 The next item of business is a debate on motion 4 4 2 8 in the name of Mary Gougeon on supporting Scotland's islands on their journey to become carbon neutral. I'd be grateful if members who wish to speak in the debate could press their request to speak buttons. I call on Mary Gougeon to speak to and move the motion up to 15 minutes, Cabinet Secretary. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I'm delighted to open this debate today in support of Scotland's islands on their journey to become carbon neutral. Today I will outline the Scottish Government's progress in supporting our island communities in their climate change journey, not least our exciting carbon neutral islands project, which puts islands at the forefront of our climate change ambitions. First of all, I want to acknowledge and to thank the members for the proposed amendments to the motion today and to set out that I'm happy to support the amendment from Rhoda Grant, confirming that moving to net zero requires a just transition. The carbon neutral islands project will not only benefit the environment but will support local economies, green skills and general wellbeing. I'm also pleased to support the amendment today from Rachael Hamilton. The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting our island communities and this innovative project that highlights islands as hubs of innovation and our move towards carbon neutrality. The carbon neutral islands project will align with wider efforts to decarbonise and will follow a threefold approach, leveraging already existing net zero-related public funding, promoting public-private partnership and driving private investment, and will also publish a report over the summer setting out the next steps will take to support the islands included in the carbon neutral islands project, as well as setting out how the project will benefit all other Scottish islands. In relation to the amendment today from Liam McArthur, I'm afraid I'm not in a position to support this because I set out that it doesn't recognise the clear division of responsibilities between ministers and local authorities. The Scottish Government does absolutely recognise the importance of the other ferry services in Scotland, including those internal ferries, which are the responsibility of our local authorities. However, the replacement of those ferries is their responsibility. In relation to the fuel poverty points raised in the amendment, powers related to the energy market are reserved, so the UK Government holds most of the levers to address the pressures on energy bills. That being said, we have allocated over £1 billion since 2009 to tackle fuel poverty as well as to improve energy efficiency, and we are committed to continuing to spend more per head on energy efficiency in remote, rural and island areas, where we know that installation and labour costs are higher. Moving on from that, there is a whole host of work that is going on right now across our islands when it comes to climate change mitigation and adaptation, on which the carbon neutral islands project will build. Before turning to the project itself, I want to say a few words about climate change and our islands. Climate change and nature loss are among the greatest threats facing our planet. Small, low-lying islands are under threat from climate change and predicted rising sea levels. Climate change is expected to increase instances of flooding in coastal erosion, while simultaneously negatively affecting water supply, food production, health, tourism and accelerating habitat depletion. Communities on Barra, South US, Tyree, and Sandy, just to name a few, know all too well that climate change is already on their doorstep. However, climate change should not only be perceived as a threat, which it is, but it does also provide opportunities. Moving towards net zero should be seen as a driver towards a more fair and prosperous Scotland, and our islands have a completely unique role to play in that journey. As Scotland's Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands, I want to stress my deep concern over the challenges that are faced by our island communities. Our islands reflect the nation that we are. They help to find how international audiences see Scotland and contribute hugely to our economy. We simply cannot allow them to suffer the consequences of climate change. We have declared a climate emergency and stepped up our climate action and commitments through Scotland's 2019 Climate Change Act, calling for net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, five years earlier than the UK. Scotland's climate change legislation also ensures that we prepare and adapt to the impacts that are already locked in, including rising sea levels and more extreme weather. Even before the latest scientific intergovernmental panel on climate change findings were published this spring, we knew from previous reports the very real threat and heightened risk that the climate emergency poses to our planet. It is therefore crucial that the international community takes every opportunity to raise global climate action and ambition. COP26 was not only one of the largest events ever to be held in Scotland, but also one of the most important. I think that we can be proud of the contribution that we made towards a successful outcome. The summit concluded with the adoption of the Glasgow climate pact, seeing countries commit to increased ambition and action. The pact reaffirms the aim to cap global temperature increases at 1.5 degrees, to take action on adaptation and finance, and for the first time there will be discussions on helping developing countries to pay for loss and damage. It is against the wider background that the Scottish Government is determined to be world leading in tackling the climate emergency. We want to promote and support the huge potential and natural capital of our islands to help us to reach our net zero and climate resilience ambitions. It is within the wider context that we announced in our programme for government commitment to support at least three islands to become fully carbon neutral by 2040. I was delighted to announce at COP26 that we are taking that