 The portfolio of questions and the portfolio this afternoon is net zero and just transition. We will suspend briefly. I did think that my voice was not as loud as normal. So, thank you, Mr Fraser, for the gesticulation. The portfolio this afternoon is net zero and just transition. As ever, I would appreciate the brief questions and succinct answers to match to get in as many members as possible. Rhoads Macall. What action is taking to improve transport options in rural areas? Our strategic transport projects' review includes recommendations focused on rural areas, including connecting towns and villages, improving active travel and trunk roads and investing in demand responsive transport to improve connectivity. However, we are already taking action. The go-high project has improved accessibility to integrated transport services in the highlands, the community bus fund and the toolkit of powers within the transport act will enable local authorities to pursue options that best meet their needs, including the distinct challenges that rural areas face. This year's record active travel funding will support new projects for rural communities. I thank the minister for that response. Bus services are a vital lifeline for local communities, especially in rural areas. A constituency in my region with poor mobility used to take the 27a bus from Dunfermlyn to Cacoddy to collect her prescription. This service has been cancelled, which makes it even more difficult for her to get her much needed medicine. Due to the Scottish Government's decision not to extend the network support grant plus, fares have risen by an average of 15 per cent across east Scotland, and local services in Fife are projected to be cut by a further 10 per cent. Will the Scottish Government publish its fair fares review before the summer recess of 2023, or will my rural constituents continue to suffer additional root cuts and increased costs? The network support grant plus was a package that we put in place to help bus operators during the Covid pandemic when there was a real impact on services. It was not designed to be a permanent fixture but was to deal with that emergency period. We will continue to work in partnership with bus operators and local authorities to create the best possible service that we can. The network support grant will continue to provide support to the bus industry in 2023-24. It has paid per kilometre travel and is targeting support to the longer and less commercially viable routes in rural and island communities. In terms of our fair fares review, we will publish that in the near future. Ms McCall and others will understand that it is a hefty piece of work that we want to get right for all the people of Scotland. The minister will be aware that the former Deputy First Minister agreed with Orkney Islands Council to establish a task force to look at the replacement of the fairies operating on Orkney's lifeline internal routes. Since the election of the new First Minister proposed meetings of the task force have not taken place, I am not aware of alternative dates having been set. I would be very grateful if the minister could advise when the task force is next due to meet and what assurances he can give that this will remain on the radar of the cabinet, given that the Deputy First Minister is no longer in post. The task force will be chaired by the new Deputy First Minister, Shona Robison, and I will update Mr MacArthur when we have dates in place for the first meeting. What I would say to Mr MacArthur and to members is that we recognise the importance of the work of that task force. I intend to go to Orkney in the very near future. As Mr MacArthur is aware, I have had a couple of meetings with the council in recent times and I hope that the co-operation and collaboration that we have in place will continue. Scotland's rural communities have great ideas on how to improve our national rail network. At the moment, ScotRail services passed through Nubra, but have not stopped there since the station closed in 1955. A simple low-cost modular station could reconnect Nubra to the rail network. Can I ask what discussions the minister had about the opportunities provided by the modular stations? Will the minister agree to meet me and the Nubra rail station campaign in the months to come? I have not had any discussions about modular stations per se in the short time that I have been in post, but I understand that Transport Scotland officials are already engaged with SESTRAN on its appraisal of the Nubra area and have offered a meeting. However, it should be noted that modular stations are not suitable for all locations, but, as always, I am happy to have further discussions with Mr Ruskell and constituents on those matters. