 The next item of business is a statement by Roseanna Cunningham on the greenhouse gas inventory 2015-2014. The cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of her statement. I would appreciate all questions where as concise as possible, and possibly even the statement to, I call on the cabinet secretary. In 2009, this Parliament unanimously passed the Climate Change Act, establishing Scotland as a world leader in tackling one of the defining challenges of our time. The act set out an ambitious long-term target to reduce Scottish greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 relative to the 1990 baseline. It also contains an interim 2020 target for a 42 per cent reduction and annual targets for each year. The latest official statistics on Scottish greenhouse gas emissions, covering 2014, were published this morning. I would like to update Parliament on those figures, what they mean in terms of progress towards our existing targets and also set out our next steps in developing new and even more ambitious targets. Those statistics show that Scotland is making outstanding progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Not only has the annual target for 2014 been met, but we have exceeded the level of our interim 2020 target six years early. For the purpose of target reporting, Scottish emissions in 2014 were down by 12.5 per cent from 2013 and down by 45.8 per cent from baseline levels. Over this period, reductions in emissions have been delivered in every sector, including energy supply, homes, transport, waste management, business and industry and agriculture. The new figures also show that Scotland has yet again outperformed the UK as a whole in reducing emissions. Comparisons to other Western European EU-15 countries are not yet available for 2014, but, as of the previous year, only Sweden had delivered greater reductions. The science of measuring and reporting on greenhouse gas emissions is complicated, but I can assure members that we have met our targets as a result of real progress in reducing actual Scottish emissions. As in previous years, today's statistics reflect on-going improvements to the science of how emissions are accounted for. However, even without such revisions, both the annual 2014 and interim 2020 targets would still have been met. The 2014 figures should also be seen in the context of Scotland's strong long-term progress, which has been acknowledged by a range of independent experts. Lord Debbon, the chair of the Committee on Climate Change, has said that Scotland is leading the UK in its ambitious approach and is to be commended for doing so. Christiana Figueires, head of the UN climate body, has described our approach as being exemplary. While emissions statistics provide the big picture, what really matters of course are the real world everyday changes, large and small, that underpin this. I want to provide some examples of the transformative changes occurring across Scotland. On energy efficiency, the Scottish Government's record investment is being reflected in big improvements to Scotland's housing. The share of homes-rated EPC-band C and above has increased by 71 per cent since 2010 and by 11 per cent in the last year. Our efforts are helping to reduce emissions and tackle fuel poverty by making homes warmer and more affordable to heat while supporting low-carbon jobs and regenerating communities. On renewables, I joined the Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy in welcoming the announcement that construction on the £2.6 billion Beatrice offshore wind farm will commence later this year. Scotland's early adoption of clean green energy technology and infrastructure means that renewables are now Scotland's biggest electricity generator. Projects such as Beatrice will also help to deliver a wide range of employment and community benefits. The Scottish Government's 2020 target for 500 megawatts of local and community-owned renewable energy capacity has also been delivered five years early. That has been independently estimated to be worth up to £2.2 billion to the Scottish economy over those projects' lifetime. On transport, we are determined to free Scotland's towns, cities and communities from damaging vehicle emissions by 2050, with significant progress by 2030. Adequate provision of refuelling infrastructure will be key. The ChargePlace Scotland Network now comprises over 550 publicly available electric vehicle charge points, including over 140 rapid charges, making it one of Europe's most comprehensive networks. That forms part of the Scottish Government's annual investment of more than £1 billion in public and sustainable transport. Since 2008, over 550 Scottish communities have been supported by the Climate Challenge Fund to address climate change and to make the move to low-carbon living. We are committed to retaining that fund and sharpening its focus. Under this Government, Scotland has delivered significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through initiatives such as those and many other actions. While I am delighted by the progress, I am in no way complacent regarding the scale of the challenge ahead, but I am also excited by the scope of the opportunity before us. That is an especially important time for climate change in light of the international agreement that reached in Paris last December. The agreement represents the first time that all countries have joined in recognising the scale of the challenge and agreeing the route that we need to take. As the Scottish Government hoped and argued for, the Paris agreement has raised global ambition. It must now serve as a call to