 Mae cyngor y salw Anything under £1,000 ac mae'r bwysig mae'n berth ychydigon nhw yng ngoswm o Mwsch 2664 yn ynghylch yn Clare Adamson yn cadwodau llwgfaeth. Mae'n bwysig ond byddai i'w cael ei cwestiynau'r bwysig. Rwy'n emlwg i'n meddwl, mae'n gweithio ddim gael ei wneud, rydw i'r gwneud a'r pwyntwys i'n teimlu hefyd o'r fflaeniau, i'r pwysig o'r rhaid i'r ymnas, rydw i'n mwybod i'w I invite Mr MacDonald to open the debate for up to seven minutes please Mr MacDonald. Sorry Mr MacDonald your microphone doesn't seem to have come on and that would explain it. Start again Mr MacDonald. First time in 11 years so I can't really. So unfortunately as you said Claire Anderson is unable to speak to her motion of fair trade forum pledge and as someone who supported the Blerno fair trade group my constituency over many years I hope I can do justice to Claire's motion. Scottish Fair Trade Forum pledges a way for MSPs to show their support for all actions which improve the livelihood of farmers and workers from developing countries I should say who produce many of the products which we consume every day. This also involves supporting a fair economy and committing to tackling the climate emergency. The Scottish Fair Trade Forum was established in 2007 by a group of Scottish-based fair trade campaigners to promote the cause of fair trade in Scotland and support Scotland becoming a fair trade nation. It has similar aims to the fair trade foundation which was established by Christian Aid, New Consumer, Oxfam, Tradecraft and the World Development Movement and the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development back in 1992. That same year the co-operative supermarkets became the first supermarket chain to sell a fair trade product, cafe direct coffee. The first fair trade fortnight in the UK, directed by Barnaby Milne, was launched on 12 February 1997 at St Augustine's United Church on Edinburgh's George IV bridge. He encouraged supporters during fair trade fortnight to go and ask for fair trade products and provided them all with a list of 85 supermarkets in Scotland's cities and larger towns. Scotland was the second nation in the world after Wales to achieve fair trade nation status in 2013 and support sales of products that offer a better deal to workers in developing countries. The result of all this effort is that today there is now over 6,000 fair trade products on sale from coffee and tea to flowers, clothes, wine, beauty products and even gold. What they all have in common is that they carry the fair trade mark, certifying that products and ingredients have been produced in safer working conditions, respecting workers' rights and having fairer levels of pay. Why is promoting fair trade important in developing countries independent small farmers who work their own land and market their produce through a local co-operative are paid a price that covers the cost of sustainable production? They are also paid a premium that producers can invest in development. By being able to exceed their production costs, they can improve their lives by having access to better education, healthcare and more nutritious food. We also have the fair trade producers. For example, most fair trade tea is grown on estates. The primary concerns for the workers employed in tea plantations are fair wages and decent working conditions. If the producers agree to pay decent wages, guarantee the right to join trade unions, provide good house and where relevant, maintain health and safety, as well as environmental standards and ensure that no child labour or forced labour can occur, and return their awarded contracts that allow for long-term planning and sustainable production practices where they can receive partial advance payments when requested. As a result, fair trade benefits workers and communities by spreading profits more equitably and stimulating the local economy. Profits are often reinvested into community projects such as health clinics, childcare and education. Nearly 1,900 fair trade certified producer organisations across 71 countries receive a fair trade premium of £169 million in 2020. On average, each producer receives £90,000 as an additional premium to support their local community. There are a large number of local fair trade community groups across Scotland, and in Balerno, in my constituency of Edinburgh Pentlands, they gained fair trade status in 2013 thanks to the volunteers promoting the benefits of fair trade to the local community. Every year, Balerno fair trade group organises among schools the fair trade art competition and hosts the annual coffee and crafts fair. During the course of the year, they encourage local businesses to stock fair trade products from family-run Carliles bar and kitchen to the local scot mid to the community cafe at the mill. This effort to keep fair trade in the public eye resulted in Balerno fair trade being awarded fair trade community of the month by the fair trade foundation in June of last year. Also, our schools promote fair trade, especially during fair trade for tonight, and I know Clare would have