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to a recent report by Changeworks, which found that homes in rural areas have a lower energy performance certificate meeting than the rest of Scotland. Minister Patrick Harvie. I would like to express my thanks to Changeworks for their work in this area and for bringing forward this important report. The average energy performance certificate rating of rural properties is lower than those in urban areas because of the typically more expensive fuels that are used or available, how those are reflected in the current EPC metric and the historically lower energy efficiency standards. We are proposing that all housing in Scotland meet the equivalent of EPCC by 2033 and that we revise EPC metrics. We offer support to improve the energy efficiency of rural homes, including a funding uplift to our Home Energy Scotland grant and loan scheme, and targeted fuel poverty support. He knows that improving energy efficiency in rural and off-grid homes is absolutely critical for reducing energy bills and also meeting net zero targets. However, as the Changeworks report makes very clear, the SNP's heatpub approach does not suit many of the older properties in the rural economy. Is the SNP doing to encourage investment in alternative heating solutions such as biofuel LNG? We are working on policy in the area of biofuels in line with the UK Climate Change Committee's recommendations, which see some role but recognise that there will be limits to the role of bioenergy in the heating system. Meanwhile, we provide, as I said earlier in my first answer, an uplift to the grant and loan schemes for rural areas. In particular, we need to ensure that we are investing in the skills and capacity in the industry, just to give one example that we have invested in a mobile training centre for heatpump installation. It is being hosted by South Lanarkshire College but is available to any college in Scotland for training in rural areas on site. That will help to ensure that local communities have access to skilled professionals who are able to assess and install heatpumps in all types of buildings. Last April, the Scottish Government estimated that there were more than 874,000 households in fuel poverty in Scotland, but its insulation and energy efficiency scheme has now closed to applications until October. At the current rate of progress, it would take 165 years to insulate every fuel poor household in Scotland. Can the Scottish Government explain what has gone wrong? Something has gone very right in that we are replacing that scheme with a much improved successor. While that transition happens, new referrals will be referred on to the provider under the terms of the successor scheme rather than the less generous terms of the previous scheme. I know that the member and other constituency and regional members representing rural and island communities have repeatedly expressed their concerns. I think that the Scottish Government's heat and building programme is the most ambitious in any other part of these islands, certainly, and is looking to achieve the same kind of investment in a sustainable, equitable and system that is insulating people from fuel poverty comparable to what some of the best countries in Europe have achieved in previous decades. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the role that it anticipates that the low-carbon and renewables sector will play in the transition to net zero, including on any relevant discussions that took place at the recent all-energy conference in Glasgow. The low-carbon and renewables sector plays an essential role in delivering Scotland's net zero ambitions. The draft energy strategy and just transition plan sets out a vision for an energy system that delivers affordable, resilient and clean energy supplies. The First Minister, myself and three other Government ministers attended the all-energy conference and we had constructive discussions with a range of energy companies and other stakeholders. The First Minister particularly re-emphasised this Government's commitment to the Scottish cluster and the importance of an early and positive decision from the UK Government on CCUS in Scotland. I thank the Minister for Energy for that answer. In the First Minister's speech to the all-energy conference, he spoke about the flaws in the current transmission network charging system. What discussions has the Scottish Government had with the UK Government about fixing the methodology used, which, as it stands currently, is a potential barrier to supporting our renewable sector? I thank Jackie Dunbar for that assessment, and it is something that comes up practically in every single meeting that I have with every single stakeholder. The Scottish Government has repeatedly called for the change to the current system of transmission network use of system charges. My officials are in regular contact with Ofgem in this matter. I am pleased that Ofgem has now reconvened the TNUS task force, as it was delayed to allow Ofgem to focus on the issue of security of supply over winter. However, the fact of the matter remains that a new approach is needed here, rather than small modifications to methodologies, and we will continue to raise this with Ofgem and our counterparts in the UK Government to push for a further solution that recognises the renewable capabilities of Scotland. We need to do everything we can to maximise Scotland's potential to power the nation using low-emissions technology, harnessing our substantial natural resources, and we need to do it in a way that creates economic prosperity for communities and businesses. In the end, it supplies our households in Scotland with cleaner, cheaper power—the cheaper power that they so desperately need and want. I have three members seeking to ask a supplementary, and I intend to take all three. The Government's transition of North Sea