experience to offer as a good-faith partner in less controversial areas. Indeed, there are those in the UK Government who think that Scotland is best placed to represent common interests with Arctic countries. The Arctic matters to everyone and the people of the Arctic are key, so our people-to-people approach can, yes, broaden our horizons but can forge partnerships to help change and face an Arctic, which is changing and will affect us all. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Scotland has been described as the Arctic's nearest neighbour, and as somebody from the Northern Isles, as Liam McArthur is, I can assure you that it's not lost on me, particularly when a polar blast hits our islands. However, our islands' connections with the Arctic countries is more than just the weather. As Liam McArthur said, until the 15th century, we were part of Norway, and many local names, including my own, are of Norse heritage. Strongness was the important recruiting centre for the Hudson Bay Company, and many Orcadians travelled to Canada settling there, others playing an important role in that country's development before coming home. An awful where I live was the home of John Ray, and I should take this opportunity to declare that I'm a member of the John Ray Society in Orkney and commend their excellent efforts to promote his legacy and to preserve his birthplace, the Hall of Clestron. Mapping around 1,750 miles of Arctic coast on foot and in small boats, Ray's discoveries helped shape our understanding of the Arctic region. I also commend the work of the Orkney-Norway Friendship Association in its efforts since 1978 to promote links between Orkney and Norway. These are long-standing cultural and historical ties that we share with our Arctic partners and should continue to celebrate. But new relationships are now being forged, and our strategic role as the world's most northerly non-Arctic nation only enhances the value of increasing collaboration between Scotland and our Arctic partners, and we're seeing this in a number of fields. Orkney's world-leading European Marine Energy Test Centre has partners from across the world and including Norway, and many of the wind turbines around our coast and onshore too are Danish, designed and built. There's much to learn from the shared experiences of Arctic countries and how some of the problems that we face can be solved. A significant challenge for many communities across my highlands and islands region and Arctic countries is depopulation, and connectivity is an important part of combating this. I know that my colleague Douglas Lumston will talk about ferries, but there's a lot that we can learn from some of the Arctic countries about fixlings joining our islands and communities with tunnels and bridges. It's a subject Fiona Hyslop touched on just then, and I've spoken on before, and it's something which communities across Scotland want investigated, and we need to see more action from the Scottish Government in considering that too. Of course, broadband is vital, both for businesses, but also for the social fabric of our societies. While Scotland's RR100 will be at least seven years late, leaving many of my constituents in the highlands and islands reliant on slow or non-existent broadband, next year, a space Norway's programme will provide broadband coverage throughout the Arctic. There are also serious considerations here too. Scapaflow, which my home overlooks, was the UK's main naval base during both world wars, and our islands played a vital role in the Atlantic convoys, which kept the UK supplied. However, now the shadow of another threat and old threat has returned. Russia's aggression in Ukraine puts at risk the Arctic region as one of high co-operation and low tension. As my colleague Donald Cameron also highlighted, I welcomed the UK Government's publication of their Arctic policy framework last month, and its commitment to work with Arctic partners and other allies to contest malign and destabilising behaviours and activity in the region. More positively, the UK Government is committed in its 2021 integrated review to maintain a significant contribution to Arctic science, with a focus on better understanding the implications of climate change. The United Kingdom, Scotland and my highlands and islands region shares many common challenges with Arctic countries. As we look to the future, our strategic location and our historic and cultural ties with the Arctic countries present a unique opportunity for more collaboration and partnership. I hope that both the UK and Scottish Governments work together to that end. The latest United Nations world investment report records and I co-increased foreign influence in the Arctic. China has described the Arctic as a global commons. As it planted a flag on the seabed, two and a half miles below the north pole, the Russian navy declared that the Arctic is Russian. Of course, the 45th president of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump, even thought that he could buy Greenland on terms that he described as, I quote, essentially a large real estate deal. So when the Government talks about the Arctic as a safe, stable and peaceful region, I hope that they acknowledge that there has been a sharp rise in economic instability and in militarisation, concerns of Russian expansionism and with the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO, whether we like it or not, I am bound to say that militarism will not come down, it will go up. The Arctic is already viewed by the Tory Government as much as a region for military activity, as it is for scientific research. The UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force is about military capability, not scientific collaboration, and the price that is paid for all of this is the repression of Indigenous people's rights, the accelerated depletion, the commodification and the commercialisation of natural assets, the sacking of biodiversity and the wholesale appropriation of land. There is, in short, a new, all-pervasive colonisation taking place in the Arctic, in which common lands and seas, culture, heritage and even an entire way of life are being put in mortal jeopardy. All for the sake of the insatiable demands of extractive capitalism, of corporate greed, the maximisation of profits and the shareholder dividend. However, while the chaos is creating conflict, it is also building resistance, resistance from the 4 million people for whom the Arctic is home, resistance to the nuclear power plant on the Hany Kivi peninsula in Finland, which is now cancelled after Putin's invasion of Ukraine, resistance by the Inuit people who forced the Canadian federal government to block the proposed Shandong mining takeover of Hope Bay gold mining on the grounds of national security, resistance, resistance to global multinational corporations owned and registered