thanked schools in that area, such as Newman's, St Aidan's, Morningside Primary and St Bernadette's, for their efforts in raising awareness of fair trade produce. I should also take the opportunity to mention the schools in my constituency, starting with Stenhouse Primary, who were awarded fair trade status in 2010, Dean Park Primary in 2013, and the continued support and participation in local fair trade events from pupils and staff at Balerno high. Many of the schools, both in my constituency and Clare Adamson's, will promote fair trade by selling fair trade products in their tux shop or using fair trade products in their staff room. The pupils will learn about how global trade works and why fair trade is important and produce awareness-raising posters for the school and the local community. However, we can all help the fair trade movement not only by supporting local organisations during fair trade for tonight, but by stimulating demand, by asking for fair trade products in shops, cafes and restaurants. We can also spread the fair trade message among our family, friends and colleagues and, as a result, assist in a small way in supporting communities in developing countries. Edinburgh is a fair trade city and Scotland has been recognised as one of the first fair trade nations. That highlights the way that people of Scotland share a vision of being a good global citizen and are committed to playing our part in addressing poverty. I am aware that I may have inadvertently given the wrong number for the motion, which is, of course, 2864. I am with that. We move on to the first speaker in the open debate, which is Sharon Dowie, who joins us remotely. I will be followed by Colin Smith for up to four minutes, please, Ms Dowie. I thank Clare Adamson for bringing this to chamber and wish her a speedy recovery. Many of us will have seen the fair trade logo in shops, often in coffee, chocolate or bananas, for example, but I do not think that many of us really know what fair trade actually is, what it means and what role it can play in our future beyond recognising the fair trade sticker. That is why, for the past couple of weeks, I have been engaging in learning about fair trade businesses in Ayrshire, like the honey bee in the here in Ayr. As a small, independent cafe, they provide high-quality artisan coffee and made food, artwork and gifts. I have learned a lot about their sustainable supply chain and products. That helped me to put fair trade business into perspective. The owners explained that fair trade means workers' rights, fairer pay, safer working conditions and sustainability, while for shoppers it means quality and ethically produced products for a fair wage. To learn more about fair trade in Scotland, I have been communicating with the Scottish Fair Trade Forum to understand its approach, activities and how they are bringing together fair trade groups, businesses, NGOs, faith groups, universities, colleges and public sector organisations. Fair trade is not just about being nice chocolate, it is a culture that we need to develop across Scotland. Local authorities have an important role to play in promoting fair trade through the support of local organisations. Across south and east Ayrshire, those organisations include air fair trade partnership, south Ayrshire fair trade zone committee and east Ayrshire fair trade group. Because of their work, it is encouraging to see that south Ayrshire became a fair trade zone in March 2018, bringing together the work of the air press we can tune, and that east Ayrshire became a fair trade zone in October 2016. That is why today you can find many businesses across south and east Ayrshire that have committed to fair trade business practices. It would make a real difference if all MSPs encouraged their local authorities to get more involved in fair trade activities such as fair trade fortnight. Fair trade fortnight activities annually help in spreading the message about the importance of fairer and more sustainable trading practices. It also provides an opportunity to hear stories about workers from the developing world who grow food and clothing materials on mind-precious metals. Such initiatives can help us in achieving our sustainable development goals in fairer trade. Educating younger generations is a great start and gives us all a better chance in becoming more sustainable. Younger generations can utilise their skills and knowledge to shape a more compassionate and sustainable world. That is why I am pleased to see many south Ayrshire schools taking part in fair trade events. Kaila academy is a great example where the geography and RMA department won a prize for sustainability at the Scottish Fair Trade Awards in November. I urge all MSPs to encourage schools from their constituencies to get involved. Finally, MSPs, there is so much more that we can do. We can encourage our councils to do more for fair trade groups and campaigns. We can also sign the Fair Trade Pledge campaign by the Scottish Fair Trade Forum, which demonstrates our support for all actions that improve the livelihoods