 The next item of business is a statement by Roseanna Cunningham on Scottish greenhouse gas emissions annual target report for 2015. The cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of her statement, so there should be no interventions or interruptions. I would ask members who wish to speak to press their buttons now. Last year, when I met Patricia Espinosa ahead of the United Nations climate body, she spoke about Scotland's great achievement on this defining issue. She met the First Minister earlier this month and again congratulated Scotland on its leadership. One point we make when speaking to international figures, which often surprises them, is the cross-party consensus in Scotland on climate change, and that our 2009 act was passed unanimously in this chamber. In 2015, Scotland was one of the first countries to sign up to the UN's sustainable development goals. The overarching framework to tackle poverty and inequality, promote education and health, and grow the global economy sustainably. At the Paris climate conference, the First Minister and the German Minister spoke about the Paris agreement being the first big challenge for the goals. Paris turned out to be a huge achievement. The recent decision by the USA to withdraw has served only to prompt renewed support for the treaty from states, regions, cities and progressively minded businesses. In April, the First Minister signed a co-operation agreement with California Governor Jerry Brown to support his under 2 coalition. That is almost 200 progressive states and cities, covering over 1.2 billion people, 16 per cent of the global population and almost 40 per cent of the global economy. 2018 is going to be a particularly important year for the Paris agreement. California will host a summit for the under 2 coalition to help boost global ambition. The IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, will publish its special report on limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. 2018 will also see a major facilitative dialogue to take stock of the collective global effort. We already know more needs to be done. Current Paris pledges could limit global temperature rise to around 3 degrees, but a wide range of outcomes is possible. It is a crucial time for all countries, ourselves included, to show where they stand. I am very pleased to announce that both the First Minister and myself will be attending this year's talks in Bonn in a few weeks' time. The statement sets out the ever-stronger messages that we will be taking to Bonn. Let me begin with a short formal statement in relation to the statutory Scottish Greenhouse gas emissions annual target report for 2015, which was laid in Parliament this morning. This report shows that Scotland's annual emissions reduction target for 2015 was met, meaning that targets have now been met for the second consecutive year. The report shows that the domestic effort target for 2015 was also met. The report is based on the statistics published in June, which show that Scotland continues to outperform the UK as a whole and to rank very highly internationally. Of the Western European EU 15 countries, only Sweden and Finland have done better to date. Scotland's success in meeting its stretching climate targets is underpinned by a comprehensive package of on-the-ground measures that promote sustainable economic growth and help tackle inequalities, whilst decarbonising Scotland's economy. The Scottish Government is currently working to finalise Scotland's climate change plan for publication in February 2018. As part of this process, we are reflecting carefully on all of the recommendations arising from parliamentary scrutiny of the draft plan and the Committee on Climate Change's recent report. The final plan will be strengthened by the bold new low-carbon commitment that is set out in the First Minister's programme for government, exemplified by phasing out the need for new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2032. Over the past 15 years, we have worked hard to decarbonise our electricity supply and will now direct our renewable energy to electrification on our roads. The programme also commits to doubling investment in active travel, and I am sure that members will be looking forward to discussing that in the debate later this afternoon. We have listened to Parliament and the Committee on Climate Change and I can confirm that the final plan will include updated sexual emission envelopes, reflecting our new commitments, as well as the most up-to-date evidence. We are continuing to work with stakeholders, including the external advisory group, the members of which I would like to thank for their valuable contributions to date and the Committee on Climate Change, as we finalised the plan. The UK Government published its clean growth strategy earlier this month. The strategy is the statutory counterpart to Scotland's climate change plan, in that it sets out the approach to decarbonisation over the period to 2032. However, the UK strategy and our plan diverge in terms of its overall levels of action, reflecting Scotland's more ambitious statutory targets. The strategy is an important document and we are considering it in detail to understand how it impacts on the people of Scotland, our economy and our decarbonisation ambitions. I have already mentioned the important role that independent expert advice plays in the Scottish Government's approach to tackling climate change. I wrote on 12 October to Lord Debbon, chair of the Committee on Climate Change, to thank the Committee for its 2017 progress report. This letter, a copy of which has been laid in Parliament, makes clear that the Scottish Government is reflecting carefully on all of the committee's recommendations as we work to finalise the climate change