here, resistance to Rio Tinto in Canada, to Shell in Alaska. So, when the cabinet secretary reminds us of Scotland's proximity to the Arctic Circle, of course he is right, we are a near Arctic state, but let me remind the cabinet secretary that it is the duty of this Parliament to press him on whether he means for us actively or tacitly to be complicit in this new economic, cultural, ecological, social and military colonialism, or are we prepared instead to build an alternative relationship, to follow an alternative strategy forged on the values of peace and not war, of social advance, not economic exploitation, of conservation, of emission controls and climate change co-operation in place of mineral extraction, environmental dumping and corporate takeover. I wonder if he would then reflect on the importance that sub-nations states and also petrol states come together and commit to a just transition and to sign up to the beyond all and gas alliance. Richard Leonard. Yes, I do support that because I think that there is a debate taking place at the moment in Scotland, which is one which is challenging some of the premises I thought that we'd accepted. I think that there needs to be an international approach to these issues of just transition, which I wholly support. Let me finish by saying this, I think that we need to build a relationship where we respect cultural and biodiversity, where we support native communities and indigenous wealth building and where we provide practical solidarity to indigenous trade union organisations too because the earth is a common treasury, which we must defend but not with gunboats and the bellicose rhetoric of nationalism but with ethical socialist ecological and humanitarian action. That is what our vision should be, a people's vision which reaches beyond economics, which looks to the bonds of our common humanity and which has a shared vision of a future of peace of justice and sustainability. Thank you, Mr Leonard. I now call Julian Martin to be followed by Mark Ruskell. Miss Martin. Miss Martin, have you got your card in? Okay, could we have Miss Martin's microphone, please? Thank you, Miss Martin. Thank you. Scotland and the Arctic have been intertwined for centuries due to our close geographical proximity. It makes sense that our ancient relationships are being reinvigorated, reignited and redesigned to match our modern times, whether it is Norway, or Sweden, Canada, Alaska, Iceland or Finland. There is common ground between us across a lot of issues. We all stand to gain valuable knowledge through our interactions back by the new links that have been enabled by the Scottish Government's 2019 Arctic Policy framework, launched by my friend and colleague Fiona Hyslop. In parliamentary terms, I gained enormous insight into many of those common issues by attending the Arctic Cycle Assembly in 2018 with Finlay Carson and in 2019 with Mark Ruskell on behalf of the then Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee. Having many bilateral meetings with politicians working in these portfolios from Iceland, Fethos, Canada and the Sami regions of Norway, Sweden and Finland. At that time, our committee was working on the climate change bill, now the climate change act, and hearing from Inuit, Sami and Greenland communities about the devastating impact that climate change is having on their way of life certainly focused my mind on our responsibility to play our part in reducing our emissions. Everyone who I spoke to was blown away by the extent of our ambitions in that area, and I am very appreciative of them as well. The Scottish Government is ensuring the benefits of our transition to a net zero economy are being maximised, including through working with our Arctic neighbours, with considerable investment by companies based in the Arctic states. Like Highwind Scotland, 25 miles off the coast of my constituency now in its sixth year of operation, the world's first floating offshore wind farm. That wind farm is built and operated by Equinor and has off-charts performance in terms of energy output. Equinor is developing with all the lessons learned from that development and even bigger projects, the Highwind Tampon, which is situated off the coast of Norway. The construction of the north connector, the interconnector cable between Scotland and Norway will allow us to exchange power and increase the use of renewable energy and create new trading opportunities for our renewable energy industries whilst improving our own and their energy security. Under the Scottish Government's Arctic policy framework, more partnerships are forming as a result of the Arctic Connections Fund, and the second round of funding for the financial year of 2022-23 has funded 10 projects. One project that peaked my interest in particular was on supporting rural women in Arctic low-carbon transitions. That is led by our rural college in Scotland. The transition to a net zero economy being a just transition ensures that no one is left behind and that job security is protected and new opportunities are developed in particular for women. I am excited for the aims of this project to establish a knowledge network pulling together women researchers, policy makers and community practitioners from across Scotland, Sweden, Norway and Canada to share knowledge about how best to support rural women during the transition to net zero in the Arctic region. Network members will share and explore existing local and regional interventions in their countries to build evidence-based recommendations for future policy around the issue. That will shine a light on tele-support for rural women who may find themselves taking up new roles in the rural economy, setting up new businesses. As convener of the cross-party group on women in enterprise, it strikes me that hearing from this team once they have reported on this project would be an excellent future session. I will end with the fact that we have natural and cultural links to the article already, but strengthening our economic and academic relationships, growing co-operation between parliaments and Governments and sharing our expertise, won't just be good for Scotland, it will be good for our Arctic neighbours and good for all of us who cherish the idea of reducing emissions and affecting climate change. I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss the unique position that Scotland has as the world's most northerly non-Arctic country. I really enjoyed all the contributions and insights from members so far. I have attended the Arctic Circle Assembly, as has already been mentioned, twice as an MSP in Reykjavik. I have always left inspired by the opportunities for collaboration and learning between Governments, businesses, academia and the third sector. Attending those events has more often felt like coming home than visiting away, such as the warmth of the gathering and