ambition even further, now aiming to support six islands in their journey towards carbon neutrality by 2040. That will allow us to provide direct support to one island in each of our local authority areas that have responsibility for islands in Scotland. The carbon neutral islands project is underpinned by three key principles—alignment, fairness and replicability. First, the carbon neutral islands project aims to align with existing islands-based climate change efforts and avoid the duplication of those efforts. Second, the project will support islands to become carbon neutral in a just and fair way. And thirdly, the project will provide opportunities for all Scotland's islands through an effective process of learning and sharing of net zero and climate resilience-related good practices. In terms of the selection process for the islands that have been selected as part of the project, we established an external technical working group with the initial goal of developing a set of criteria that would inform the selection of the six carbon neutral islands. The working group is made up of local authority officers and representatives from socioeconomic wide organisations such as Highlands and Islands Enterprise, University of Highlands and Islands, Scottish Islands Federation, Scottish Futures Trust and the Young Islanders Network. The six islands have been identified through a collaborative process that started with 58 criteria suggested by the group members. That was then narrowed down to six broad criteria that were used to identify the six islands, and the criteria related to housing, fuel poverty, energy, transport, economy and carbon sequestration. We then asked local authority members to suggest up to three islands in their territory against each of those criteria. That was followed by requests to non-local authority members to send to check the matching exercise. Scottish Government officials then finally analysed input from all members in order to identify a mix of six islands that could provide the greatest possible learning for all of Scotland's islands. Now, while we are fully aware that each island is unique, we attempted to come up with a group of islands that not only matched the agreed criteria but also provided a mix of population, size and past climate trajectory. For the carbon neutral islands project to deliver on its promise of sharing learning and good practice to all Scottish islands, having that mix is crucial. Following the process, I am delighted to announce that the six islands that will be part of the carbon neutral islands project are Hoi, Isla, Great Cumbria, Rase, Barra and Yell. A key question that anybody on those islands may well be asking themselves now though is what changes will they see on their island as a result of this project and how do they benefit from their island being included in the project? By joining the project, we believe that islands will benefit in a number of ways. Firstly, islands will receive support in carrying out an in-depth climate accounting exercise or to build on any exercises that may have already been developed previously. Secondly, they will receive support in completing a community-informed climate plan that responds to the interests of the island's stakeholders and community. That will ensure that the voice of communities will truly drive the decarbonisation and resilience building process. Thirdly, the islands will receive support to develop an investment strategy for the implementation of the community-informed climate plan. In due course, the islands will also receive support for specific decarbonisation and adaptation projects and activities. In terms of the support to be provided, key island-based organisations will be working with island stakeholders and communities to implement the climate accounting exercise, the community-informed climate plan and the investment strategy. A further benefit comes from the possibility of developing peer learning amongst islands around the world, whereby a Scottish carbon neutral island could be matched with an island overseas with demonstration visits and strengthened relationships with our European and international colleagues. I also want to take the opportunity to emphasise that joining the carbon neutral islands project does not pose any specific burden on the island or its community. Rather, the project will work for and with each of the island communities at a pace that the community considers most appropriate for them. Most islands will be already carrying out activities related to the carbon neutral islands project and, by being a part of this exciting work, will receive additional support to develop good practices. By joining the project, the carbon neutral islands will become net zero lighthouse communities and will be able to support other areas across Scotland in the national journey to net zero by 2045. Further key question that island communities may be asking themselves across the six islands is about what happens next. I want to outline today to Parliament what our next steps will be in the carbon neutral islands project. Following the announcement today, we will be organising our first visits to the six islands to meet with key stakeholders. It is important that we do that as soon as possible, not only to discuss any aspect of the project that the community may wish to ask questions about but to continue learning from island communities by actively listening to them. During the summer, we will introduce the key partners involved in the implementation of the project and we will continue to map the many exciting and interesting climate change-related projects that are already taking place on our islands in order to ensure that continuity, alignment and to try to avoid any unnecessary duplication. It is our desire and goal to start developing the necessary relationships as soon as we can in order to ensure that the carbon neutrality journey is driven by the community on each one of the six islands. Following those visits, all islands will see the development of the climate accounting exercise, the community-informed climate plan and the climate investment strategy. As I have already said, those will be developed