 Rwy'n creduol i ddim yr unrhythm ac fe…owerdad irpaith o'r cyintéch mor maes o'r rhesoedd chi ddim hyn yn ei ff stylingu aования o'r dderfodaeth o jednaku a lubiwn datblygu. Rwy'n Pom bom je Drum yn meddygen i mynd ar dreamsidellhaethu â bob osie. R�siau nid, alech i eu canyb i myndיעu ei braith ia distractions tantof put送 tho retreat ar hyn o'r tuanxoli ac efallai i'n ei bus Presidential Government, The evidence is irrefutable, the science is clear and people have been clear, they do expect action. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a stark warning last year, the world must act now. By 2030 it will be too late to limit warming to 1.5 degrees. Last week, another UN body, the Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform and Biodiversity and Ecosystem services issued a warning about the damage human beings are causing to the planet. ar hyn DUOD yr hoffaeth yn cychwynol yn datblyg o moddolol sefydlu i tanun teimlo published oherwydd rwy teimlo cymrydun ar 들grifff N draining. Rwyf wrth cryptocurrency hefyd, mae ni nhw, nid gy slapped mawau ar nifer. Neu enw a'u 思-antalus inghenau a'u psyll wahanol. All countries must act and must do so quickly and decisively. We all have a part to play individuals, communities, businesses, other organisations and opposition parties also have a responsibility to look at their own approaches. Earlier this month, the Scottish Government received advice from the UK Committee on Climate Change in light of the IPCC report. We acted immediately with amendments to our climate change bill to set a 2045 target for net zero emissions, as we said we'd do. If agreed by Parliament, those will be the most stringent legislative targets anywhere in the world and Scotland's contribution to climate change will end definitively within a generation. The CCC was clear that this will be enormously challenging and is dependent on the UK Government fully playing its part and so far they've not even committed to follow the CCC advice. Our bill amendments were the first step after the CCC advice, but the Scottish Government has been a leader in this field for many years. The Parliament's 2009 climate change act made us the first country in the world to introduce legally binding annual targets and include a fair share of emissions from international aviation and shipping. We've already almost halved emissions since 1990 while growing the economy, increasing employment and productivity and we will continue to do so and we're doing this with domestic effort alone. It is important to note that businesses and industry have played an important role and will continue to do so. In response to business feedback, we've recently refreshed the Scottish business pledge adding a new element to encourage businesses to consider their impact on the environment. The transformative changes that are needed offer social and economic opportunities, but there will be risks and challenges to overcome. That is why we are the first country to establish an independent just transition commission to provide advice on how our transition can also promote social cohesion and equality. The CCC has encouraged the UK Government to follow our lead. Our climate change plan, which was published last year, sets out how emissions will be reduced in every year to 2032. We've committed to updating that plan within six months of the climate change bill, receiving royal assent. That will require us to look across our whole range of responsibilities to make sure that we continue policies that are working and to increase action where that is necessary. That won't be easy. An emergency needs a systematic response that is appropriate to the scale of the challenge and not just a knee-jerk piecemeal reaction. All cabinet secretaries are looking across the full range of policy areas to identify areas where we can go further faster. Since the CCC issued its advice at the beginning of this month, we've already announced a change in our approach to airport departure tax, a new ambitious deposit return scheme, funding to strengthen the rail freight industry and reduce the amount of freight that travels by road, and a new farmer-led initiative to drive low-carbon, environmentally sustainable farming practices, and indeed new funding for e-bikes, which was announced just yesterday. The groundwork for further action has been laid with consultations closing in the coming weeks on energy efficiency and low-carbon heat, and we're working with stakeholders to determine where the Scottish National Investment Bank can have the greatest impact and how its missions should be framed. All of that will be key to our response to the climate emergency. Reviews of our transport and tourism policies, along with our future rural policy, land use strategy, national islands plan, NHS Scotland sustainability strategy and learning for sustainability action plan will all place a strong emphasis on addressing climate change as well as our infrastructure mission. A regional development policy will include climate change objectives following the example of the south of Scotland enterprise agency currently under consideration by this Parliament. Subject to the passage of the planning bill at stage 3, the next national planning framework and review of the Scottish planning policy will include considerable focus on how