the willingness of everybody there to share and to learn from each other. It is clear that the geography, the economic, social and cultural history and the future of our climate all point to that need for greater collaboration between the people that inhabit and care for the Arctic and the sub-Arctic regions. In Scotland, we are undeniably part of that world, and it is striking that when you tilt the map on northern latitudes, there is a seamless geography that runs from Greenland through Iceland to the archipelagos of the Faroes, Shetland, Orkneys and Western Isles and the west coast of Norway. Of course, that was not lost on our ancestors who explored, traded and inhabited this world. We have already seen some of that history brought into the chamber from Liam McArthur and Jamie Halcro Johnson. It reminded me briefly that my own grandfather was stationed at Scapa during the Second World War in his work defending the Atlantic convoys there. However, today—if I can focus a little bit on Orkney—I have to commend the leadership of Orkney Islands Council, who have really prioritised their Arctic and Nordic engagement. It is clear that both Orkney and Shetland in particular have much to gain and share with their neighbours. I hope that the Scottish Government can see that ambition as a real strength for Scotland as a whole and that proposals to invest further in Orkney in their Arctic agenda are given serious attention by the cabinet secretary. That shared geography of the west Nordic region means shared opportunities and learning. I have been struck, as Fiona Hyslop was, by the fairies approach to developing fixed lengths across their islands, their ambition for offshore wind combined with tidal energy, and the growing development of a new industry, kelp farming. We have a ban on kelp dredging here in Scotland, but there is a golden opportunity to develop a licensing regime that allows a productive, profitable industry to emerge in Scotland, creating hundreds of jobs while operating within our ecological limits. Of course, the fairies in recent years have developed that industry. They have developed a licensing regime to achieve that objective, and I would urge the Scottish Government to learn on that experience and to act on it. If there is time, I will be very pleased to you. I have just said that Mark Ruskell and I were at the same meeting with the fairies, and it was interesting that they said that they started this as a carbon secretation exercise, but the value of the kelp that they were producing is a massive economic benefit as well. Mark Ruskell? Absolutely. I think that what was interesting is that, going back last year, we had a meeting with the same industry representatives who we met when we were there several years before, and seeing the development of that licensing regime over that time was really interesting. Again, we had interesting discussions with colleagues from Orkney who are now looking to develop such an industry there as well. However, learning cuts in lots of different directions. Following the meeting that Fiona Hyslop has already mentioned with members of the Icelandic Environment Committee in Reykjavik, they returned that visit here to Holyrood in January. We had a very productive discussion about how onshore wind has been developed here in Scotland and how Iceland can learn from us in that regard. It is clear, as a number of members have already said, that our greatest shared endeavour is to save the Arctic from the ravages of climate change for the sake of all humanity. Catherine Jacob Stoutier, the green Prime Minister of Iceland, I think summed it up very well in her speech to the Arctic Circle Assembly last year when she said that the Arctic may become unrecognisable in a few decades if we do not act sufficiently today. Everything is changing. We see glaciers receding, permafrost is melting, heat records are beaten and forests are burning and all this is happening much faster in the Arctic, where the ecosystem is sensitive and the resources are great. We know that Catherine Jacob Stoutier has been instrumental in leading the shift in thinking to deliver a well-being economy alongside Jacinda Ardern and Nicola Sturgeon globally, an economy whose foundations are ecologically restorative but also socially fair and just. As we move towards the election of a new First Minister in Scotland, I hope that well-being economy mission remains central to this Government and that we take on the challenges and threats to the Arctic, her nature and her people together as one. I am delighted to speak in this debate today. Last month at the Business and the Parliament event, I attended a workshop looking at export opportunities. That was hosted by the Scottish Chambers of Commerce. Business staff are business told us of the issues of trading with countries in the EU due to Brexit. They needed to look at new markets in which they could export. Many were looking at the North American market, but it was quite stale in how many were now looking at Arctic states as well. That was mentioned quite a lot by the companies that were represented. Replacing EU markets shows the importance of looking at Arctic states and is key to our economic success. The Arctic connection Scotland's Arctic policy framework was produced in 2019 and introduced by Fiona Hyslop. Scotland leads to Nook North. Scotland's northernmost islands are closer to the Arctic system than they are to London, and we have heard Liam McArthur and Jamie Halcro Johnston talk about the links to Orkney. Connections between Scotland and the Arctic, however, go much further than the geographical proximity. Our communities share deep culture on the social links, as well as similar challenges and outlooks. The North Arctic policy framework consolidates our position as a northern European gateway to the Arctic, establishing Scotland, as the international partner of choice in tackling shared challenges, and I will touch on those in a little later on. The key things that are mentioned in the framework are climate action and renewable energy solutions, connectivity, science, research, innovation and sustainable marine economy. Only a few months ago, I along with colleagues from the renewables cross-party group, including Sarah Boyack, met parliamentarians from Iceland to discuss her neural aspirations. I think that Fiona Hyslop already mentioned meeting with the net zero committee held the same day. We discussed the solutions about what we were looking at in Scotland, in particular when we were interested in community engagement, skills development and, of course, supply side development. Those discussions open up opportunities for our own renewable sector and allow export of our expertise in the market. The policy framework sets out Scottish expertise and encourages mutual learning between Scotland and our Arctic partners. It sits alongside other complementary