workers to offshore wind rolls has delivered only 3,100 positions in Scotland. I have discovered that the Government does not even break that data down to understand where those jobs are located. It cannot even say if a single worker in the north-east is part of the transition. So, when does the Government intend to start collating and interrogating data properly, and thus provide a more realistic and rigorous assessment of its failure to deliver a just transition? I am familiar with Mr Kerr's asking this, because I think that I just issued a parliamentary answer to his written question on this. As it stands at the moment, we do not have that granular data, but there are methods in the Government to collate the data and produce it in such a way that it has been requested, but that work is on-going. Minister, given the fantastic opportunities that are highlighted at the All Energy Conference and the need to tackle both the cost of living crisis and the climate crisis, what discussions has the minister got planned with COSLA to support local authorities to deliver council and community co-operatively-led heat and power schemes, given the huge benefits that could deliver to our constituents? That came up in discussion yesterday with the onshore wind strategy leadership group. We absolutely have to engage COSLA in looking at how we can support communities to look at shared ownership in particular. We are doing a number of pieces of work in that area, actually taking advice from the council that the strategic leadership group that I just mentioned to her, actually, we are working that actively yesterday in their quarterly meeting. I do not think that we can do this without the help of COSLA and our local government partners, so I am really keen to have that conversation with our colleagues in COSLA quite soon, but what I want to do is to wait for some of the advice that is coming from the group that I mentioned so that I can make those conversations more constructive and have a real secure plan in place to see how we can maximise the opportunities that we have in communities, but we can also learn the lessons from communities that have already made that leap so that we can make that more efficient. The just transition to net zero will require significant levels of investment to deliver its ambitions, including, of course, public as well as private sector investment, and I was encouraged by my discussions with investors when I spoke at the oil energy conference the other week. What work is the Scottish Government doing to leverage in capital investment for infrastructure and business growth opportunities to deliver the net zero transition? Pretty much every stream of work that has been done in the energy area is going to be a mix of public sector support, Government support, but also leveraging in that capital from private investors as well. What we need to signal as a Government is that those private investors are going to be putting that money in the right areas. I am working closely with Scottish Enterprise in that area. Ivan McKee will know how important they are in actually signalling that private sector investment, where the Government's goals are in that area and where we can actually get confidence in certain areas. If Ivan McKee wanted to write to me specifically, I could break that down into the individual pieces of information that he may require. To ask the Scottish Government what anticipates the impact of a green jobs fund will be on the Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley constituency. The Green Jobs Fund aims to create green employment, drive economic growth and support businesses to transition to a low-carbon economy through capital investment in equipment and premises and research and development. Discussions on projects that could be supported by the fund in Ayrshire are under way, potentially creating hundreds of new jobs in the area. As future green job fund awards are made, we will continue to update on the progress of the fund and the expected green jobs that are resulting from it. I can tell her that Ayrshire has launched her net zero accelerator programme with partners and employers to focus on gaining the knowledge on how best to move to net zero and how to gain the skills and accreditation for this too. Does the minister agree that it is vital that every part of Scotland both participates and benefits from the transition to net zero, particularly through vehicles such as the Green Jobs Fund? Does she give my constituents an assurance that the Government will assist in any way that it can to build that capacity locally as we strive to make the important transition in every community in Scotland? Willie Coffey makes an excellent point. The scale of the climate and nature crisis, the pace with which we as a society need to move to make the change, commensurate with that challenge, means that progress must absolutely be built from communities, for communities and within communities. Only then can the quite transformational change that is required in the coming years and decades be delivered at the scale required and be sustainable. I want to give my commitment to Willie Coffey and to his constituents that the Government is dedicated to working with them as we take that journey. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the net zero secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding how a 7 million of grants allocated through the hydrogen innovation scheme will support Scotland's low-carbon economy. I regularly engage with ministerial colleagues on maximising the economic opportunities of net zero. That includes our drive to reach 5 gigawatts of installed hydrogen production capacity by 2030. We have backed up that ambition by grants totaling over £7 million, which has been offered to 32 Scottish projects through our hydrogen innovation scheme. Those will advance innovative solutions to scaling up hydrogen production, storage and distribution. That is something that I was able to highlight to industry stakeholders at the Aberdeen Grampian Chambers of Commerce earlier this week. That funding, together with our just transition fund, together with the energy transition fund, is demonstrating our commitment to supporting Scotland's fair, prosperous and speedy transition. I thank the cabinet secretary for her answer. Each 105 is a first of a kind demonstration project that is leading the way in decarbonising home heating, providing evidence for future low-carbon policy decisions and a clear pathway towards net zero heating for Scotland. Does the cabinet secretary agree that hydrogen is a promising opportunity as we look to transition from fossil fuels and decarbonising home heating? Yes, I agree. We absolutely know that hydrogen will be a key part of our journey to net zero, and complementary to electricity will play a role in industrial decarbonisation, transport and potentially heating some homes and building. The SGN H105 neighbourhood trial, for example, will feed into this work, as will other large village and town trials in the UK. The H105 project is currently under construction, which aims to fit 100 per cent hydrogen boilers into 300 homes in Leven. The project, I understand, is scheduled to go live in 2024 and operate until March 27, and the Scottish Government has gladly provided £6.9 million worth of grant funding to the project. I know that the cabinet secretary agrees with me that we have a fantastic opportunity to be world leading in the green hydrogen economy, but we are behind the curve behind Germany, Holland, Belgium, Middle East and the USA. What will the Scottish Government do to ensure that the red tape that is being reported to me from business to access the pump prime funding that she mentioned for early stage hydrogen companies will, in turn, release further money from private investment to ensure that we fully realise our hydrogen potential? Before I ask the cabinet secretary to respond, I remind all members that they are required to be here for the start of proceedings should they wish to contribute to the proceedings. If they wish to contribute to the proceedings, they should therefore apologise before they make their contribution. We recognise the potential that Scotland has in hydrogen and we are committed to doing everything that we possibly can to maximise the realisation of that. That includes our hydrogen action plan, but we are not just planning. It is supported by £100 million of capital funding, which is designed to accelerate and maximise the production of renewable hydrogen in Scotland for use in Scotland. However, I should also say that analysis suggests a very large hydrogen export opportunity for Scotland, with some estimates thinking that there could be between 70,000 to over 300,000 jobs protected or created and a GVA impact of those export scenarios ranging from £5 billion to £25 billion per annum by 2045. The Scottish Government is doing everything that we can to realise those opportunities. We very much need the UK Government to do their part and to act with the speed whip that we are demonstrating in order to realise that fully. Question number six has been withdrawn. Question number seven, Richard Leonard. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans for Scottish carbon credits, including how it ensures benefits for local communities. The Scottish Government is committed to establishing a values-led, high integrity market for responsible private investment in our natural capital, and that is set out in the national strategy for economic transformation. That commitment includes the voluntary carbon market, as backed up by the Committee on Climate Change, and is supported by our interim principles for responsible investment in natural capital. Those principles set out that investment should deliver integrated land use, should provide public, private and community benefit, should demonstrate engagement and collaboration, have ethical and be values-led, be of high environmental integrity and support diverse and productive land ownership. Those are Scottish ministers' expectations of those who would invest in our natural capital. Richard Leonard. Can I thank the cabinet secretary for that reply, but isn't it the case that far from protecting community interests in achieving net zero, the SNP green government has embarked on an exercise in privatising our nature and opening up carbon credits to speculators and giant corporations to asset strip, cash in, make all the gains and so widen the wealth inequality gap even further. They include fleet core, which sells fuel cards to the road haulage industry. They oil giant shell, defence