by key project partners together with the community and any other relevant stakeholders. Once those first three steps are finalised, carbon neutrality projects and activities will be scoped and our work towards securing the necessary funding, both from the carbon neutral islands project and elsewhere, will be carried out. In this phase, we will start at the beginning of the 2023-24 financial year and continue throughout the lifetime of the project. One last thing that I wish to reiterate is that the carbon neutral islands project is intended to support Scotland's islands to achieve carbon neutrality according to their own priorities and at a pace that they feel comfortable with. I see this project as a real opportunity for islands in Scotland to embrace the journey towards net zero and climate resilience that they have already started and, in some cases, pioneered. I'm really excited to move to the next stages of the carbon neutral islands project, now that we've announced that Hoi, Islay, Great Cumbria, Rassay, Barra and Yale are the islands taking part. A key principle that underpins the carbon neutral islands project is alignment. The project will sit within that wider landscape, seeking to build on many of the exciting things that we're already doing as a Government. Scotland is already at the forefront of climate change mitigation and adaptation at the global level, and it shouldn't come as a surprise that net zero and climate resilience are also key drivers of our work on islands. Throughout the debate, I'm sure we'll touch on the many exciting climate change initiatives that we're already working on in relation to islands. I'm very much looking forward to this afternoon's debate and to discussing the wider work that we're carrying out to support our islands towards carbon neutrality. I'm pleased to speak in this very important debate today. Helping Scotland's islands on their journey to become carbon neutral is an ambition that is no doubt shared amongst all of us in this chamber. Last year, the people of Scotland chose to elect a Scottish Parliament without a majority so that all parties could work together on the key issues that we are facing. The urgent need to tackle climate change is one of the key areas in which I know that there is strong party consensus. I agree with the Government that helping our islands to become carbon neutral is a step in the right direction towards our climate goals. Scotland's islands and islands deserve our support not just for the transition to reduce emissions and to reach net zero but also because we feel on these benches that they have been ignored, misunderstood and forgotten about by this Government. Our island communities have faced enormous difficulties over the last 15 years of rule by this Government, depopulation, infrastructure issues, broken promises over ferries and crofting reform and yet to be proven the island bond scheme. The catalogue of failures is something that I have to highlight today because I feel as though the Government are putting the cart before the horse and under this Government it's seemingly endless that islanders continue to be let down. So speaking today, I will touch on all of these points but putting all of that to one side for just a moment the Scottish Government's ambitions to help the six islands which have been announced today and that is welcome to reach carbon neutrality by 2040 is a chance for the Government to work across all parties in the chamber in the spirit of how I described that we voted last year towards that shared goal. That goal is not only shared between all parties but people across the islands and the rest of Scotland and we must take this opportunity to use these proposals as a way of fixing the problems our island communities face for example upgrading harbour infrastructure delivering more ferry services would be a start. The ferries community board have said that the chronic mismanagement of the ferry services represents a real threat to the island's ability to retain and attract people ensure services are sufficiently reliable and prices that permit viable communities and therefore avoid depopulation. Addressing these issues must be a priority when considering how to decarbonise our islands it is the Government's ambition to reduce emissions on ferries by 30 per cent presiding officer but they can't deliver the ferries and that is what I mean when I describe putting the cart before the horse. Without strong flourishing communities in the islands efforts to decarbonise these areas will be really difficult it's clear that the less people on the islands the more effort it will take for those who are there to help to carbonise. Last month the Times reported that depopulation was the top concern among Scotland's 93 island communities according to the national islands plan members of the aran development trust raised concerns about forecast shrink in the islands working age population by 47 per cent that will exacerbate problems delivering essential and everyday services which could affect the long term sustainability of some of the communities. The islands are our people and the people are our islands. The Scottish Government should be in no doubt that tackling island depopulation is absolutely vital to any plans to decarbonise our islands and getting on top of the ferry fiasco will help to play a huge part in this. I'll give way to Alistair Allen. I thank the member for giving way she mentions the viability of island communities. Does she feel that the viability of those communities would be significantly enhanced if when it comes to the cost of energy the UK Government would regulate the market in heating oil which is now entirely out of control for people living off the gas grid? Speaking to communities on Shetland for example it's not just about the issue that Alistair Allen talks about it's a whole host of issues that bring down energy bills, the viability of offshore wind, onshore wind and other forms of energy that support the communities and so I think it's important that we do look at all of those energy mixes in the round to ensure that people can live and work and have their livelihoods protected on those