strategies such as the Nordic Baltic policy framework, helping to ensure that the best practice and innovative ideas such as the baby box are shared with like-minded regional neighbours. The Arctic Connections Fund is one of the most virtually fruitful projects to arise from that framework. It was launched in 2022, and Scotland-based organisations are encouraged to apply for grants between £1,000 to £10,000. Those organisations must propose a project to explore the shared issues between Scotland and the Arctic. Scotland's links with close neighbours in the European Arctic are invigorating rural economies and protecting their natural resources. If I heard that the northern periphery and Arctic programme secured over 6.8 million euros for Scottish organisations between 2014 and 2019 alone, since 2014 Scotland was also granted 12.1 million pound euros through the North Sea regional programme. Unfortunately, we have lost that funding opportunity. We have other collaborative projects such as Scotland and Denmark's memorandum of understanding to promote co-operation on district heating and energy efficiency. That is incredibly important. I visited Denmark when I was a cancer about 15 years ago to look at their district heating systems at that time. They were ahead of us then and are miles ahead of us now, so we have to learn from them in that regard. Of course, we need to replace some of the European funding that we fell short of because of the Scotland leaving the EU, and that becomes still an issue in that regard. The Scottish Government remains determined to protect Scotland's reputation as an open and outward-looking nation, addressing acute global challenges such as those of climate change. Just listening to your comment about how far behind we are now in terms of Denmark and community heat networks and renewables, is there something that we need to be doing with political leadership to link up our councils and the Scottish Government to actually see what is possible? We have excellent schemes, but they are not everywhere, and we need to move from it's a good idea to do this as a standard practice and make it happen. One of the key things, I thank the existing homes lines, mentioned around how we tackle the retrofit and challenge that we have, is tackling it at a local authority basis. I am working on it in my own local authority, but it is something that I would ask other local authorities to try and work on as well, so I would agree with the point that is made. In conclusion, we share many interests with our Arctic neighbours, but we need to develop better at these closures. That framework helps us to do that. I am pleased to be taking part in today's debate, because as someone who represents Aberdeen, I know that trade links to the Arctic and Norway, especially, are so vital. It is Norway, a country that I have been to and enjoyed visiting many times, that is going to be at my heart of my contribution today. Aberdeen is twinned with Stavanger, and I have had the pleasure of being in Stavanger on a number of occasions in my previous role working in the oil and gas industry. Aberdeen and Stavanger are a perfect twinning, with both areas economies rely heavily first on fishing and laterally on oil and gas. This partnership and friendship remains strong with Stavanger, even gifting Aberdeen a Christmas tree each year. I was pleased to read the 2019 Scottish Government document, Arctic Connections, which has been discussed already today, which has a section on oil and gas. The section even states that industry supports a total of 110,000 jobs in Scotland when including indirect and induced employment. It goes on to say that a strong domestic oil and gas industry can play a positive role in supporting the low carbon transition in terms of transferable skills and infrastructure. How much better things were in 2019 before the Greens were in government, the SNP of old seemed to understand how important the oil and gas sector was to our economy and our transition, but that now seems to be a distant memory from this anti-growth, anti-business-devolved government. Another part of the Arctic Connections document that caught my eye was digital connectivity. It states that the challenges of broadband deployed in the Arctic are akin to those encountered by Scottish remote communities. Like Scotland, Arctic States have established broadband speed and coverage goals to increase connectivity in sparsely populated areas. Although the Scottish Government has made a complete mess of the R100 scheme and missed our goals, Norway, as we heard earlier, has some of the best-fixed and mobile speeds in the world. This shows that it is possible and something that we should strive towards. Another similarity between Scotland and Norway is the island communities, but it seems that while Norway is investing in low-carbon vessels, we are investing in Norway's old diesel fleet. We should be looking closely at what Norway is doing and if we are serious about meeting our climate change goals and then looking to invest in electrifying our harbours is a must. Fishing is another area where we have common interests and we should be working closely with our Arctic partners to ensure that we fish in a sustainable way and also to learn how to transform our seafood industry through increased automation. I agree with the motion that we should be collaborating with our Arctic partners. I also agree that we should learn from them. We should learn how to protect our oil and gas industry as they are a key part of our energy transition. We should learn from them how to run a ferry service that is reliable, greener and helps to support our island communities. We should learn from them how to grow our fishing industry and invest in automation. We should learn from them how to roll out a decent broadband service. We should learn from them how to roll out world-leading telemedicine so that our rural communities are not left behind. We should learn from them how to build a decent car charging infrastructure. In fact, this precarious SNP green government should learn from our Arctic neighbours how to run a country properly. In recent weeks, a close family member who is on a work placement in Norway has been sending me regular pictures and videos of the Northern Lights, a spectacular display of colour in the sky that graced many of our skies in Scotland earlier this week. However, the Arctic has a lot more than lights in the sky. Indeed, the Scottish Arctic Connections forged through history and continue to drive new and creative partnerships, exchanges and co-operation. Scotland's historic connections with the Arctic are extensive. Aberdeenshire-born polar explorer Thomas Abernethy was awarded five Arctic medals in the 1800s and was one of many Scottish explorers who recognised for their pioneering polar research. Recently, RAF Lothymouth has been re-established