the planning system can support our climate change goals. Carbon management plans will be reviewed across the Scottish Government estate to bring forward the date for reaching net zero emissions to well before 2045. The CCC has been stark in saying that the proposed new targets will require a fundamental change from the current piecemeal approach that focuses on specific actions in some sectors to an explicitly economy-wide approach. To deliver the transformational change that is required, we need structural changes across the board to our planning, procurement and financial policies processes and assessments, and as I've already said, that is exactly what we will do. Our response to the climate emergency will impact on how we live as a society and on how our economy operates. That must be a shared national endeavour. We all need to think more about how we can make our lives more sustainable, cutting down on waste and excess. To inform our approach and how Government can support and implement the transformational policies that we need, we will be consulting widely over the summer to feed into the update of the climate change plan and let everyone have their say on what needs to happen across Scotland in response to the climate emergency. We will co-convene a summit with industry to develop a shared understanding of what needs to be done, how businesses can contribute and how we can help, and we will be seeking views from key sectors such as agriculture and land use. As I said earlier, the CCC has been clear that the UK needs to up its ambition in reserved areas for us to achieve our goals here in Scotland. I wrote to Bays Minister Claire Perry on 2 May setting out some of the areas where we and the CCC expect the UK Government to take urgent and decisive action. That includes carbon capture use and storage, which the CCC says will be critical to our ability to meet the new targets. The UK Government must identify funding to deliver its commitment to build the first CCUS facility in the UK by 2025 and must commit to more than one cluster across the UK. With our North Sea assets and infrastructure, Scotland is the logical location for such clusters. I requested an urgent meeting to discuss the CCC advice and the UK Government's response. There has been no answer to that letter or to my request and I have to reiterate my call to the UK Government to work with us to deliver the transformational changes needed to respond to the climate emergency. In brief, the Scottish Government will be placing climate change at the heart of everything that we do and I can confirm that it will be at the core of our next programme for government and spending review. For those saying that this is not enough, what is your offer? How will you help to support a fair and just transition for the people of Scotland? Work with us to bring on board those who are perhaps less convinced about the need for action, look closely at your own activities and those of your organisations and see what more you can do. For those saying that this is too much and too expensive, the evidence shows that the global cost of inaction far outweighs the cost of action. Future generations will end up paying even more if we fail to take action now. Scotland has always been an innovator. This is one of our great strengths. Responding to the climate emergency will not be easy, but Scotland is not in the business of taking the easy way out. Scotland's response to the climate emergency must be hardwired into our national psyche. We must take this journey together, seize the economic opportunities that are available to us and redefine what world leadership means, not just as a Government but as a country. Scotland has declared a global climate emergency and now Scotland, that is us, must act as one to safeguard our planet for future generations. Thank you very much. The minister will now take questions. Maurice Golden is followed by Claudia Beamish. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I would like to refer members to my register of interests and I would also like to thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of the statement. I welcome the overall narrative of the statement and I can pledge that as the only opposition party to have produced a detailed policy document on the environment and climate change, we stand ready to work with the Government to tackle one of the greatest challenges of our age. We do have concern that the landfill ban on biodegradable waste has been botched, the tree planting target was not met last year with just over 7,000 hectares planted, the household waste recycling target will not be met for 12 years and indeed the cycling target will not be met for over 200 years based on current trajectories. The cabinet secretary states that we all need to think about cutting waste and excess bearing this in mind. When will the circular economy bill be introduced to Parliament as outlined in the 2016 programme for government? I welcome the general remarks made by Maurice Golden at the start of his question. I want to encourage everybody in the chamber to be part of the conversation and to contribute as constructively as possible. He raised a number of issues and I am not going to deal with them at length. The circular economy bill will be introduced within the term of this Parliament. As