islands. However I just want to touch on the lack of trust that the islands have in the SNP's ability to manage the ferries and Kate Forbes. I listened to Kate Forbes in response to Jamie Greene in the UK. It's almost as if this is an inconvenience that we keep talking about this but it is really important to islanders. It is an absolute insult, it's outrageous that for years this government have not been able to deliver ferries which is the connectivity, it's the lifeline, it's transport to health, education, tourism and jobs and it's really important for every four person family household on islands it costs £100 the waste and the overspend on the costing ferries, that's a lot of money that could be going towards decarbonising these islands. Another key factor that has contributed to islander population is the abandonment of crofters. When I asked the cabinet secretary in the rain committee when the Scottish government planned to bring forward a crofting report for reform she could not provide a ballpark figure. Crofters are completely ignored by this Government. It's no wonder that their numbers are dwindling. It is an industry that requires urgent help from the government to breathe new life into a once thriving industry that lay at the heart of island communities. I would have to challenge that assertion that's been made by the member given the support that the government has continued to provide through the crofting agricultural grant scheme, through the crofting housing grant scheme too and this government has committed to bringing forward legislation on crofting in this parliamentary term. Does the member recognise all of those actions? Between 2016 and 2021 just 11 million was distributed by this Government. 11 million is promised for the croft house grant scheme. Only half of that was distributed. I think that the cabinet secretary should reflect on her comments and realise that what they are promising is not delivering. The islands bond scheme, which promised to provide an incentive for people to stay on the islands, has amounted to nothing more than a gimmick. Completely out of touch with the needs of crofters and islands more generally, the cabinet secretary will not say what benefits island bonds will have for young people to start out in crofting or provide an alternative way for young people to buy into a croft. It is just another example of a complete lack of understanding of these communities. I've already said yes. Liam McArthur Very grateful to Rachel Hamilton for taking intervention. I certainly agree with the point in relation to the island bonds. However, well-intentioned, actually what islands need are things aggregated across the community, makes them more resilient, whether it's investing in transport links, whether it's investing in broadband. Do you think that that may be a better use for the welcome additional resource that is being provided through the scheme, but in a way that will make more meaningful, sustainable difference to island communities? Rachel Hamilton I thank Liam McArthur for that intervention. That is exactly in the vein and the spirit that I am trying to convey to the Government today. If we get all our pieces of the jigsaw in place and together, we can start building to ensure the viability of the communities and the islands, I just want to go back to the crofting. I've already said that they can play a vital role in meeting emissions and biodiversity targets. I'm not sure if the Scottish Government quite get this. I don't know if they understand the points that Liam McArthur and I are making. It's demonstrated by ignoring the petition in 2013 regarding the Icelandic grey land geese, which has been causing problems for island crofters. Funding to tackle the problem has been continually reduced and has been described as not fit for purpose by Patrick Kraus of the Scottish Crofting Federation. I cannot stress how important it is, because plans to carbonise our islands represent a golden opportunity to utilise their expertise, their knowledge of the land. They are, after all, island conservationists. To achieve those aims while providing vital support to their industry, they should be part of it. I would also add that this knowledge would be especially helpful in terms of peatland restoration efforts, which I know can play a large role in helping island reach net zero targets. We're way behind with peatland restoration. I actually have the figures to hand here. 21,000 hectares of peatland have been restored against a government target of 70,000 in four years. That's absolutely shameful. Finally, before I wrap up, I turn to the targets that the Government have set out. I understand that, although they are indeed very ambitious, the S&P has missed their own legal emissions targets for the last three years in a row. If we are to take any proposals about decarbonising our island seriously, we need to see explicit detail in how the Government intends to deliver this. Moreover, in doing so, it must be prepared to work very closely with islanders, which I listen to the Cabinet Secretary and I believe that work is on-going. Those plans need to be absolutely workable. I welcome Professor Cindy Keogh, who is helping to lead the Government on this, and he's made clear the importance of engaging with island communities on those plans. There is an understandable lack of trust in the ability to deliver the targets. I want to make sure that those six islands are absolutely supported. That is what my amendment speaks to. I really welcome that the Cabinet Secretary is intending to support that. We will also be supporting Rhoda Grant's amendment, but, in closing, I'm pleased that the Scottish Government wants to support our islands becoming carbon neutral. I hope that they will achieve that goal. We will be sound ready to help them and engage with islanders and the island industries and all parties who have an interest in this across the chamber. Just for reference, we'll be also supporting the Liberal Democrats amendment. I now call on Rhoda Grant to speak to and move amendment 4428.3. The Government is announcing that it will assist six islands to become carbon neutral by 2040. That is, of course, welcome. Those