as a key airbase in the north of the UK, with a new fleet of maritime patrol aircraft monitoring the North Atlantic and the High North. At a time when tracking emerging military threats has never been so relevant, I note the comments of Sarah Boyack and other members on the issue of global security and I agree completely with them. Of course, our Arctic connections are embedded in our cultural and social linkages, shared climate change targets and the interchange of information and expertise that is reinforced by shared policy ideas and initiatives. I commend the Arctic policy framework that my colleague Fiona Hyslop developed that sets out the priorities to develop our Arctic connections in a modern Scotland. An excellent example is the Scandinavian barnhouse approach that ensures that children who are victims of violence or abuse will have all their needs met in an integrated way in one place under one roof. I am delighted that the Scottish Government has committed to implementing this internationally renowned approach in the programme for government. I was pleased to receive confirmation that the 2023-24 justice budget includes £2.5 million of additional funding for victims and witnesses, including supporting the justice aspects of the next phase of the Scottish Bairns Hoose model. Turning to research and innovation, Scotland Arctic Connections Fund continues to support academic collaborations with our Arctic partners. It is testament to the strong linkages between the north-east and our Arctic friends that the University of Aberdeen and the Robert Gordon University in the north-east have successfully received funding to support a number of projects, a just transition project that will identify the challenges and opportunities in optimising regulation to achieve a just transition, a project to explore ways in which Arctic region countries address the challenges of outmigration of young people that will inform interventions and could practice in Scotland, and a project exploring the sustainability of an Inuit community in the Canadian Arctic. I could not mention the strong energy collaborations between Scotland and the Arctic. For decades, Scotland has been home to many people who have settled in the north-east from Arctic countries, bringing their skills and knowledge into our oil and gas, and now our developing renewables sector. I was very dismayed at the political nuances and tone in Douglas Lumsden's debate contribution a short time ago. Equinor's development of the Concardin project, the world's largest floating wind farm just off the Aberdeenshire coast, is but one of many examples of our solid energy relationship. Scotland is rightly positioning itself as a key Arctic partner, embracing new friends, growing powerful links and strengthening our internationalist reputation, much to be proud of but still much to do. As a constituency MSP for Aberdeen South, I look forward to receiving my invitation to the forthcoming international Arctic exchange conference. I first wish to apologise to the chamber for missing part of the cabinet secretary's opening speech. Just two days before the Arctic Circle Japan forum meets in Tokyo, I am pleased that we are taking the opportunity to discuss Scotland's existing links with our Arctic partners and every increasing number of opportunities to collaborate with Arctic states, nations, regions and communities. Perhaps it is human nature to conjure up a mental map when we talk about our economic and cultural links with the world. On a daily basis, we talk of our relationship with other devolved nations on these islands and London. In recent years, Brexit and a place in Europe has increasingly dominated our thinking. In global terms, we think about the power balance between East and West and our place lodged somewhere between the USA and China. On the mental map, that consideration takes us south, east and west, but really north, or certainly not as much as we should, despite strong links taking back to the millennia before the Viking era. North to Iceland, Greenland and the sweeping North Atlantic Codups links these nations with Norway, Sweden and Finland in East and the USA in Canada and the West. That vast tract of our planet and Scotland's place on its periphery merits far more of our attention. While Scotland is not itself an Arctic nation, we are one of the planet's most northerly non-Arctic nations and as a good global citizen, we have a strong interest in fostering greater mutual learning between Scotland and the Arctic and playing our part in fighting the very real climate and nature loss that Arctic faces and which colleagues have rightly focused on in great detail this afternoon. Scotland is much to learn from our Arctic neighbours. We also have much to offer. I am pleased to hear the cabinet secretary relay the feedback that he received that Scotland is increasingly viewed as a place that is home to innovation, research, learning, technology and the development of solutions that can benefit the entire Arctic region. That is something that we can all be proud of and should be proud of. The contribution that Scotland can make is not limited to one particular area of expertise. It is across an entire range of sectors and industries, and I look forward to hearing examples in the winding up of the period of this debate of some of those. I have heard a few already. Only a few months ago, my colleague Audrey Nicolle has just spoken, hosted Robert Gordon University in Parliament, which outlined the high ambition that Scotland should be setting to become a global energy hub and building on its existing energy expertise to become a centre where new energies, such as hydrogen, are developed, produced and transported directly between Scotland and our Arctic neighbours. Scotland's energy industry is, of course, well-leading. However, our expertise lies not just in the technical development of renewable energies, but in pioneering marine special planning to maximise the potential of those projects in an environmentally and economically sustainable way and in partnership with communities and industries. The opportunity for knowledge transfer between Scotland and the Arctic in this area is clearly huge, to say nothing of the positive impact the development of those new energies will have on actually preserving our threatened Arctic environment. Bless with natural scenic beauty, Scotland and the Arctic have much in common, but with natural scenic beauty comes the challenge of managing the growing numbers of people who want to come and see it for themselves and indeed exploit the resources that, for example, Richard Leonard touched on. That is especially when we consider how environmentally fragile some of our most picturesque landscapes are. Scotland's practical experience in balancing a desire to grow tourism, protect our natural environment and generate sustainable economic growth