the member is probably aware, it is not ultimately my decision when that takes place. However, it will be the First Minister's. I can assure the member that there will be a circular economy bill in the lifetime of this Parliament, which is what was promised. Claudia Beamish will be followed by Mark Ruskell. I thank the cabinet secretary for sight of the statement. This is indeed a global climate emergency. Scotland must respond with the responsibility of a developed nation and recognise intergenerational justice. We must ensure that all decisions are integrated across government and all sectors of society, including civic societies, act to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. Scottish and UK Labour are committed to a statutory justice transition commission, and I hope to see the Scottish Government support that in the climate change bill. The cabinet secretary asked what we have to offer. Across the UK, Labour is working on a costed green jobs revolution. Does the cabinet secretary agree with Scottish Labour that in order to secure new and transferable jobs here in Scotland, we must have a robust skills development strategy across all sectors? Can she tell the chamber how everyone from the North Sea to the far reaches of rural Scotland is to be forearmed for the new technologies, opportunities in manufacturing and remanufacturing that are leading to the net zero economy? Most of what Claudia Beamish is asking about there is really encompassed in the whole justice transition conversation that, in a sense, Scotland has well and truly started and remains ahead internationally in terms of its development. We have had exchanges before about the basis of which that commission is set up, whether it be statutory or not. I believe that we have undertaken to re-look again at the issue after the stage 1 report from the committee. The member asks really good questions about the ability for us to ensure that, right across the whole of Scotland, leaving nobody out, we get in place a way to manage that low-carbon transition. In the sense that that is part and parcel of what I have said in the statement, we need to be looking at that right across government. That is the intention. Some of the technologies that the member refers to may not yet be in a place where we can count on them for sure. There are some that I am aware of that may not happen until about the 2030s. We have to understand that. What we have to ensure is that, as a Government right across the board, we are in the right place with all of that. I know that the member and I will continue to have interesting, friendly and robust conversations on the issue. Mark Ruskell, to be followed by Liam McArthur. I am very pleased that the Government is listening to the Greens and committing to put climate at the heart of the next programme for government, but also critically the spending review in a couple of years' time. Of course, the climate emergency cannot wait for the next spending review. I would like to make it clear that the Greens cannot commit to negotiations over the next annual budget unless it has climate change and a green new deal at its heart. Can the cabinet secretary identify when the Government will come forward with robust plans for a green new deal, as was agreed recently by Parliament? I do not think that the member would expect me to answer questions that really pertain to Derek Mackay's portfolio. I know that, in specific terms, the future of the budget really sits with that portfolio. I do appreciate Mark Ruskell's confidence in my ability to be the cabinet secretary for everything, Presiding Officer. I regret that I am not. I should have said before I rose or as I rose that Mark Ruskell is celebrating a birthday today and he is celebrating by asking me about a green new deal in terms of the budget, so I am not entirely certain that his life is entirely rock and roll. Nevertheless, we are committed to delivering balanced budgets that support Scotland's climate change targets, as well as other priorities. I am absolutely certain that people would expect me to say that. I very much hope that the Greens, along with everybody in this chamber, will participate in any discussions and negotiations around the next budget, which is still a few months away. Nevertheless, as I have indicated, with climate change being at the heart of the next programme for government, I think that he can expect there to be some interesting discussions to be had around that. Liam McArthur, to be followed by Julian Martin. I thank the cabinet secretary for early sight of the statement, much of the narrative there, is one that we would support. I certainly commit to Scottish level Democrats to engage constructively with the Government and across all parties in addressing the climate emergency that has been declared. I note that the cabinet secretary was averse to focusing on individual policy elements in meeting that challenge, but he did not accept that there is a need to set more ambitious targets in particular in relation to transport. Part of that might be setting an early target for the Government and public bodies to phase out the use of diesel and petrol vehicles, given that, for example, only 1 per cent of the police vehicle fleet falls into that category, and only one in 20 council vehicles, likewise. I thank the