action for all Governments. Ours is no exception, and we will heed that call. The Government intends to raise still further our ambition on climate change and to continue to lead the world in the transition to a low-carbon economy. That is why the First Minister has already confirmed our plan to establish a new and more testing 2020 target. Our manifesto also included a commitment to improve the transparency and accountability of our targets by basing them directly on actual Scottish emissions. We are committed to setting emission reduction targets based on the best available evidence and expert independent advice. I can advise the chamber that I am writing to the committee on climate change today seeking their advice on Scotland's future targets in response to the Paris agreement. Those ambitious new targets will serve as a statutory impetus to further action. Delivery will require co-ordinated approaches across portfolios and the reflection of climate change considerations at the very highest level of this Government. In this context, I can also announce that the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Climate Change has been reconstituted. Just as we must work across Government on this vital issue, so we should engage across Parliament. I have already begun to meet with party spokespeople and I am keen to offer regular cross-party round tables during this Parliament to discuss progress and share ideas and information. One of the cabinet sub-committees' first tasks will be to develop the Scottish Government's next emissions reduction plan, the third report on proposals and policies. I intend to lay a draft of RPP3 before Parliament before the end of the year. This Government understands that tackling climate change requires action not only from the public sector but also from businesses, charities and individuals. We will capture that through the participation process for RPP3. Climate change is of course a global challenge and other countries must step up and match our ambition and action. In particular, recent UK Government policy reversals on renewable energy and energy efficiency stand in stark contrast to the scale of Scotland's vision. The UK Government will also bring forward an emissions reduction plan this year. We need the UK to support Scotland's drive to develop renewables, carbon capture and storage, not to stymie it as it has done over the past year. Both myself and my cabinet colleagues will take every opportunity through our engagement with UK ministers to make the case to reverse recent decisions. To conclude, the statistics published this morning are excellent news for Scotland and for everyone who lives here. They show that through the drive and determination of this Government and by the actions of people, communities, organisations and businesses all around the country, we have met the 2014 emissions reduction target and exceeded the 2020 target for a 42 per cent reduction six years ahead of schedule. We set ourselves a high bar and are showing by our deeds, as well as our words, that Scotland can indeed lead the world. Our progress provides a strong platform upon which to build, but there is more to do. The advice that we receive from the Committee on Climate Change will inform our next steps, as will the deliberations of the Cabinet Sub-Committee. This Government remains absolutely committed to tackling climate change and to delivering the bold actions that are needed to meet our targets. I hope that all members will welcome the progress that is shown in today's statistics and support our next steps. I have questions. I would ask all members to press their request to speak button, if you wish to be called, and Maurice Golden first. Thank you, cabinet secretary, for the advance copy of the ministerial statement. While I welcome that the targets have been met after four years of mis-targets, I am dismayed that overall this is a result of accounting changes rather than of attributable actions by the Scottish Government. Stop Climate Chaos Scotland has said that it is hard to see the fingerprint of Scottish Government policy. For example, business and industry emissions have fallen by 39.6 per cent since 1990, but crucially most of that reduction was before the Scottish Climate Act 2009. Will the Scottish Government be willing to go beyond a 50 per cent reduction by 2020, as we predict that this will be met anyway, as well as crucially and critically set sector-specific targets for waste, buildings and transport? We have just announced fantastic news for Scotland, great statistics on greenhouse gas emissions, and I would have hoped for a slightly more enthusiastic response from the Conservatives this afternoon. The truth is that Opposition parties, including the Conservatives, have stood in this chamber lambesting the Government when it failed to meet the targets. Now we have met the targets. It seems to me that the Conservatives need to rise a little to that challenge. That is a challenge for the Conservatives themselves. I have indicated in my statement that there are significant things holding us back that emanate from the Conservative Government in Westminster. I would hope that the Conservatives in Scotland are able to bring some pressure to bear on their colleagues down south. As for increasing the targets, I indicated that we are willing to do so. We have talked of a target of more than 50 per cent by 2020, but I am sure that the member will not be surprised to hear that I want to take evidence on this. I want to have very serious discussions about that, and I want to be able to set targets that are realistic and achievable, and we will