islands are among the smallest in Scotland's 94 inhabited islands, and many have already made strides towards becoming carbon neutral, which I think should be acknowledged and encouraged. However, that announcement raises questions. Why is the Government targeting such a small number of islands and selecting those that are less dependent on hydrocarbons? While the assistance that it is offering to those six islands is welcome, it begs a question what assistance will be available to the 88 other islands who need to reach that same net zero target five short years later. We must recommit to all our islands becoming net zero as well as the whole of Scotland. It may be that I'm being cynical, but is this an attempt to divert attention from the more difficult goal, something to point to a time when our Scottish goals maybe are not being met? Many of our islands, because of their locations, are potential powerhouses for renewables which could offset carbon production. However, there are challenges to overcome. Orkney, we know, has the potential to generate much more renewable energy, but the grid is full. The same is true of many of our islands. We need interconnectors to transport electricity to the national grid. I'm sure that the Scottish Government will point out that this is a reserved issue, and of course it is. However, there are things that the Scottish Government could do to allow islands to generate more renewable energy. The Scottish Government must invest in green hydrogen. We do not need interconnectors to transport that, yet, due to a lack of investment, the technology and renewable development has stalled on many islands. Another area that requires a focus is Shetland-Mainland. Many jobs are dependent on the Sulunvo oil terminal. To reach net zero by 2045, plans for its transition must start now. How do we reconfigure the terminal to create jobs for the future? A just transition must simply not be a buzzword. It must be meaningful. I'm grateful that the Scottish Government has indicated that it will support our amendment, showing that it is committed to that, because many people who live on islands depend on oil and gas for their livelihoods. There are obvious ones such as Shetland, but many others are dependent on the industry, because the work pattern of the industry lines itself to island life, in that people go away to work for a few weeks and then have a few weeks at home. If we are to ensure that those economies are not impacted as we move from oil and gas, we must commit to a just transition for them too. We need courses in these islands to retrain the workforce. Certification in renewables is also difficult to obtain for small organisations. All that can be changed and developed by the Scottish Government. They should also be creating an offshore training passport as part of their offer to deliver a just transition. Retraining skills should not come at a cost to the employee but should be seen as investing in all our features. We need investment in green hydrogen for all islands. That could also provide another use for Sulunvo. The site and workforce could be adapted to allow for a just transition. There is also little Scottish Government investment in the development of wave and tidal energy, and yet Orkney is a world leader in that area. We must invest to make sure that those technologies come to market. When they do, we must ensure that we have the skills to keep the manufacturing and production jobs here in Scotland, something that we fail to do with both on and offshore wind. We and the Scottish Labour Party are not against the Scottish Government's new initiative, but we are concerned that it might lack some ambition. One only needs to look at the island of egg and how they have generated their own electricity and are largely carbon neutral. Their internal grid could be replicated and scaled for the islands concerned without too much difficulty. With new technologies to hand, it would now be much easier than it was for egg when they developed it. Therefore, the initiative could surely be realised long before 2040 and any lessons learned rolled out to all our islands and, indeed, to the rest of Scotland. There is also an untaught potential for our islands with all renewable energy, because the northern and western isles sit on some of the most high-energy waters, and they have the ability to meet much of Scotland's renewable energy needs. However, to capitalise on that, the Government must take forward initiatives to keep our young people the future workforce in our island communities. That requires them to be able to access careers and training close to home, and they also need a place to live, homes that are affordable for young people. They also need to be confident of transport links. Perhaps the Scottish Government's lack of ambition with that announcement is a direct result of its failure to provide adequate ferries to the islands on the west coast of Scotland and adequate freight transport in the north. It is also well known that our islands are subject to the highest level of fuel poverty in the country. Again, that is a challenge that needs to be overcome to reach net zero. Will the six islands get assistance with retrofitting draft-yold homes to make them more energy efficient? That is something that is desperately needed in all our island and off-gas-cred communities. What are the Scottish Government doing to look at how hydrogen could be used and contain gas networks in order to roll the cycle more widely? The Buteys agreement has led to the Scottish Government no longer providing funding assistance and support for oil-fired heating in homes that are off-gas-cred. It has removed the help and assistance to those who want to switch to more efficient alternative LPG, the lowest carbon conventional energy source. The Scottish Government says that people should switch to air-source heat pumps, but those same homes are totally unsuitable for heat pumps because they are drafty and they leak heat. That ill-thought-out policy will only lead to further fuel poverty. The Scottish Government must now commit to insulating homes alongside fitting air-source heat pumps. Anything less would condemn