plan. Scotland's climate targets under this Parliament's 2009 act are already the toughest in the UK and amongst the toughest in the world. Unlike the UK Government, the Scottish Government has brought forward proposals for new legislation to raise the ambition of our long-term targets even further, in direct response to the Paris agreement. It reflects our recognition that Paris represents an increase in global ambition and our commitment to keeping Scotland at the forefront of the low-carbon transition. Tackling climate change represents not only a moral imperative but a huge economic opportunity, which we are determined that Scotland should seize. That consultation on our proposals for a new climate change bill closed on 22 September. We have received almost 20,000 responses and are now taking time to carefully consider all of these, alongside the full range of evidence available. Part of this evidence-based approach, I am aware that the underpinning scientific guidelines for how we measure greenhouse gas emissions are also continuing to evolve, especially in the land use sectors, which are of particular importance here in Scotland. It is therefore more important than ever that we have access to the most up-to-date information and expert advice. The Parliament has already been informed through my 12 October letter to Lord Debbon. I have given the Committee on Climate Change the opportunity to provide any further advice on bill targets that it may consider appropriate at this time. In addition to our climate leadership through domestic action, Scotland plays an active and strengthening international role. I mentioned the under 2 coalition of high ambition states, regions and cities. I am delighted that Scotland's cities alliance has agreed to support the coalition and I look forward to working with our seven cities to promote their progressive position on climate change. Scotland has been an active member of the climate group states and regions alliance for over a decade. The alliance brings together some of the most economically powerful regions in the world. We are supporting the alliance's futures fund to help developing countries in the network. Our Scottish national action plan on human rights commits us to continue to champion climate justice. We continue to deliver the First Minister's pledge at Paris to provide at least £3 million each year through our climate justice fund. Following on from over £6 million hydrogenation funding for water adaptation projects in Africa since 2012, we gave £1 million in 2016 to the UN to support developing countries engaged with the Paris agreement. Hydrogenation funding continues with £2.5 million supporting access to water and wastewater services in Malawi. Our new climate justice innovation fund announced its first £600,000 for six projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. We will soon announce the award of our new climate challenge programme, Malawi, with £3.2 million over three years. Between 2012 and 2021, our climate justice fund will provide £21 million to some of the world's poorest people. Climate action lies at the heart of the Scottish Government's aim of creating a successful country through promoting sustainable and equitable economic growth. It is a vital issue that spans ambition, delivery and international partnership working. I will be proud to relate Scotland's leadership at the forthcoming climate talks in Bonn. I will now move on to 20 minutes for questions. I will start with Donald Cameron, to be followed by Claudia Beamish. I would like to thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of her statement. It is abundantly clear from yesterday's news of concentrations of carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere, reaching a record high that we continue to face a major climate challenge. Nevertheless, we must pursue an agenda that sees Scotland meet its commitments and be at the forefront of this worldwide endeavour. I endorse the cabinet secretary's comments on cross-party consensus in Scotland. Having viewed the report, there is a lot to be proud of. However, it is deeply disappointing that, in terms of the next Scottish emissions account, emissions have gone up. They have increased by almost 2 per cent in 2015 on the previous year. We still face a challenge of lowering carbon levels in a variety of areas. Reflecting on comments made by WWF Scotland that housing is among some of the weakest areas to be dealt with in the draft climate change plan, what action will the Scottish Government take to address that particular area when ensuring that Scotland takes a bold approach to reducing emissions? I thank Donald Cameron for his question. Like most countries, we would all have to effectively own up to the fact that we continue to emit far more than we should. It is one of the enormous challenges that we all face that we get those emissions down as much as possible. Scotland is doing incredibly well, set against other countries. I am always surprised to discover that it is not the case that all countries have clear-cut targets such as we have. When we are setting ourselves against other countries, as an example, we are looking at other countries who have set themselves targets. However, there are many out there who simply have not done that. In those circumstances, measuring our effort against those countries is quite difficult. The member asks about housing. He will know that there are very significant challenges in respect of housing, not least of which is the existing domestic housing stock. The challenges that there are to be faced by any Government in dealing with the need to ensure that those existing households become more energy efficient is one that we are addressing. We are addressing it as a Government through the huge amount of