companies like Tarlis, banks like Barclays. How is that green sustainable or even in the national interest? How is that values-led? Is this what equality opportunity community looks like under this SNP green government? Quite the opposite to the narration from Richard Leonard. This is about the Scottish Government recognising that our natural capital is an exceptionally valuable asset to our people and to our environment. It's about recognising that there are many interventions that we need to take in our natural environment, which will help us rise to the climate and nature emergency and have other co-benefits, including good green jobs in rural areas. However, the public purse can never and will never fund those interventions alone, so we are dedicating ourselves to, as Ms Martin set out, leveraging necessary private investment, but doing so in a pioneering way, and in a way that is values-led, high integrity, which is additional, verifiable and which benefits the people of this country. I have to say that that sits alongside the development of an ambitious land reform bill and continued investment in the Scottish land fund, which is helping communities throughout the country by landing assets in their local areas and putting them to local use. Pension and hedge funds are engaged in the carbon market, similar to the position on the deposit return scheme, where the SNP greens decided to award a multimillion pound waste collection contract to an American hedge fund. Can the cabinet secretary confirm to Parliament that it is SNP green policy to develop new initiatives in order to benefit multinational hedge funds? That is not this Government's motivation. As I have just narrated in response to Richard Leonard, our motivation is seeking to harness the opportunities that we have in abundance in Scotland, in a way that helps us to rise to the climate and a nature emergency, but equally in a way that empowers our people to benefit from the schemes and the developments that will happen in the communities around them. I refer Maurice Golden back to those principles for responsible investment in natural capital. They are pioneering principles that are being referred to by other organisations in countries that are trying now to do likewise. They state very clearly ministers' expectations, and I refer them to them on ethical and values-led investment, on high environmental integrity, on public, private and community benefit, and I would be more than happy to furnish Maurice Golden with evidence of how they are now being utilised by those who are investing in Scotland. 8. Fulton MacGregor, who is joining us remotely. Mr MacGregor, we now have you. Could you please start your question again? Thank you. Mr MacGregor, could you please unmute? Mr MacGregor, I think we have you now. Please start. Apologies again, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government how the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund is supporting change in the bus sector in light of Scotland's net zero ambitions. Minister Kevin Stewart. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Last week I launched the second and final phase of the challenge fund while visiting Alexander Denison-Larbert. The Scottish Government is offering up to £58 million to transform the market for zero emission buses on top of the previous investment of over £113 million in zero emission buses. It is clear that the market is now a pivotal point, and with the money that I am offering the sector could make the zero emission bus market self-sustaining, enabling bus and coach operators of all types and sizes to achieve the zero emissions over the coming years. I thank the minister for that response. Bus transport is crucial to many of our communities, and services such as the recently reintroduced CityLink 902 service provide a vital link in my constituency to city centres. Initiatives such as ScotZEB and the Transformational Under-22 bus pass will be crucial to ensuring that Scotland's bus sector is at the heart of the modal shift that we need to see away from cars as we strive from net zero. Can I therefore ask the minister what level of support the Scottish Government has already provided via ScotZEB and how many buses it has provided? I should note the campaigning efforts of Mr McGregor and Neil Gray on the CityLink 902 that he spoke of. The Government awarded £62 million through the first phase of ScotZEB, helping operators to acquire 276 battery electric buses and the associated charging infrastructure. That is over and above the £52 million capital that we have put in previously, plus a resource commitment that is worth up to £20 million that we have provided through our previous fund to support 272 battery electric buses and that infrastructure. We are helping the bus sector to decarbonise. We are encouraging more people to choose bus and to take fewer journeys by cars. Alongside that, we have seen over 62 million free bus journeys made by young people across Scotland since the introduction of our young persons scheme. That is all good news for the people of Scotland. Thank you minister. That concludes portfolio questions on net zero and just transition. There will be a very short pause before we move on to the next item of business, to allow front bench teams to change positions should they wish.