do so. We have that commitment to say more than 50 per cent. Can I say, Presiding Officer, that we were the only party going into the last election that had any such commitment in its manifesto? Claudia Beamish Thank you, Presiding Officer, and thanks to the Cabinet Secretary for Advanced Notice of the Statement. I welcome the announcement that the Government has indeed met its targets today, and that the 2020 targets have been met as well. It would help if the Cabinet Secretary could clarify about the EET scheme boost that some NGOs have highlighted as contributing to that. The point that I want to make is about the RPP3 and how the Committee on Climate Change has stressed that there will need to be a significant strengthening of policies. I hope that the Cabinet Secretary will agree with that, particularly across those heavy emitters, and that research is absolutely vital for the future to ensure that challenged communities are not excluded and that the right transferable skills are developed, along with unions, businesses and the education sector, to bring new jobs. Claudia Beamish I thank Claudia Beamish for raising some important points about the engagement that is going to be required right across the board in order to move us forward from where we are, but also to recognise that there are big gains from what we are doing, and those gains will accrue to many of the sectors that she has talked about. She asked about the factors that have allowed us to get to where we are this year. There are basically three main factors. One is that there is a reduction in emissions at source. The largest reductions were in energy supply in the residential sector, so that is a factor in this. Yes, there is an adjustment to reflect Scotland's share of the EU emissions trading systems allowance. It is in line with legislation that adjustment is required for recording progress against targets. The method of calculation has remained exactly the same as in 2013, so we are not moving away in any way from what was used last year. The other thing is that the greenhouse gas inventory has been revised downwards in the latest year. Despite that, previous upward revisions mean that the baseline level of emissions remains higher by 10 per cent than was the case in 2009. That means that the present fixed annual target is still tougher than was envisaged when it was set, so we are moving forward on all fronts. I hope that members in the chamber will be able to acknowledge and endorse that movement. Angus MacDonald I have very much welcome the announcement by the cabinet secretary that the cabinet sub-committee on climate change is being reconstituted. It is fair to say that we saw the benefits of that sub-committee during the last session of Parliament. Can the cabinet secretary provide any more detail on the sub-committee's role and membership? I thank the member for the question. As Scotland's first dedicated cabinet secretary for the environment, climate change and land reform, I will, in fact, be chairing the sub-committee. His membership will include the cabinet secretaries for the rural economy and connectivity, finance, the constitution and economy, jobs and fair work, as well as the ministers for business, innovation and energy, transport on the islands and local government and housing. One of the sub-committee's first tasks will be to develop the Scottish Government's next emissions reduction plan, the third report on proposals and policies. The sub-committee will meet in due course and discuss its remit at its first meeting. I would be happy to outline the remit in an update to the Parliament's Environment Committee later this year. John Scott Thank you, Presiding Officer. I also thank the cabinet secretary for the advance copy of her statement. Given the poor performance of energy efficiency in contributing to climate change targets and notwithstanding the modest improvements that we welcome, will the Scottish Government agree with the Scottish Conservatives that transformational action is still required, which means increasing the energy efficiency budget to 10 per cent of the capital budget, creating a £1 billion investment by 2020? I have just whispered into my ear from my colleague the Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy that it would be timely to remind the chamber of the Westminster Government pulling the plug on the Green Deal just a year ago. Discussions about energy efficiency are very relevant and very important, but let us not forget that we are doing so in a much bigger context as well. Energy efficiency is a priority for the Scottish Government. It has been designated a national infrastructure priority and recognition of its importance. The cornerstone of that will be Scotland's energy efficiency programme. In January, we announced that up to £14 million is available to support pilots to integrate actions on domestic and non-domestic energy efficiency that we expect awards to be made in this month. We are also giving early consideration to how we can use new powers over the warm homes discount and energy company obligation and aim to consult on proposals later this year. The member might be interested in following up when that consultation takes place. There is also a short-life fuel poverty strategic working group and rural fuel poverty task force, I know that the member will be interested in. They will report their recommendations by the end of this year, and that will help us in terms of programme development. I hope that people will accept that the Government is completely committed in difficult financial times, nevertheless, to driving this particular aspect