energy efficiency money that is going into that work. However, that becomes a challenge for individuals, because those of us who are owner-occupiers have a responsibility to consider whether our own housing is emitting far less than it needs to or should be, as well as the requirement that we have to deal with the rented sector and social housing. There are a number of issues in there that the member is quite right to point to, which we are looking very carefully at. I hope that he will be content when he sees what is in the final climate change plan in respect of this particular sector. Claudia Beamish will be followed by Graeme Dey. The action here in Scotland to ensure that our approach to meeting climate change targets is inclusive, particularly in the sectors that are progressing most slowly, transport, agriculture and buildings. Can she also perhaps expand on how the shift to the low-carbon economy in the energy sector and other sectors will take into account affected workers and communities through a just transition and possibly something about the commission that certainly Scottish Labour is hoping for? I will try to cover as many as I can, and if I miss any, I will undertake to come back to Claudia Beamish. I know that she cares passionately about those. I think that she, in one sense, picks up a little bit from the issue that was raised by Donald Cameron, because one of the big concerns that we all have to ensure that, as we move forward in terms of decarbonisation, that there aren't parts of our society that are left behind. Of course, the irony is that, as climate change progresses, it is precisely those same poorer sections of society that will be the hardest hit. We are addressing a lot of that through a warm homes bill that will be coming up, the energy efficiency measures that we have discussed. I can advise Claudia Beamish that there is a deal of serious conversation around that to ensure that nothing that we do in terms of climate change makes things worse for people in terms of fuel poverty particularly, which is a big issue. Transport clearly has made a number of commitments in the programme for government, including commitments around active travel and the need to increase the availability of public transport, as well as the issues around cars. I appreciate that being able to swap out your petrol or diesel car for an electric vehicle may be a fond hope for many folk who are not able to afford a car in the first place. There are huge issues around that, but I go back to the point that I was making that if we don't make progress in climate change it is precisely those most disadvantaged sections of society that will be most hit by the advance of climate change. We need to try and find the right balance as we move through the various sectors to ensure that we don't make that worse, but we also remind people that it will get worse if we don't take the actions that we are taking. Graham Dade is followed by Maurice Golden. As the cabinet secretary is aware, the EU emissions trading system is the main mechanism to deliver emissions reductions from the traded sector, and it plays a key role in supporting our climate change ambitions. Can she advise how our ability to continue in the ETS will be impacted if the UK leaves the EU and whether she is aware of any work being done by the UK Government to address that? Graham Dade is correct to raise the issue of the EU ETS. It is currently the world's largest carbon market, and it does not mean that there is a level playing field for businesses across the EU and protects us against carbon leakage, which is a very considerable matter that needs to be addressed. The Government therefore considers that continued participation in the ETS will be the best for Scotland in the future. It is the most cost-effective means for the traded sector to decarbonise. I have to say that it is a matter of some concern that, up until this point, the UK Government has been unwilling to discuss future participation in the ETS with either myself or other Scottish ministers. Recently, the EU has now intervened to protect the integrity of the system with the scheme, with legislative proposals to prevent the surrender of any new alliances, allocated after 1 January 2018, to a member state in respect of which there are lapsing obligations. That means that only one state is in the frame. That could have significant repercussions for Scottish businesses in posing additional costs. There is significant market reaction. The EU intervention demonstrates the risks of the UK Government's approach to the negotiations and the real risk of a disorderly exit, which I am sure members will agree is a wholly unacceptable situation. I should add, Presiding Officer, that both I and Mr Russell have written jointly to the secretary of state for seeking urgent discussions on this very matter. Maurice Golden will be followed by Emma Harper. Presiding Officer, we are supportive of the electrification of our roads. This will, of course, bring challenges for the transmission network due to the expansion of electricity demand. Does the cabinet secretary support a distribution system operator balancing model at a more local level? I will do my very best to establish what that actually means, and I will get back to Maurice Golden. He is allowing his inner geek to come forward in this. It is a splendid example of a question that perhaps means that he could not think of a better one to ask. Emma Harper is followed by David Stewart. Thank you. Can the cabinet secretary advise how Scotland is showing its strong support for the Paris agreement? Obviously, I have indicated in my statement already how important we regarded Paris and how much that particular year's climate change talks were important to the Government. Our proposals for a