member for his question. It is the case that transport is the largest sectoral contributor to Scotland's greenhouse gas emissions, and therefore it has to be central to playing a role. We already have the most ambitious agenda in the UK for decarbonising transport, and that includes our commitment to phasing out the need for new petrol and diesel cars by 2032. Our existing plans for transport will see the greatest emissions reduction in absolute terms of any sector over the lifetime of the climate change plan. The member may be interested in knowing that there is currently a review of the national transport strategy. We are in the process of readying the draft for public consultation from July 2019. Newly commissioned research is to happen to further build the evidence base. The member talks about transport in individual policy areas. He raised the issue about police cars in terms of justice. It is one of the things that we have to now understand that, whereas up until now, perhaps people have seen that there are three or four key cabinet secretaries when we are looking at the whole issue of climate change, all my colleagues—even those who, perhaps up to now, have not really thought of themselves as being in the front line of the issue—will, in fact, have to consider that they are. Questions such as those that Liam McArthur has raised today will be important for those cabinet secretaries who, perhaps up until now, have not considered that climate change was such an issue that it was going to land on their desk very frequently. Gillian Martin, to be followed by Finlay Carson. I would like to ask the cabinet secretary about the importance of the UK Government committing to the targets that it has been advised to set by the Committee for Climate Change. I guess that the reserved area and facilitating pathways, such as the decarbonisation of the grass gas grid, investment in carbon capture, will be really important in terms of how Scotland is able to reach the targets as well. We heard this morning in the clear committee from Chris Stark of the climate change on the issues around electricity tariffs. Can I ask the cabinet secretary and I realise that she has said that she has written to her counterpart in the UK Government just for her response to that? That is a key question. It was a fairly significant aspect of the CCC advice that they advised our 2045 net zero target as being dependent on activity emanating from Westminster. I have written to the UK Government requesting that urgent meeting and a collaborative approach to implementing the advice. I do hope that members sitting on the Conservative benches here will, through their own channels, encourage an early response to that. There were a number of issues raised by the CCC that really were aspects that Westminster would have to look at. That is the fully operational carbon capture utilisation and storage facilities that I mentioned earlier, accelerating action to decarbonise the gas grid, looking at the balance of taxes across different heating fuels, redesign vehicle and tax incentives to support industry and business investment in zero emissions and sustainable transport choices, commit to adhering to future EU emissions standards, regardless of our position in relation to the EU, reduce VAT on energy efficiency improvements in homes. I am disappointed to read today that apparently VAT on solar panels is to be increased from 5 per cent to 20 per cent. That is the wrong direction to be going in and finally to ensure continued support for the renewables industry, which that VAT increase does not suggest is at the forefront. The evidence that I understand, given by the CCC this morning, did emphasise the importance of accelerated UK-wide action if more ambitious Scottish targets are to be achievable. In the clear evidence session this morning, Chris Stark, the CEO of the Climate Change Committee, indicated that there were already advanced conversations around how the UK Government might support farmers in the agricultural sector with tackling climate change around policies such as public good for public money. There is little discussion or indication of what approach will be taken here. Will the cabinet secretary, as a matter of urgency, put pressure on her colleague Fergus Ewing to outline how her Government plans to support farmers and their aims to tackle climate change? I am sure that if the member was to talk to Fergus Ewing, he would hear from Fergus that I am continually putting pressure on Fergus. There are a number of things that the Scottish Government is already doing in terms of support for agriculture, for climate change, farming for a better climate, which is about soil regenerative agriculture, agricultural technology group that was launched in 2018 to share, disseminate and encourage adoption of advances in agricultural science, and soil nutrient network, which are farms that take a before-and-after look at how to protect and improve their soils, farming and water Scotland, although predominantly aimed at farmers to help to reduce diffuse pollution that nevertheless has an impact on climate change and an industry-led carbon accumulator tool, carbon positive, which is a platform that, when fully developed, will allow farmers to measure and get credit for reducing emissions and sequestering carbon. I