of workers who produce many of the products that we consume. I am proud that I signed the pledge in October, but as MSPs we should be leading by example, and that is why I urge my colleagues across the chamber to sign the pledge. We should also come together and push for more fair trade products in Parliament. I think that those steps would demonstrate our unity in achieving fair trade goals. As a fair trade nation, our efforts aim to embed fair trade values across all sectors of Scottish society. Whether that means looking for the fair trade mark on the products that we buy, attending one of many fair trade events, or simply donating to help to promote fair trade. I now call on Colin Smyth, who will be followed by Paul MacLennan, up to four minutes please. Thank you to Clare Adamson, who I wish a speedy recovery for tabling her motion for debate. It provides us all with an opportunity to highlight just how important fair trade is, as an able assistant Gordon MacDonald did, but also to say thank you to the Scottish Fair Trade Forum and everyone who is part of the fair trade journey here in Scotland. It is less than two weeks since fair trade Fortnite took place. The Parliament's cross-party group on fair trade, as well as being the chair of the Dumfries and Galloway regional fair trade steering group, I am pretty passionate about fair trade. It is the local groups, the businesses and the producers in our communities that make fair trade Fortnite happen. After the past two tough years for everyone when we have been separated from our friends and families, it was great to once and again get out on a boat and in person and take part in fair trade Fortnite events. I was lucky to attend a number of events in my region, including at the wonderful fair trade, Big Brew in the Dumfriesshire village of Dunskarae. A village, I have to say, that per head of population must have more fair traders than anywhere in the country. I saw at first hand at just how tirelessly local volunteers are working to promote fair trade, despite the challenges that we have all faced. I want to say a heartfelt thank you to every volunteer in every shop and every organisation and every school right across the country who are helping to deliver trade justice for so many vulnerable farmers and workers in developing countries that we can week out. In the work of parliamentarians, as the motion highlights, they are supported in our endeavours by the Scottish Fair Trade Forum under the leadership of chief executive, Martin Rhodes and chair of chair, Charles Sim and vice chair, Liz Manson, both of whom I am proud to say are South Scotland constituents of mine. Who along with the other vice chair, Rachel Farry, of the One World Shop here in Edinburgh, lead the forum. The forum does an invaluable job supplying information, knowledge, training and resources to local fair trade groups. They promote fair trade businesses here in Scotland, including supporting the partnership with producers during the pandemic. They also support producers worldwide, including having fair trade producer representatives from Malawi and Rwanda on their board. The work of the forum led to the step change in fair trade activity in Scotland that resulted in fair trade nation status being secured almost a decade ago. It remains vital as we take the next step on the fair trade journey. The fair trade principles of better prices of decent working conditions of local sustainability and fair terms of trade for workers have never been more important than they are now. Fair trade challenges the injustices and unfairness of conventionable trade. It is also at the heart of the fight against climate change, trade justice and climate justice working hand in hand. During fair trade fortnight, the forum arranged for producers from Ghana, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Malawi and Palestine to take part in online events, including our own cross-party group. I was struck during those events by the stories of the devastating impact of climate change on some of our most vulnerable developing countries. Farmers of crops such as tea, coffee and cocoa, who are already battling the impact of volatile market prices and rising production costs with little power in the multi-million pound supply chains that supply are now having more and more to deal with freak weather, extreme rainfall, prolonged dry seasons and the prevalence of plant disease in their crops. A fair trade forum that ensures that farmers and producers in the global south are paid a fair price for their goods really is a lifeline for those producers allowing farming to be more resilient and to reduce their own carbon footprint without worrying about affording medicine, food or children's education and housing. Is there more that we as individuals but also as Government can do to support fair trade? Of course there is. Just ask any fair trade group locally who have tried to get a fair trade sign at the entrance to their village but have been hit by bureaucracy or look at how much or how little, in fact, of the multi-billion pound public sector procurement budget is actually spent on fair trade goods and it is clear that there is an awful lot more that we can all do. That's why, Presiding Officer, we should be proud to be a fair trade nation but we should all back that fair trade pledge and commit today to redouble our efforts to support fair trade and by doing so, change the world for the better a little bit every day. Thank you very much indeed, Mr Smith. I now call on Paul MacLennan. We follow by Maggie Chapman for around four minutes, Mr MacLennan. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I thank Claire Adamson for bringing us forward this debate this afternoon and for Gordon MacDonald for standing in? At a time of global conflict, it reminds me of how interconnected our lives are in this world. The fallout in Ukraine will not only affect geopolitical matters but will lead to difficulties in food supply and in food security. Ukraine is one of the biggest exporters of grain in the world. Tectonic plates have shifted politically and economically in the past four weeks since the invasion. How we work together in the world not only at a time of conflict but that of climate change and droughts will impact on us all. The wording of the motion includes the wording that the fair trade pledge is there to ensure better prices, safe working conditions, local sustainability and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers. It understands that the pledge also includes the setting and buying of fair trade products from coffee and tea to flowers and gold, as we have heard, and encouraging consumers to look for the fair trade mark. Many of the products that we buy and use every day are grown or produced by people who are not paid a fair price for their work or produce over a long period of time. Workers and small-hold farmers are often working in poor and dangerous conditions and denied access to markets on a fair basis. Fair trade, as we know, is all about ensuring that workers and small-hold farmers are paid a fair price and campaigning for these producers to have the opportunity to participate in global markets without exploitation. Over the years, one of the successes of fair trade has been building a partnership between consumers and producers. Many of the staples that we find in our homes come from producers who were previously not paid fair prices for their work or product. That has perpetuated a cycle of poverty and has denied many families a dignified life. As MSPs, we all have a role in our own constituencies but also that of Scotland as a fair trade nation. Indeed, every one of us, prior to the election last May, were asked to sign the fair trade pledge. It is stated that, if I am elected in the next Parliament, I will take actions to promote Scotland's fair trade nation status, listen to the voices of producers in global supply chains, support access to build a fairer economy and tackle the climate emergencies. I also support measures to increase the public procurement of fair trade products. I know Colin Smyth has mentioned that and that is something that we need to work with our local councils on that. What can we do practically? We can join our fair trade groups and I am a part of a fair trade group in Dunbarren and that is going really well. There are a few other trade groups in East Lothian. Fair trade groups are at the heart of the fair trade movement. They organise, activate and lobby to raise awareness of the need for fair trade and bring about change at all levels. There are also groups that exist within communities, schools, colleges, universities, faith groups and, of course, workplaces. Many workplaces to work towards achieving fair trade status are achieved by our partner, the Fair Trade Foundation. Collectively, those groups make Scotland a fair trade nation and contribute to the international fair trade town's movement. We can also encourage our schools to teach fair trade. The fair trade school awards from the fair trade foundation take the school or nursery on our journey from awareness about fair trade through to embedding it into the life of school and local community. Going for those awards offers a great opportunity to consider global issues from a fair trade perspective. Teaching about fair trade fits within the curriculum and can support people to develop the knowledge, skills and attributes needed in their interconnected world. Of course, from business and fair trade, we can encourage businesses in their own constituencies to buy, sell and support fair trade. Ethical consumption is on their eyes in the UK and consumers expect more action than ever before from businesses to make their supply chains transparent, equitable and environmentally friendly. What was once a unique selling point is now industry standard. It is one of the great successes of the ethical consumer movement. Investing in fair trade can help businesses' effortless signal of commitment to sustainable, responsible and fairer standards in production. Fair trade, products that fulfil the ethical commitments to fairer wages, improves working conditions, community