people living in drafty homes that are facing higher and higher fuel costs. The people who qualify for Government assistance for a new boiler cannot possibly afford £20,000 to insulate their homes properly. Although we must continue to work towards the commitment to become carbon neutral, we also use that as an opportunity to help people to tackle higher fuel costs because of the higher costs of living. There is no more pertinent time for this than now. We all know the cost of living on islands is much higher than the mainland. On average, before the rise in the cost of living, it was 15 to 30 per cent higher compared to urban areas, and that figure did not take into account the additional cost of fuel, nor has it been adjusted to recent inflation trends. The Scottish Government must make commitments to not only make the future of our islands carbon neutral greener and more sustainable, but to make it more affordable. After all, islanders have done a lot of the groundwork towards a greener and more sustainable future for ourselves, what they need from the Scottish Government is investment and support where they need it most. Presiding Officer, in conclusion, this investment is welcome, although lacking in ambition. It is an opportunity for the Scottish Government to show their commitment to people in the islands, to dedicate investment to right the wrongs that have been done to them, invest in the future of Scotland rather than the shareholders of the big multinationals. We urge the Government to show more determination to commit to a just transition and recommit to our 2045 net zero target for us all. I now call on Beatrice Wishart to speak to you and move amendment 4428.2. Around six minutes, please, Ms Wishart. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Scottish Liberal Democrats will tonight support both the Labour and Conservative amendments. First, I would like to put on record my congratulations to the island communities for their places in the carbon neutral project as we all journey to net zero. The islands of Hoi and Yelf, like others in the northern isles, are reliant on ferries, while the greatest source of carbon emissions in the isles is transport. As Liam McArthur's amendment states, Shetland and Orkney's lifeline inter-island ferries are currently excluded from the new islands connectivity plan, and the amendment calls for their inclusion so that any targets around carbon neutral ferries include all of Scotland's islands. Almost half of Shetland's inter-island ferry fleet needs to be replaced this decade due to their age, and there's a mutual benefit to Shetland and Scotland for a newer reliable decarbonised ferry fleet. If we're to be serious about reducing carbon emissions across Scotland, we must include lifeline forms of transport that will have to be replaced. I'd also like to take this opportunity to highlight the potential that tunnels could bring to islands like Shetland to help reduce emissions, as well as offer a host of other economic and social benefits to island communities. Turning now to the second half of Liam McArthur's amendment, which calls for a targeted plan to help retrofit homes on Scotland's islands, massive investment will be needed to improve the energy efficiency of homes across Scotland. The August 2021 proposal paper by the Scottish Government's Housing Net Zero Technical Task Force found that 2.6 million homes in Scotland will require some form of retrofit. That equates to 490 homes per day between next year and 2045 being upgraded. Patrick Harvie's heat and building strategy seeks to convert the million homes and 50,000 non-domestic buildings to zero emission heating systems by 2030. At that rate, it will take decades to ensure that homes across Scotland are well insulated and energy efficient, so we need comprehensive support available for retrofitting. Shetland is not near home to some of the worst examples of fuel poverty and extreme fuel poverty. The present cost of living crisis is exacerbating the issue, and targeted support now could help to slash bills and emissions. Most people, businesses and organisations recognise the seriousness of the climate emergency and want to play their part. Indeed, Shetland has been leading the way with Lerwick's district heating scheme, which has been operating for over 20 years, heating homes and public buildings. However, we need a strategic approach and targeted support for local authorities, private homeowners and housing associations to help to retrofit the current housing stock. Islands face challenges in getting materials transported to them, and suppliers face additional costs and ferry freight capacity issues. That has made more difficult still where smaller firms face extra costs in order to be accredited with the past 2030 and 2035 updated industry specifications with which all energy efficiency stallers must be certified and compliant. Before I conclude, I would like to say a few words of support to the amendment in Rhoda Grant's name, which Scottish Liberal Democrats will be supporting. It highlights the very important issue of a just transition for those in hydrocarbons industry and the need to ensure that islands that depend on hydrocarbons are not left behind. I am pleased to say that Lerwick Port Authority is already playing its role in decommissioning work, as the Nynion Northern Oil Platform, a drilling and production facility that began work in 1980, enters a new stage in its decommissioning. The Port Chief has reportedly said that decommissioning is now becoming more of a pipeline of work rather than a big job here and there, and that is a boost to local supply chains. To conclude, our island communities face different challenges to our mainland Scotland counterparts, but we must all do what we can to limit carbon emissions. That is why we are calling for our lifeline ferries to be included in the island's connectivity plan and for targeted support for those facing the highest fuel poverty. Please support our amendment tonight, and I move the amendment in Liam McArthur's name. We now move to the open debate, and I advise that we have some time in hand should members wish to make and take interventions. I call on