new climate change bill represent a very direct statutory response to the aims of the Paris agreement. I go back to what I said. This is not normal. Many countries are not doing it this way. The Committee on Climate Change advises that increasing the 2050 target to a 90 per cent reduction would be aligned to the Paris aim of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 centigrade. Our proposals will also enable the setting of a further target for net zero emissions as soon as the appropriate date to do so can be determined in an evidence-based manner. That will support the Paris aim of reaching global net zero emissions during the second half of the century. Other bodies in Scotland have also been showing support for the Paris agreement. All three key architects of the agreement—French Minister Laurent Fabius, Christiana Figueres, the former head of the UNFCCC and president of COP 20, Manuel Polgar Vidal—have all visited Scotland and received the Royal Scottish Geographical Society Shackleton Medal for their joint efforts. All three are well aware of how committed this country is to the Paris agreement. David Stewart is followed by Stuart Stevenson. I welcome the statement from the cabinet secretary. Scotland is one of the first countries to debate domestic climate legislation following the ratification of the Paris agreement. When days of a new Labour-led government in New Zealand, vigorous and dynamic new agricultural climate change targets were set, what can the cabinet secretary learn from New Zealand and best practice across the world? I am aware that New Zealand, under its new government, has begun to make some significant moves on climate change. I have to say that the 2015 stats in Scotland show that agriculture emissions are down by more than 25 per cent from baseline levels, so we have been doing a considerable amount of work ourselves. I will look closely at any other country's particular interests in sectors that look like they will be analogous to Scotland for consideration. However, I would gently caution the member that, once one looks closely at some other country's proposals, it sometimes transpires that they are not quite what they have appeared on the surface. That means that we are often not comparing apples with apples, but apples with pears, if I can use a horticultural expression. It is something that one has to be rather careful of and is one that, for example, relates to the comparisons that we often make ourselves with us in Sweden when, in actual fact, we are not both doing the same thing in terms of getting to where we want to go. Stuart Stevenson, to be followed by Mark Ruskell. Is the Cabinet Secretary of State aware that the 21st September Nicaragua signed up for the Paris agreement, leaving, therefore, only two countries in the world, not signatories, Syria and the United States? Will the Government use the climate group states and regions approach to work with the United States to mitigate the anti-science effects of the presidency and far too many of the Government's administrators? I think that I perhaps saw the same tweet that the member may have picked that particular information up about Nicaragua. I think that for all of us we would have preferred the United States not to have taken the position that it is taken on Paris and it is a matter of some regret that it has chosen to do that. We work very closely with the climate group. It is an important forum for this country. The member will be grateful to know that, when I visit Bonn in a couple of weeks' time, I will be attending a number of round-table discussions with other members in that group, particularly with, for example, California, whether it has been of interest to us. Those conversations will continue. I perhaps should have said to the previous member that I will take every opportunity when I am in Bonn to see whether or not there are useful discussions, not just across the climate group but with others who might be there. Mark Ruskell will be filled by Liam McArthur. I thank the cabinet secretary for advance copy of this very positive statement. Our ability to cut carbon in the future is partly dependent on the spending decisions of Derek Mackay today. Investment in railways, green bus funds and home energy efficiency are just some of the infrastructure priorities needed to cut carbon, improve economic efficiency, tackle exclusion and even tackle air pollution. How will the Scottish Government budget prioritise investment that will cut emissions rather than simply locking them in for generations to come? I am not in a position to be able to pre-empt the budget or any statements that my colleague Derek Mackay may make in the coming weeks and months. The member will have seen from the programme for government the doubling of the active travel budget. He must, I presume, have welcomed that. I think that the green bus fund is being extended as well. Those are particular issues raised in his question where I would have expected he would have been happy to know that increased support was being given. The programme for government was widely hailed as being—I think that the phrase used was—amongst the greenest government programmes for government ever. That is a piece of hyperbole that I may want to repeat often. I think that it is one that people should reflect on. I hope that they will welcome everything that is there, including through the budget process, which we are about to embark upon. Liam McArthur, to be followed by Fulton MacGregor. I thank the cabinet secretary for early sight of what is a generally upbeat statement and echo her comments around the cross-party support in this Parliament. In light of comments from Scottish renewables today of what they call the first decline in renewable heat output that Scotland has seen since