investment and environmentalism. I thank Clare Adam again for bringing forward his motion. Let's do what we can do to support fair trade in our own localities and in Scotland. I thank Clare Adam for lodging the motion and Gordon MacDonald for speaking to it in her absence. I wish Clare a speedy recovery. I offer my apologies to the chamber. I cannot stay for the whole debate, but I am grateful to be able to speak now. I thank the DPO for letting me leave early. Fair trade is not just good in itself as a system of standards for buying and selling specific commodities. It is also a model for how we can do trade better, both globally and locally, and how we can build fairer, healthier, more peaceful and sustainable relationships within Scotland and across the world. The climate crisis, the Covid pandemic, international arms and the conflicts that they exacerbate remind us that we are none of us islands, even those of us who live on them. We are linked together in global relationships of responsibility, complicity, shared history, future possibility and I believe and hope, solidarity and care. The fair trade movement offers us a way to acknowledge these relationships and to build them together. Fair trade is an urgent and effective remedy for particular instances of trade exploitation. Those networks of oppression which dominate international trade in sectors including the cotton, banana and chocolate industries. Fair trade supply chains represent a vital alternative to those horrors, but fair trade is also a hugely important framework for a wide range of goods and commodities not only the most egregiously exploitative. We have the opportunity in our positions of privilege to make sure that the decisions that we make and the decisions that we influence are aligned with fair trade principles and with fair trade practice. The community premium is at the heart of the fair trade system and what it tells us needs to be at the heart of how we look at our own economies. The premium is paid not to suppliers as individual farmers or businesses, but for the benefit of the communities that they belong to. It reminds us that we are not the atomised actors of traditional economic theory coldly calculating our maximised self-interest. We are communities, ecosystems, neighbourhoods intricately bound together in shared experience. Our economies, like the economies of co-production supported by the fair trade premium, are there to enable that shared endeavour, not the other way around. Communities in the majority world, the global south, are facing deeper and cooler challenges than ever before. Intensifying climate impacts, as we have heard already, the health and vaccine inequalities of Covid, fortress nations clanging the gates shut against refugees, land grabs to feed the rich and fix the net zero balance sheets. That is not a question of charity, it is a question of basic justice of fundamental human rights. The best of fair trade organisations know that. They do not just seek increased markets and better conditions for the suppliers that they deal with. They are looking for transformational change at every level. We in the Scottish Parliament, as well as in our fair trade towns and cities across the country, can be a part of making that happen. I am proud to have signed the fair trade pledge and to celebrate the work of the fair trade movement, not least in the continent of Africa where I was born and grew up. Significant benefits have been for many in the majority world. Fair trade needs need to go much further, much wider, much deeper. We need not only to challenge the worst, the most brutal and cynical forms of trade exploitation but also our everyday assumptions, our unthinking expectation that the majority world will be a giant supermarket shelf crammed with monoculture goodies to feed our pleasures. In a world where we, rightly, are looking to feed ourselves more locally and sustainably, we need to ensure that everyone can do the same. I look forward to the day when we need no fair trade pledges, no fair trade certificates, no fair trade labels, when fair trade is simply trade and the alternative is unthinkable. Thank you, Ms Chapman. I now call Ruth Maguire, who joins us remotely and will be followed by Sarah Boyack, for around four minutes. I would like to congratulate Clare Adamson for recognising fair trade pledge and bringing this important issue to the chamber and thank Gordon MacDonald for opening the debate. My constituency of Cunningham South sits within North Ayrshire. In 2014, through the hard work of the North Ayrshire Fair Trade Zone group, supported by the local authority, North Ayrshire was recognised as a fair trade zone. I am pleased to say that it has been awarded again this year for its eighth year running. I would like to take this moment to acknowledge the members of the North Ayrshire Fair Trade Zone group and recognise the hard work and determination of everyone involved in making this happen. When discussing fair trade, people automatically think about products such as coffee, bananas and chocolate, but it is