and therefore a value to our Arctic neighbours, particularly in those areas where tourist numbers are currently low but growing exponentially. Of course, nations around the Arctic are hungry for its resources. We must resist some of those urges. Scotland's passport initiative encourages tourists to visit more of Scotland's 96 inhabited islands, helps to alleviate tourism pressure points and spreads tourism to wider regions. That initiative and our experiences in establishing it are of real value to our friends in the Arctic and I am sure that Scottish civil servants will mean high demand Arctic circle events to share learning and fill questions on its operation with, of course, parliamentary colleagues. Scotland prides itself on being a country that is home to big ideas that make a mark on the world. More than that, we want to share our ideas, take our place in global networks and partnerships that allow this to happen. Through closer collaboration with the Arctic, Scotland can create new opportunities to share and learn and I support the Scottish Government as it takes forward efforts to solidify these valuable partnerships with our friends in the Arctic. Thank you very much. We now move to winding up speeches. I should say that we have a little time in hand, so I can be generous to those closing and I call Foisal Chowdry. I thank the cabinet secretary, Angus Robertson, for bringing these important issues into the chamber today. I echo the cabinet secretary's word on the importance of continuing our educational support towards the Arctic region, including in the preservation of intelligence languages. Scotland has a responsibility to co-operate and work with our northern neighbours. Particularly now, strategic cooperation with our European Arctic neighbours must continue to ensure a safe, peaceful and prosperous Arctic. There is much that Scotland and the UK as a whole can be doing to help support the Arctic region and its nations. The Arctic now exists as a complex environment with more state and non-state actors involved than ever before. As my colleague Sarah Boyack said, we must preserve the Arctic as an area of peace and cooperation. So we very much welcome the Scottish Government support for our Scottish labour amendments this afternoon. Russia shares 53% of its border with the Arctic Ocean. More than two and a half million of Russia's inhabitants live in Arctic territory. This accounts for about half of the population of the Arctic worldwide. The Russian Federation are geographically and politically tied to the Arctic and its presence in the region must not be overlooked. Under Putin's leadership, the Russian Federation have recently changed its state Arctic policy. It references no plans for continued cooperation with the Arctic Council and instead the pursuit of Russian national interest. Full strategic cooperation and engagement with all Arctic states will simply not be possible while Putin's illegal war in Ukraine continues. Any framework set out to improve Arctic cooperation must not infringe on the diplomatic sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation by the United Kingdom and its allies regarding the illegal invasion of sovereign nations. The Scottish Government need to recognise this new reality and shape cooperation based on this high security situation. As my colleague Richard Lennards already commented, monetary engagement must be at the centre of future cooperation efforts in the Arctic region. As my colleagues have already mentioned, melting glaciers in the Arctic represent a devastating effect that global warming is having on our planet. Climate change and global warming have scrutinised the Arctic as a region. Changes in the Arctic environment are greater than everywhere else and the temperature in the Arctic raises three times faster than the global average. This impacts across the globe. The Arctic should be at the heart of our sustainability goals. The current climate crisis poses a significant threat to the Arctic region and to its almost four million inhabitants. That is something that we can strive to co-operate on. Scotland and the Arctic region should share the same climate action ambitions now and in the future. I am pleased to bring this debate to a close on behalf of the Scottish Conservatives. We have heard a lot about Scotland's growing ties with the Arctic today, and while I recognise the importance of strengthening a relationship with Arctic countries, we must remember that we are debating a reserved matter. As we have heard in the contributions today, there are areas where we can strengthen our links with the Arctic. It is encouraging that Arctic frontiers will hold a one-day conference in Aberdeen on 17 March. That will be a great opportunity to bring together speakers from the worlds of policy, science and business and have them share their expertise and identify new opportunities for Scottish and UK Arctic collaboration. For example, the just energy transition is one of the areas where we should seek to strengthen our ties and share scientific knowledge and expertise on marine pollution and biodiversity monitoring, through organisations such as Marine Scotland Science and the Arctic Connections Fund. The UK Government already does a lot of work to support our connections with the Arctic. The UK Government recently published its Arctic Policy Framework, which outlines the UK's commitment to the Arctic Council as a state observer. That framework outlines the commitment to protecting the Arctic's climate, people and environment, increasing engagement on issues affecting indigenous communities, promoting and protecting biodiversity in the Arctic and addressing environmental threats in the region. That framework also emphasises the Arctic region's importance for our security. Being part of the UK allows us to use our defence resources to protect our interests in the high north. We are all aware that this region is strategically important not only to the United Kingdom and its allies but also to aggressive countries like Russia. I believe that the Scottish Government should focus on the issues that matter the most to the people of Scotland. We must prioritise our economy, infrastructure and our public services. Collaboration with our Arctic neighbours to help us to achieve this is welcome. I would like to highlight some of the points that have been raised today across the chamber. Donald Cameron spoke about how he believed that it was important to engage and continue to enhance our relationship with Arctic nations, share best practice and the climate change crisis. That was mentioned by quite a few. Jamie Halcro Johnston spoke of the Orkney's north heritage, the long-standing ties between Orkney and its Arctic partners and others around the world. He also spoke about issues of depopulation. Angus Robertson told us about the pool of expertise that we have here