measurement began in 2008-9, can she inform Parliament of what additional measures the Government will bring forward as it is contemplating in the final climate change plan that will help deliver more renewable heat in Scotland so that we can indeed meet our renewable energy targets? I thank Liam McArthur for his question. I should remind him that I said that the final plan will be published in February 2018. He will forgive me if I operate on the basis that stating in advance what is going to be in it is not in keeping with the publication date of February 2018. I think that Scotland's record on renewables has been pretty extraordinary. We are sometimes having difficulty because of decisions that are taken elsewhere, which do not help us. Nevertheless, I continue to be as upbeat as I possibly can be in the circumstances. I think that we will continue in so far as we are able to do to make further advances on this particular area, which, as I indicate, has been one of the success stories of Scotland in terms of climate change. We have got three more questions if we can squeeze them in. Fulton MacGregor will be followed by John Scott. Even a low, ambitious approach that is outlined by the cabinet secretary in reducing emissions, we are not going to be immune to the experience and the effects of climate change as will be faced over the world. What progress is the Scottish Government making on climate change adaptation specifically? The member is right to raise the point that there are two sides to dealing with climate change. One is mitigation, which tends to get most of the coverage. The other is adaptation, which tends to be less often discussed. The Paris agreement makes it clear that climate change adaptation is enormously important. A number of important reports are around Scotland's progress in this area have been produced in the past year or so, including the independent assessment of the current Scottish climate change adaptation programme and the climate change risk assessment. There was a meeting in Stirling last week between my officials and a range of stakeholders to begin consideration of the next adaptation programme, which is due in 2019. We have recently launched a new national centre for resilience, a national coastal change assessment and new adaptation indicators. The collaborative partnerships approaches to adaptation are also emerging in a variety of different local areas, including climate-ready Clyde, Edinburgh and Aberdeen adapt. There is a considerable amount of work on the ground, which is where adaptation efforts need to take place. The member is right to raise that as an issue, because most of the focus tends to be on mitigation. We must not forget that adaptation is becoming ever more important. In the clear committee this morning, evidence was taken on air quality management areas and low emission zones. However, evidence given to the committee during our enquiries raises concerns about the funding available to deliver better air quality. Given that the transport emissions mitigation budget has been cut from £179.8 million to £153 million, can the cabinet secretary assure Parliament that sufficient funding will be made available to transport Scotland, local authorities, SIPA and others to implement successfully the Scottish Government's good intentions on air quality? I thank John Scott for his question. I looked with some query at the transport minister who isn't immediately understanding where the member's information comes from. We will undertake to have a check of that. However, I ought to point out what I said earlier about the budget discussions that are about to be undertaken. Low emission zones are part of the programme for government. We are committed now to one by the end of 2018 and roll out to the other major cities as soon after as possible. In all those air quality management areas where it is considered necessary, we are now in a process where the negotiations around the funding of those are becoming active. Last week, officials from one particular council and it was, of course, an issue that they wanted to explore. It is not a secret that Glasgow is the preferred first low emission zone. Those discussions are also active. The low emission zones will be funded appropriately as and when they are rolled out. The cabinet secretary will be aware that the green bus fund has been of enormous benefit to bus operators throughout Scotland and, of course, the Falkirk district, where Alexander Dennis has secured multiple orders for the world-class hybrid enviral buses through the fund. Given the success of the green bus fund in Scotland, will the cabinet secretary and the transport minister consider altering the fund to ensure that it also provides for bus retrofits at the proposed engine retrofitting centre, which would clearly assist greatly in future emissions reductions, not just for LEZs but for towns and villages, countrywide? As I understand it, the transport minister is in discussion with bus companies about this very issue, so I hope that the member will liaise with the transport minister as that discussion progresses. The green bus fund has been very helpful in accelerating the uptake of low emission buses into our bus fleet and that obviously has benefits for air quality and climate change. We have been very committed to that. It is being extended and we are really looking forward to that progress. The bus service operators grant, low-carbon incentive along with the green bus fund has helped to bring approaching 500 green buses into the Scottish fleet by any measure. That is a really good figure. I thank the minister and members. That concludes our statement. We will now move on to the next item of business, which is a debate in the name of Humza Yousaf. Just take a few seconds to change seats.