not just about the products, it is about the people. Buying fair trade means rights for workers, safer working conditions and fairer pay, and a product for consumers who can pride themselves on buying high quality, ethically produced goods. However, despite efforts from groups such as the North Ayrshire Fair Trade Zone, there continues to be a vast number of products that are grown or made by workers who are not treated fairly. Those workers are often producing goods in dangerous conditions and are being denied the same access to markets as other producers. For example, we are a nation of chocolate lovers with the UK chocolate market being worth billions and demand growing yearly, but it leaves a bitter taste to learn that cocoa farmers in the Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana live in abject poverty, with the Fair Trade Foundation reporting farmers earning as little as £75 per day—the same amount as one bar of chocolate sold here. It is also reported that, as is often the case, women bear the greatest burden, having fewer rights than men, but not only working long hours in the cocoa field starting less than men, they expect to look after their children and manage extra tasks such as carrying water and household chores. In today's more informed and connected world, we cannot be ignorant to the truth. The Fair Trade Pledge, along with Fair Trade Fortnight, gives a stage for thousands of individuals, businesses and organisations across Scotland to come together and share the stories of the people who, like the cocoa farmers, work hard to produce goods that are exploited and underpaid, and to join together and reject those practices. I urge everyone to choose the world that we want and highlight the inequality and injustice that is felt by them. Education and awareness is a powerful tool, and it is important that, while we advocate for change, children develop their understanding of how fair trade benefits farmers and workers across the globe. Within my constituency, there are a number of schools that are registered as fair trade schools, secondary and primary pupils alike, striving to achieve awards, ranging from understanding how their school uses fair trade products to fully embedding fair trade into their daily school life and working to raise awareness of fair trade in their local community. I would like to express my gratitude to the teachers in those schools who played key roles in informing the next generation of the benefits of fair trade, normalising equality and making lives better. Buying fair trade is easy—there are over 6,000 fair trade products. I encourage everyone to look for the fair trade mark when shopping. Choosing fair trade means standing with others for fairness and equality, allowing farmers to tackle poverty and build resilience to the climate crisis that we face. Everyone can change the world for the better, but business is signing up to the fair trade pledge. Consumers are choosing to buy fair trade products and educating our children to do the same. I thank Clare Adamson for securing today's debate and Gordon MacDonald for standing in to kick off the discussion. I also want to thank the Scottish Fair Trade Forum for all their work. It is timely for us meeting so recently after fair trade fortnight to highlight the benefits of fair trade, but we also need an all-year round focus. Fair trade is crucial in ensuring that goods are produced ethically and it is a key tool that we as consumers have to know the price we pay delivers on our environment and fair work principles for producers and directly benefits to the communities that they live in. The Koraka Erpiana co-operative in Bolivia is a brilliant example of the benefits of fair trade for people and communities. Research shows that the co-operatives are in a stable financial situation, which has resulted in 60 per cent of its members being able to access electricity, 97 per cent recycling organic waste and an impressive 86 per cent believe that they are better off in the organisation than before, with 54 per cent seeing jobs created in their community. The delivery of high-quality sustainable products, easier access to credit for small holders, investment in community services such as food security and scholarships are only a few of the many benefits fair trade has both for consumers and producers worldwide. A couple of weeks ago at our cross-party group on fair trade it was inspiring to hear from producers the story of the sholey coffee in Rwanda, which started as a small association of 30 women and hasn't stopped growing ever since. We heard of the contribution of the Casantulla Cain growers association from Malawi that managed to convert largely unproductive land to sugarcane production, providing an income for 282 subsistence farmers and employment for nearly 800 permanent and seasonal field workers. Then we heard about the positive impact of fair trade in supporting producers and their communities in Palestine. However, as others said, the challenges posed by the pandemic have impacted, with producer organisations struggling to cope