know that farmers are anxious about an issue that they do not often get credit where credit is due. There are also some very interesting new technologies coming on board, and if the member has not read the WWF commissioned research by Vivid Economics, I strongly recommend him to do so, because that shows a very positive way forward for agriculture in Scotland and would probably go a very long way to allaying fears of farmers about the future. However, I have to say this, and I attend monthly meetings with DEFRA and the devolved Administrations that one of the things that could help from the UK perspective is that they would actually put a little meat on the bones of the so-called shared prosperity fund that they have been promoting, which, beyond the three words shared prosperity fund, we are unable to assess exactly what that means. That is really about the money that will end up being available to farmers. Nobody knows what is happening. Stuart Stevenson, to be followed by Neil Findlay. Speaking further of meat, will the Scottish Government participate in international research collaborations that are designed to identify breeding changes for bovines that should ultimately reduce their methane emissions while protecting their meat yield? I am not entirely sure that I mentioned meat, but I suppose that, given that it is a fairly significant part of the food production sector in Scotland, it is an appropriate question. Will I hope that, as a Government, I will be able to continue to participate in international research collaborations that are designed to do exactly what the member asks. The Scottish Research Institutes are very internationally powerful in respect of the work that they do. We have stated in the past that our aim is to find answers that are beneficial for the environment, Scotland's farmers and our wider food and drink industry. That has not changed. However, I need to flag up the negative impact of Brexit on research. That is not going to help, because routes to international collaboration look like they are beginning to get rather dicey as a result of Brexit. I commend to the chamber a lot of the work that is already being done. If you have not visited the Green Coos project at SRUC, I strongly advise you to do so. Bill Findlay, to be followed by Angela Constance. What plans does the Government have to engage properly with citizens across the country to ensure that measures taken are not regressive and that everyone can share in the benefits? That is an important question. I do not want to rehearse what I have already said about the Just Transition Commission, which is engaged in some of that work as well. However, I flag up the intention to publicly engage this year. We have already done a considerable amount of work on that. Obviously, behaviour change is critical to meeting Scotland's climate change targets and progressing towards a carbon neutral society. However, that public engagement is going to be vital. In November 2018, we did announce that we had concluded a review of our current public engagement strategy in line with statutory requirements. We are now revising that strategy to ensure that our approach to climate change engagement and behaviour change is commensurate with the ambitions that are set out in the bill. There will be a whole series of public workshops across Scotland. I am happy to advise members of when and where they will take place if they wish to participate as well. Angela Constance, to be followed by Alexander Burnidge. Can the cabinet secretary outline how tackling the climate emergency can also help to tackle the other emergency of 230,000 wanes growing up in poverty in Scotland, given that all Scottish Government ministers, I am sure, will be mindful of the statutory targets to end child poverty by 2030? Thank the member for that question, because she does flag up the need for this to be looked at right across the whole of government. Clearly, both of the ambitions that we are talking about here are incredibly challenging, but together they offer an opportunity to take a close look at how we operate as a Government in Scotland and how we build that fairer and more sustainable future. Those challenges have to be seen as opportunities to make the difficult decisions needed and to address change on the scale required. Again, some of the work of the Just Transition Commission is absolutely crucial. It is currently travelling around the country hearing from communities and people likely to be affected and to affect the transition. It is important how we can ensure the economic and social benefits of leading the world towards carbon neutrality will be vital. The actions needed to become net zero by 2045 will transform our economy and society, but the Government is also engaged in a very wide-ranging energy efficiency programme that is directly tackling the issue of fuel poverty, which is a fundamental part of the concerns that Angela Constance is addressing. The transition has to be fair for workers, businesses and communities, and absolutely it must be fair for children. If we do the right things in the right way, then I think that we can achieve that for everybody. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I note my register of interest in renewable energy and housing. This morning, Chris Stark focused on the lack of climate change policy for housing, so given that it has now been a year and four days since his Parliament supported my amendment of an EPCC target of date of 2030, will the cabinet secretary finally acknowledge that the time has come to make this Government policy? I will make the obvious comment that you would expect me to make, which is that the housing minister himself will have more in the way of the kind of detail that, no doubt, the member is actually looking for, but we are already acting to reduce emissions associated with heating our buildings. I talked about the energy efficiency drive that we are introducing across Scotland. We are awaiting detail on how the new UK future home standard will work. That is been announced by the chancellor, but building regulations, of course, are devolved in Scotland, and energy standards for new homes in Scotland, set via carbon emissions targets, are currently more challenging than elsewhere in the UK. It will be interesting to see how we are able to work with the UK proposals, but, as yet, we do not know how that is intended to be implemented. UN Secretary General has praised the target proposals set out by the Government of New Zealand. How do the Scottish Government's target proposals compare to yours? I was struck by the UN Secretary General's lavish praise for New Zealand's proposals, which are to propose a date in terms of net zero emissions of 2050, which would include most gases, but not emissions of methane from biological processes such as agriculture, which in New Zealand comprise a much larger portion than would be the case for Scotland. Our proposed net zero target date of 2045 covers emissions of all the greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto protocol, includes a share of international aviation and shipping emissions, retains statutory annual targets and will be achieved through domestic effort alone. I am hoping that the UN Secretary General has such lavish praise for the New Zealand targets. He will be absolutely blown away by the Scottish targets. It is disappointing that there is no mention of buses in the statement from the cabinet secretary to help to achieve lower emissions. We need to get more people travelling on buses, and we need to build more low-emission buses. To help to achieve that, I ask the cabinet secretary how the Government proposes using the transport bill in order to curb the power of bus companies and place more influence in local communities over bus routes and setting affairs? I am sure that in a 10-minute statement members in the chamber will not imagine that I could talk and discuss every single possible aspect of the issue. That goes for buses. There has been a great deal of work done with bus companies. The member will be very much aware, particularly in the Glasgow area, of some of the difficulties in persuading bus companies to take up the support that is available to them to convert. We continue to try and have that conversation with them. I know that my colleagues and Glasgow Council that are taking forward the low emission zone are very keen to resolve that issue. I would simply encourage all bus companies, as they have done in some other parts of Scotland, to come forward and be part of that conversation and to access the support that is available. As you touched upon in your statement, you highlighted the issue of industrial clusters, as you are aware. Scotland has industrial clusters that produce large sources of carbon dioxide, and I would be grateful if the cabinet secretary could outline how it will utilise the existing expertise in those industries to develop whole-system decarbonisation systems, such as carbon capture, utilisation and storage. There is a considerable amount of work being done with industry. They are key partners in everything that we do. Industrial decarbonisation is going to be extremely important for us as we move forward. It is one of the reasons why I stated at the outset, and I have done in previous occasions in this chamber, that we cannot do this alone. Government cannot do this on its own. It requires there to be a deal of buy-in from other sectors. The industrial sector accounted for 28 per cent of net Scottish emissions in 2016. In truth, we need to be at the table, but we are engaging with industry. We have focused on a network from Scottish site and trade association levels. We have published a discussion paper on decarbonising Scotland's industrial sectors and sites, making the case that industrial decarbonisation is an investment opportunity. The paper underpinned a facilitated workshop on 30 April with an expanded network of industrial stakeholders. We are very much part of a conversation with them. I know that many parts of the private sector are keen to engage on that level. Thank you very much. That concludes our statement on the global climate emergency. We are going to move on in a moment to a statement by Marie Gougeon on supporting sheet farming. We will just take a few moments. First of all, I think that Finlay Carson wants to just make a quick point of order. Prior to my question to the cabinet secretary, I failed to refer members to my register of interests as a member of the NFU and former farmer, so I thank you for the opportunity to do that now. We will just take a few moments for members to change seats.