of policy forwards. Stuart Ceehan, to be followed by David Stewart. May I express enormous gratitude for all those who have contributed to the possibility that I may not be a 104-year-old when we meet the 2050 target of 80 per cent, but instead be 84-year-old, and I may survive that long. However, it is clear that the change of policy by the UK Government on renewables will have a real impact on our ability to get there. Can the minister now or at a later date give us some quantitative indication as to how much more difficult the changing of renewable support by the UK Government makes our ability to meet this target in the bill that I was greatly honoured to take through to Parliament in 2008 and 2009? The UK Government has indeed made a number of policy decisions that have potentially serious impact on our own climate change ambitions. I have made some reference to that already this afternoon, the early closure of the renewables obligation for large-scale onshore wind and solar PV projects, cutting support for small-scale renewable projects through the feed-in tariffs. We are also seeing an impact in investor confidence through delays and uncertainty in contracts for difference. The UK Government's Department for Energy and Climate Change has conducted its own impact assessment on the early closure of the renewables obligation. It is estimated that the UK could lose up to 63 megatons of additional source emissions. To put that in context, that is the equivalent to more than a year's worth of Scotland's entire emissions. In Scotland, we have made clear our ambitions to create a low-carbon energy future, while keeping the lights on and keeping consumer bills low. However, to achieve those three ambitions in the absence of subsidies, we need a mechanism to stabilise the market to ensure investment in our more cost-effective low-carbon technologies. The cabinet secretary will be well aware that transport is still a major source of climate change emissions. In my view, there are two areas for future improvement. First, taking freight off the roads, on to rail and sea, and secondly, developing low-emission zones. Can the cabinet secretary confirm that the freight facilities grant has been unspent over the past four years? Finally, what assessment has been made of the effect on low-emission zones will have on future climate change emissions? I thank the member for his question, which might have been more helpfully directed to the transport minister. We do, as a Government, increase investment in sustainable transport, supporting work around modal shift to active and public transport, and rail and water transport for freight. We are committed to that, as well as new technologies, which will make the actual emissions of vehicles more efficient. We are investing more than £1 billion per year in public and sustainable transport. Since 2012, £11 million has been spent on the electricity network that I have talked about in terms of electric vehicles. I am a very keen constituent in respect of that. The transport part of the entire process is one of the most challenging. I do not think that any of us doubt that. One of the reasons that it is the most challenging is that it is one of the ones that is hardest to get people's behaviour to change around. I will endeavour to establish the detailed answer that no doubt the member was hoping for. I am sorry that I am not able to give it this afternoon, but I will have the minister for transport right directly to him on that. Mark Ruskell will be followed by Finlay Carson. I thank the cabinet secretary for advance a copy of the statement and also to her commitment here today to reconvene the cabinet sub-committee. I do hope that there will be opportunities or opposition spokespeople to engage with that sub-committee. I can also welcome the release of these figures today, but it is clear that quirks in accounting, warm weather, wind farms and recycling have finally resulted in a met target after five years. It is hard to see how Scottish Government policy has delivered much of this progress, and of course we still have much to do on transport and housing. Will the cabinet secretary commit today to a real-terms increase in climate change funding year on year for the lifetime of this Parliament and will she commit to scrapping of the climate wrecking policy to slash passenger duty? The member raises a number of issues that are not least of which the list of things that have contributed to the fact that we have now met our targets. Eventually, when our target was met, there would be a list of things that actually allowed us to achieve the target. It does not seem to me to be reasonable to discount the things that have been done simply because the target has now been met. I noticed that the member referenced warm weather or mild winters. I do remember some very seriously cold winters, but I do not recall the Government getting any credit for where we had got to in terms of targets dealing with the very cold winters. We cannot really have it both ways. All of this contributes over the longer term, and that surely is what this was all about. We want to see that. In terms of funding, there were some very serious impacts on funding that were brought about by changes made by Westminster Government. I think that some of that has caused difficulty. There were cuts to the climate change budget lines predominantly as a consequence of changes made by the UK Government in the rolling back of their green policies. The UK Government has slashed renewable support, as I have already indicated. All of this has an impact on us as well. Without the UK hampering us