and affecting the livelihoods of their workers. Research shows that Covid-19 significantly affected the business viability of fair trade producers, with the majority reporting a decrease in production, lower fair trade sales and non-fair trade sales in 2020 versus 2019. A significant minority saw lower prices and number of buyers, and the Africa and Middle East region was the worst hit, with almost 70 per cent of the sample producer organisations there reporting a decline in production and sales. There is much more that we need to do. Fair trade has made a difference to the lives of more than 550,000 farmers and workers in nearly 60 countries. As the second country in the world to be named a fair trade nation, Scotland is ahead of the game, but there is so much more we need to do. It is not just us signing the pledge as individuals, it is looking at how we see ethical public sector procurement make the maximum difference it can make. It is looking at what we, as consumers, can do to support local fair trade shops. In Edinburgh, I am proud of the fact that we have been a fair trade city since 2004. We have fantastic shops that deal with the focus on Palestinian fair trade crafts. The one-world shop brings fantastic, sustainable and fairly traded goods from across the world. We have access to fair trade products in Oxfam shops on our high streets, with products from over 70 countries across the world. As Gordon MacDonald said, co-operative and scot-mid shops in our high streets across Scotland. At our recent fair trade cross-party group, we are also focusing on the fact that we can all buy fair trade goods online wherever we live in Scotland. There is much more that we can do. Let us hope that today's message is a positive one. It is a call to action for all of us that we can all buy our fair trade goods, and I encourage everyone to go online, check out their local shops and support communities across the world. They need our trade, and they need our investment, and it is transformative. I wish to pass on my thanks to Claire Adamson and wish her well and hope she has a speedy recovery for putting forward this motion, but also to my colleague Gordon MacDonald for stepping in so well. I also want to thank colleagues across the chamber who shared their stories from their constituencies as Gordon MacDonald set out so well, highlighting the levels of support that there are for the fair trade movement in communities up and down the country. Just reflecting on some of the contributions that we have heard today, Gordon MacDonald is absolutely right to congratulate the Balerno fair trade movement and the schools in his constituency, and those he mentioned in Humane's and Morningside in the Claire Adamson's constituency, those schools that I previously represented when I was in the House of Commons. Sharon Dowie also raised the fair trade forum, which I will come to, and rightly congratulated Honeybee in the area that she represents. Colin Smyth, I want to pay tribute to for his work in both in Parliament and in his area for promoting and prioritising fair trade, and also to echo his thanks for those campaigning in schools and communities to promote fair trade. Paul McLennan reminded us why that is also important, given the horrific events that we are seeing in Ukraine. The known cost of that, the human cost of that, is not just isolated to Ukraine, it spreads much wider and so much. As we look to ensure food supply around the world, we must do so with fairness and producers in mind. Maggie Chapman reminded us all of our collective and individual responsibilities. This is not about charity but justice and rights, which is absolutely right. Ruth Maguire, like her, congratulated her North Ayrshire fair trade group, and she reminded us of the work that we still have to do to expand products available so that we can see better treatment, for instance, for the cocoa farmers that she spoke of in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. Sarah Boyack highlighted to us a very real example of the benefits that Bolivia, Rwanda and Malawi of how fair trade delivers those real benefits for people, and she is right that we have more to do. In my own Ayrdran Shocks constituency, Ayrdran became a fair trade town in 2015, and North Lanarkshire Council achieved the status in 2020. Many organisations such as Shocks Health and Living Centre and St Andrews Hospice sell fair trade goods. People are absolutely right to draw on those experiences and thank them for the work that they are doing, but, as Sarah Boyack and others have said, they will have more work to do there. 