in Scotland and what we can do for the Arctic and how our help is warmly received. Sarah Boyack spoke about the importance of focusing on the climate change crisis and working with our Arctic neighbours and the impact of the invasion in Ukraine. Liam McArthur gave us a history lesson of Orkney and spoke of its ties with the Arctic. Richard Leonard spoke about his concern about the military. He spoke about threats from Russia and how they have said that the Arctic is Russian. He also spoke about the threats to the indigenous population and the need for climate change co-operation. Gillian Martin spoke about the ancient relations being reinvigorated and the need to help rural women in the way to net zero. Audrey Nicol told us about the pictures that she received of the Northern Lights, which we have all seen this week, whether it be on Facebook or other social media. It is one of the benefits of being up there, but she also emphasised that the Arctic is much, much more than that. Douglas Lumsden spoke of his association with Norway and how we can learn from Arctic states on areas such as broadband, ferry fleets and fishing. There are also other contributions for Paul MacLennan, Mark Ruskell, Fiona Hyslop, Kenny Gibson and Fousill Trouge. To conclude, when people are waiting too long for treatment at Crosshouse hospital, when A&E at Ayr is threatened with reduced services, when high streets in Ayr, Gyrfan and Cumnack need more support and when drivers need to see improvements to the A77, I would much rather that we gave more debate time to matters affecting people in Scotland today and issues that are devolved to this Parliament. We need to work together with our fellow UK nations, as well as our Arctic neighbours, to create a brighter future for all Scots. In my opening remarks, I set out some of the initiatives that the Scottish Government has promoted in recent years to deepen collaboration with the Arctic region. In closing, I want to reflect further on the strategic objectives of this work and the approach that the Scottish Government is taking to pursue them. First, I would like to respond to points made during the debate and made by all speakers from all parties. With some very minor exceptions, I think that there has been a hugely constructive tone from all parties in this debate, which is warmly welcome. First, to Donald Cameron, who began by saying that Scotland does have an important role to play, but of a contrast from the summing up from his party. He said that it is really important to engage with our Arctic and Northern neighbours both economically and culturally, I agree with him. He said that it is right to highlight, in addition, the difficulties posed by Russian aggression in Ukraine and, of course, he is correct in that and pointing to the risks to stability and security. Our Northern region, as a result, is an absolute given, and given the nature of the climate crisis and how important it is for us to be working with our Arctic and Northern neighbours, he also very graciously and I am pleased that it is on the record was explicit in the Conservative party's praise for the global scot and the international Scottish trade network, and I look forward to hearing more about that from other colleagues on his benches in future debates. Sarah Boyack from the Scottish Labour Party talked about the twin challenges in relation to climate security and global security, and made the point quite rightly that the aggression of Russia has meant that there is a diversion of collective focus away from the climate crisis, but we must not lose sight of the scale of the climate emergency. She also put on record her party's growing interest in the likes of Scotland being able to sign international agreements. I look forward to her party making even further developments in recognising why being a normal international nation as a sovereign state is a good thing. Liam McArthur rightly drew attention to the historic connections between Orkney and Arctic neighbours. He had a long list of areas of co-operation, actual and those which can still reach full fruition, and I totally agree with those. To Fiona Hyslop, I would like to pay tribute to her, my predecessor in this office, for all that she did and continues to do to promote links between Scotland, the Arctic and High North and She. In particular, she pointed out the opportunities that we have with our northern neighbours in the fields of renewables, in particular hydrogen, and I can attest to that through the conversations that I have had with decision makers in our neighbouring countries. I have a huge interest in the potential co-operation with Scotland. I am grateful to the cabinet secretary for taking intervention, and I am grateful for his generous remarks. I could not help but notice that he ducked the question in relation to Orkney Islands councils and other partners' determination to see Oric and Stromnas become a centre of excellence, if you like, for research on the Arctic and Nordics. I wonder whether the Scottish Government would lend support to that, as well as the idea of a reprise of the 2019 conference in Stromnas? Forgive me, I overlooked that, and I should not have a long list of points that colleagues made. I am sorry, I did not mean to skip over that. I would like to look very closely at the proposals that have been made. It would obviously be a development of a hugely positive centre of excellence and the event that took place in Stromnas. I think that he is right to highlight the role that Orkney council has been making. I regularly meet the convener when attending events in our northern region. I have strongly encouraged him and other colleagues to look at the likes of the mayor's network in Arctic Frontiers as a way of local authorities also being able to take a direct role in relationship with other parts of the northern neighbours. This is the beginnings of a conversation with Mr McGrath of that. I look forward to being as helpful and supportive as I can be. To Jamie Halcro Johnston, obviously, a man from the northern isle, so he knows exactly how important our historic but also our current links are. He talked particularly about the issues of depopulation, of rurality, of connectivity, and he is absolutely right to do that. Richard Leonard talked about geostrategic instability, and he has a good reason to highlight that, as well as the importance of the rights of indigenous people—people whose communities may be in jeopardy and under threat—posing the question of which priorities are being pursued. Are they extractive? Is it in terms of militarisation? The Scottish Government is committed, in particular, to renewable co-operation but also to stability. We cannot avoid the fact that we are seeing challenges that we need to think about in new ways. It was not that long ago that we saw sabotage to the subsea infrastructure, the Nord Stream