in this way, we would be seeing a £13.3 million overall increase in our budget's supporting climate change. The issue of APD is, understandably, one that has been raised by a number of people. We are showing global leadership by including domestic and international aviation in our emissions reduction targets. Of course, there are important environmental issues. We are working with environmental groups. We have consulted on the proposed scope and methodology of a strategic environmental assessment, which will be carried out later this year. When we have looked at all of that, we will take a balanced approach on that matter in recognition of the wider negative economic impacts that UK APD has on the Scottish economy. Finlay Carson to follow by Liam McArthur Thank you, cabinet secretary, for the advance notice of the report. Given that agriculture and land use accounts for 23.4 per cent of Scotland's emissions, and given the slow progress of the biorefinery road map, will the Scottish Government commit to investing in biorefining as the best method of dealing with our biomass waste? Cabinet secretary, I look into the issue of biorefining, but I am always somewhat interested in the conservative calls for more spending. It is not their usual position. I am glad, however, that Finlay Carson has referenced the issue of agriculture in this. We are making some progress in terms of agriculture emissions. I think that what needs to be said is that, right across all sectors, progress has been made. That is very important. Emissions from agriculture and related use have fallen 25 per cent since 1990. We have done a number of things over the years, including investing a huge amount of money in the beef efficiency scheme, which no doubt Finlay Carson is well aware of, which will help thousands of hers to become more efficient. We are introducing other things as well. Net emissions from the agriculture and related land use sector have seen a gradual decline from 1998 to 2014, linked to the impact of historic changes in land use, change to cropland, grassland and also a decline in cattle and sheep numbers, and we expect that decline to continue. Liam McArthur, to be followed by Graham Day. I thank the cabinet secretary for the early sight of her statement and warmly welcome the achievements of the targets that are announced in the statement. Of course, the cabinet secretary was right to point to the challenge tonight to sustain and accelerate the momentum. In that light, given what she said about the difficulty in transport of changing behaviours, does she believe that the Scottish Government policy or proposals to slash air passenger duty will help to reduce transport emissions? Those emissions have only reduced by 2.8 per cent since 1990. I am sorry, but I am not entirely sure whether the member—I welcome his welcoming of the figures first, but I was not entirely sure whether he was questioning me about the overall issue of APD or APD in respect of Scottish Government activities. I did respond to Mark Ruskell on the wider issue of APD. I basically believe that there is a balanced decision that has to be made here. We are making that decision with as much care as we can. There is quite an interesting truth, which is that the EU-ETS adjustment process means that changes in APD would not necessarily make much difference in counting emissions towards our overall targets. There is an interesting interplay in the way that the stats are brought together that is quite complicated, as I am discovering, but is nevertheless the case. The very welcome figures released today indicate that changes in public behaviour are beginning to have a positive impact on reducing carbon emissions, at least in some areas. How will the Scottish Government seek to ensure that this behavioural change spreads to others, such as heat transport and land use? Does the Cabinet Secretary agree with WDF Scotland that changing public behaviour in those areas must be at the heart of achieving further significant reductions? Of course, changing individual or public behaviour is the key to unlocking quite a lot of that. We saw quite a big drop in emissions from residential establishments, which we suspect is because of people heeding the advice to turn down their central heating, which of course gives them the benefit of lower fuel bills, but nevertheless cumulatively across the whole of Scotland begins to impact on overall emissions. There is an example of how it can be a win-win if it is approached in the right way, but the member is right to raise that issue more widely. Today's figures provide us with a platform to build for the future, but we will only succeed in achieving our climate change ambitions if we take the people of Scotland with us. Understanding and influencing how they act is key. Claudia Beamish was getting to some of that as well in her question. The breakdown of where reductions have been achieved shows where we might wish to focus efforts to achieve further and faster change and how we will encourage people to change how they act will be embedded in the development of our next emissions reduction plan. While weather helped to influence people's behaviour in 2014 in terms of using less energy at home, we need to encourage people to continue to make those changes to keep that thermostat turned down again and again and again. That brings us to the end of the statement. I apologise to the three members who weren't I wasn't able to invite to speak. I'm afraid we're 12 minutes behind schedule already. I would encourage all members to keep their questions short and perhaps ministers to keep their answers short too.