2023 marks 10 years since Scotland achieved fair trade nation status. That was an accolade of which we were rightly proud back in 2013 and which we continue to take pride in as we prepare to renew our commitment to fair trade for a second time. Next year, an expert panel will decide if we can continue to call ourselves a fair trade nation. What does being a fair trade nation mean? How does it help the 700 million people around the world who still exist on less than two dollars a day, the 63 million children who still do not have access to education or the 55 percent of people living in rural areas who do not have access to soap and water? Being a fair trade nation means that in everything that we as a country do, we do it with the principles of fairness, social justice and gender equity at the forefront of our minds. As a Government, those same principles are at the heart of our policies, and Gordon MacDonald set out perfectly the impact that that has with people around the world. Policies such as our commitment to ensure that more of our funding goes directly to our partner countries, shifting the balance of power and supporting people in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia to build more resilient and equal communities. At COP26, we committed to increasing our climate justice fund to £36 million across this Parliament, providing additional support for the world's poorest and most vulnerable communities. From April 22, we will start to increase our international development fund by 50 per cent to £15 million per year, with the first increase up to £11.5 million next month. In doing so, our programme will continue to recognise the needs of communities in our partner countries impacted by Covid, and we will carry on with our efforts of the last two years to provide support as they build back from the pandemic. We also remain committed to responding to the global crisis through our £1 million a year humanitarian emergency fund, which, over the last two years, has been activated for Lebanon, Indonesia, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Afghanistan and, most recently, Burkina Faso. However, our funding is only one part of our contribution and support for the global south. Our approach on policy coherence for sustainable development makes clear that our wider policies within Government itself and how people in Scotland embrace active global citizenship is also a huge part of Scotland's global impact and contribution. Our buying choices, our commitment to fair trade is a key part of that. Being successful in our bid to renew our fair trade nation status will be in no small part of the efforts of the Scottish Fair Trade Forum. Core funded from the international development fund since 2007, the forum has worked tirelessly to build support for the fair trade movement across all sections of Scottish society. From their engagement with fair trade groups from the borders to the islands to the annual fair trade awards, which recognises the achievements of individuals, community groups and businesses to the work that they do in schools, helping teachers to educate the next generation about being good global citizens, the forum has been driving forward change. I have to say that the work with schools was a thread through this debate. My oldest two children island, Finlay, has been learning about fair trade in their school, and it is so important because they have not just become advocates, quite frankly, they are evangelists for us, ensuring that we are buying fair trade goods when we are out getting the messages. I am proud of all that has been achieved since we became a fair trade nation, but it is vital that we keep up the momentum. That is why I am pleased to announce that, in addition to the £1.7 million that the Scottish Government has already provided to build our capacity, another £324,000 over the next two financial years to the Scottish Fair Trade Forum to take forward our fair trade nation work. In addition, I have also signed, like many others of my fellow MSPs, the Scottish Fair Trade Forum's pledge, and in doing so I am committing to take action to promote Scotland's fair trade nation status. When global catastrophes occur, whether there have been natural disasters such as the recent devastation caused by storm Anna in Malawi or acts of aggression such as the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, we feel compelled to act. However, pictures of the daily struggles of fair trade farmers and producers rarely make the headlines. The new challenges they face day after day simply to put food on the table is the harsh reality for millions of people. Sometimes it can feel like there is little we can do to change that, but the simple fact is that there is something we can do. We can make a huge difference just by choosing products that carry the fair trade mark next time we shop. The fair trade premium ensures that farmers and producers can feed their families, build homes by medicine and send their children to school. Those are basic human needs, things that many of us take for granted, but for some they are luxuries that remain out of reach. Together we can change that. Time and again the people of Scotland demonstrate that we are a caring nation, whether it be close to home or in the furthest corners of the world. Whenever there is a cry, we will do all we can to help. I thank Claire Adamson at Government Donald and colleagues for their leadership in that today. Thank you very much indeed. That concludes the debate and I suspend this meeting of Parliament until 2.30.