pipeline, and for all our nations who have an important energy focus, we need to make sure that we have all the tools at our disposal to make sure that we are not subject to that kind of malign influence. Gillian Martin talked about the importance of emission reductions through co-operation, and there is so much that we can do as groundbreaking nations in northern Europe and the Arctic. Mark Ruskell highlighted attendance at our Arctic co-operation events. He was at events, Gillian Martin was at events, and Douglas Lumsden has also been at events. That is hugely worthwhile. To other colleagues who have taken part in this debate or have listened to the debate—forgive me, I haven't mentioned your attendance at these sort of events—I strongly encourage each and every one of you to think of doing so. Obviously, we have the conference in Aberdeen on 17 March as a good starter for those of you who haven't been at one yet, but I am very much looking forward to seeing colleagues from all parties at future Arctic and northern events. Mark Ruskell talked about wishing to build on the ambitions of Orkney and Shetland for the rest of Scotland. That is absolutely right. He highlighted the role in Prime Minister Catherine Jacob's daughter from Iceland, and she deserves particular praise, and highlighted the parallel approaches of the Icelandic Government and the Scottish Government in relation to the wellbeing economy. I note for the record her warm words of praise for our outgoing First Minister and, indeed, those warm words from President Olaffar Ragnar Grimmsen, which have been very well heard and received here in Scotland. Paul MacLennan talked about the potential for local authority connections. He is absolutely right to do so, and we need as many parts of Scotland to realise the huge untapped potential that we have for enhanced relations with our Arctic and northern neighbours. Douglas Lumsden spoke very persuasively about the importance of the Aberdeen and Stavanger links. He underlined the importance of the energy sector and the transition that is faced in both Norway and in Scotland. Indeed, that was the subject of my discussions with the Norwegian State Secretary for Energy, Andreas Bieland Ericsson, only a few weeks ago. He said that we should learn from our Norwegian neighbours. Hooray! I totally agree. I listened closely to his speech. I think that he missed out on the last page where he missed out on the success of Norway having become independent in 1905 as one of the poorest countries in Europe to now celebrate its success as one of Europe's richest. Of course, Norway set up an oil fund that will be able to fund its public services in perpetuity, something that the United Kingdom Government has not done for ourselves. With permission of colleagues, I just want to conclude in reference to the final speakers. To Audrey Nicholl, she talked about our geostrategic importance. She is absolutely right about that. She highlighted Lossymouth. I should say that we have been trying to be consensual on most of those issues, but there is more that can be done in terms of our geostrategic co-operation. I note that when it comes to Northern air policing, which is organised through NATO, of the nearly 50 deployments that there have been, the United Kingdom has only ever been able to provide one deployment as part of NATO Northern air policing, something that I think all of us would welcome a much more full-blooded level of commitment towards. Audrey Nicholl also talked about the advantages of social policy co-operation, ideas like the barn hoose, the barn hoose approach and the baby box, and there is more that we can do there. Kenneth Gibson talked about technology and innovation. Faisal Choudhury, the cross-party approach to this issue, is absolutely right. There is much more that we can do together in this. He reminded us of the accelerated speed of global warming in the Arctic and high north, which should spur us on to act more in concert with others. Just as a minor correction to Sharon Dowie's words on behalf of the Conservative Party, we have this afternoon been debating external affairs, which is a reserved responsibility. We have been talking about, as she mentioned, the importance of the economy and infrastructure devolved areas of co-operation. If she has not already read it, any other colleague has not yet read it, I draw their attention to the Scottish Government's excellent Arctic policy framework, which outlines all the devolved areas in which Scotland is co-operating with our northern neighbours. In conclusion, the Scottish Government will continue to engage and mobilise expertise across Scotland to promote our offer among Arctic audiences, encourage knowledge exchange and support sustainable economic development. A team Scotland approach is required if we are to fully seize the strategic opportunities offered by Scotland's role as Europe's gateway to the Arctic region. Therefore, welcome the cross-party investment in international platforms such as the Arctic Circle Assembly. I know Liam McArthur and members of the net zero energy and transport committee with their last year. Many of the matters that this Parliament is responsible for have direct relevance to Scottish Arctic collaboration. Therefore, I invite members to work with the Scottish Government to continue to promote Scotland as an expert and committed contributor to Arctic co-operation. I think that the tone of this afternoon's debate and the cross-party approach should give us all confidence that that is indeed the case. Thank you very much. Thank you. That concludes the debate on Arctic connections. Scotland's growing links with the Arctic is now time to move on to the next item of business, and I am minded to accept a motion without notice under rule 11.2.4 of standing orders that decision time be brought forward to now, and I invite the Minister for Parliamentary Business to move the motion. Thank you. The question is that decision time be brought forward to now. Are we all agreed? We are agreed. There are three questions to be put as a result of today's business. The first is that amendment 8073.1 in the name of Donald Cameron, which seeks to amend motion 8073 in the name of Angus Robertson, on Arctic connections Scotland's growing links with the Arctic, be agreed. Are we all agreed? Yes. The amendment is therefore agreed. The next question is that amendment 8073.2 in the name of Sarah Boyack, which seeks to amend motion 8073 in the name of Angus Robertson, on Arctic connections Scotland's growing links with the Arctic, be agreed. Are we all agreed? Yes. The amendment is therefore agreed. The final question is that motion 8073 in the name of Angus Robertson, as amended on Arctic connections Scotland's growing links with the Arctic, be agreed. Are we all agreed? Yes. The motion is therefore agreed. That concludes decision time and I close this meeting.