Jenny Minto to be followed by Jamie Greene. It gives me great pleasure to speak in this debate on such a positive announcement for our islands, Scotland and the world. I refer members to my register of interests. I have invested in Islay Energy Community Benefit Society and am a member of Islay Energy Trust. Of course, Islay is my home. In November last year, I had a virtual visit to Port Island Primary School, one of the four primary schools on the island, which all take the climate emergency and environment very seriously. In our discussions, we talked about what Islay could do to reduce its carbon footprint and become carbon neutral. Lots of ideas were suggested. An island electric bus network, green ferries, better insulation in houses and capturing the energy of the sea and the sky. Those are ambitious projects, but elsewhere on Islay, there are testimonies to the skills of previous generations of Scottish innovators. The villages of Port Nehaven and Port Wiens boast a magnificent Stevenson lighthouse and a Telford church in Mans, and the Museum of Islay Life holds a Campbell Stokes Recorder invented by Islay man John Francis Campbell in 1853 to record sunshine. Those great Scots rose to the challenges of previous generations, and islanders continue to rise to the challenges of climate change. As the cabinet secretary recently said in her evidence to the rain committee about carbon neutral islands, the initiative is exciting because our islands are at the forefront of innovation, with all the work that is happening in renewables throughout our islands. We really want to capitalise on the opportunities that exist and to work closely with islands in reaching carbon neutrality. When I first moved to Islay, there was one man who had a renewable vision for Islay, the late Philip Maxwell. He understood that the future of energy generation lay with sustainable, cleaner power sources, and he recognised that Islay had that potential with wind and tidal power on its doorstep. Philip also knew that it would need local efforts to ensure that local communities would reap the full benefits. He established Islay Energy Trust, a community-led charity whose main purpose was to generate financial and social benefits from renewable energy operations for the island. Over the past 16 years, IET has hugely raised awareness of the importance of renewables on Islay, durat and coloncy, where solar panels and heat pumps are used to provide domestic energy and has championed the importance of fuel, economy, home, insulation and carbon savings. Working with Philip and others, I helped to establish Islay Energy Community Benefit Society. We raised more than £500 million from the community and negotiated a bank loan for the balance required to establish the community-owned wind turbine, which was completed in 2014. The project will bring in up to £2 million over its 20-year life for that community. That is a success story, but challenges do remain. The island's estimated current energy demand is 250 gigawatt-hours per year. Over 85 per cent of that is imported fuel oils, 10 per cent is electricity, and the balance being wood, coal and peat. The reason why oil consumption is so high is that whiskey distillation is a highly energy-intensive process, and that is expanding too. The cost of imported energy is in the region of £13 million per annum and increasing. The whiskey industry is well aware of its carbon footprint and is rising to the challenge. Making Islay one of the six islands aspiring to be carbon neutral is sending a powerful message to the distilleries, and they have begun that journey to carbon neutrality. I have not got time to list all the work that the distilleries are doing, but here are a couple of examples. Bomor distillery, where hot air from the stales is piped to the malting floor during the heating process, and this system also heats the local community swimming pool next door. As part of Lagavulin's 200-year celebrations, Diageo funded 700 acres of peatland restoration, and I know that other distilleries are doing similar things. Brooklady's glass bottles, outer tins, cardliners and outer cases are 100 per cent recyclable. Of course, there is more to Islay than whiskey. Islay Energy Trust has been working with and importantly learning from others to cut carbon emissions, increase the island's resilience and sustainability, and that is entitled to power, biomass and geothermal energy. With the community benefit fund from the turbine funding projects, including tree planting, pathways and modernising home heating systems, islands are full of gifted outward-looking folk who want to do their bit and share their experiences, as the cabinet secretary has said. So, for example, on Iona, the community are working on a local heating system, on Bute, new carbon neutral houses have been built. On Dura, Inver has its own hydro system, which is provided back up to the national grid. While in Iona, community trust has a community hydro scheme, Tyree has a community wind turbine, which has allowed the community to expand its community-owned assets. Of course, Gea has its four dancing ladies. Cabinet secretary, I think that that is six islands just in our island bute. To conclude, our islands are profoundly important not just to Scotland but to the whole world. They contribute hugely to our culture, heritage environment, identity, landscape, economy and society. The carbon neutral islands project will embrace the opportunity for island communities to lead the way in realising Scotland's climate change ambitions. Thank you, Ms Minto. I now call Jamie Greene to be followed by Alasdor Allen around six minutes, please, Mr Greene. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Today's debate is an important one. It's one close to my heart as a regional member who proudly represents the Isle of Arran and the Isle of Cumbria. Two communities have shown that they punch well above their weight in terms of their size and presence. Our islanders are indeed a hardy group of people. Some of them are in the room today, I feel. Living on an island brings a unique set of bonuses and opportunities that people like myself who live in the mainland simply never get to appreciate. In fact, I'd say that we miss out on it. It also brings many challenges, not experienced by people who live on the mainland. Those challenges are well rehearsed in this chamber week after week, transport, as highlighted by the lively topical question that we just had, but the price and availability of goods and services, accessing vital healthcare, GP services, hospitals, housing, its quality and stock, digital infrastructure, education, no least the difficulties faced by islands and recruiting, training and retaining teachers. Businesses, too, must contend with that existential problem of depopulation, which I'm going to come on to in a bit. Despite those struggles, many people still choose to live and work on Scotland's nine-three-inhabited islands. One island resident put it eloquently, I think, by saying that we live and work in a landscape that is sometimes harsh, sometimes peaceful but always inspiring. Anyone who has been to Dial of Iron will know that Scotland in miniature is something that certainly testifies to that sentiment. I think that we do have a duty to help our island communities to achieve net zero, but let's also what in doing so acknowledge the day-to-day struggles that they face already by living on an island. I say the issue of ferries, which I make no apologies for raising, is that the ferries were the single most important issue in the lips of people on our islands that I spoke to during the recent council election campaign. I think that some dignity and contrition in how we approach that will be needed, because every day the iron ferries are out of action. It costs their local economy £170,000 a day, and that's independent figures from the Fraser of Allander Institute. That's a lot of money. Of course net zero is something that our islanders are passionate about. We're going to hear some great examples of that in today's debate, but we also must be getting the basics—the absolute basics of public services right before they can make that transition. I welcome that Great Cumbria has been included in the list of islands that will be supported to becoming net zero by 2040, but it's also worth putting on the record some of the great work that has already taken place. I want to mention a few. The Field Studies Council Millport has reduced their own carbon emissions by 34 per cent since 2011. It has saved 389 tonnes of carbon dioxide by doing so through solar panels, mini wind turbines, insulation and even tailoring their canteen menu to only sell locally produced and sourced products. I would also like to pay special mention to Jack's Altstays, a new glamping business just outside Millport, set up by cousins Daniel Jack and Adam Jack II, a young lad from my point of view. It's still on fairly early stages, but they've already planted 618 trees and they're aiming to maintain and achieve a carbon-neutral business with their glamping pods this summer. I'm sure we all would wish them the very best—these young entrepreneurs—in their endeavours. I look forward to hopefully staying there at some point soon. However, it just shows you that that trend for failing communities is there. People do want to make a difference, and they are making a difference. Aaron, although not on the list, has been leading the way, as discussed with the whisky industry. In fact, the distilleries on that island have halved their gas emissions since 2008, and that's an incredible achievement. One of those is the lag distilleries that I recommend a visit. On the islands themselves, people have been coming together and trying to help each other. The Aaron Eco-Sabby community is a charity-based and broadic, and they do fantastic work in this area by helping residents to educate them and to help them on sustainable food, energy travel and transport. In fact, they were recently given £70,000 investment for their community-led projects that will help them in their transition to net zero and climate resilience. Of course, charities, businesses and local residents are doing their bit, but the Government must also do it bit too. I spoke to the newly elected Aaron Councillor, Timothy Billings, who said, and I have a direct quote from him, that there seems to be no integrated plan on how net zero is going to be achieved. There's a lot of individual projects going on, for example on active travel, on car sharing, but there's no clear path on how we are really going to get there. I think that that's fair criticism. I don't think that that's politically motivated either. The national islands plan annual report, of course, has lots of good work in there, but let's not forget that the current narrative that we have around the cost of living crisis is a very worthy debate and headline, but it fails to acknowledge that there's really been a cost of living crisis on our islands for decades. I heard reports that the price of diesel was £2.20 a litre on Aaron in recent weeks. In fact, in Cumbria, most residents have to get on a ferry and drive to Largs to top up their diesel cars. It's all very well and good having a debate about what's reserved and what's devolved and what we can do around VAT and other such matters, but what do we do with the powers that we have already in this Parliament? What are we doing to wean people off their petrol and diesel cars? Much of that is devolved and revolves around infrastructure. Unfortunately, infrastructure is simply not there. There's a dire lack of charging points for electric vehicles on our island communities. In fact, there's only one on Cumbria. I don't know how we expect them to achieve net zero with one charging point for the 1,300 people that live on it and the many thousands of people who visit it. I did mention depopulation in my closing seconds. It's worth noting that the North Ayrshire community planning partnership estimates that by 2026 the population of Ireland will have decreased by 25 per cent. In fact, the over 65 group is the only age group that is looking to increase. That's something that the Government has to take seriously and address, too. Finally, I just want to say that I worked in the last session of this Parliament on the flagship groundbreaking, what you like, islands legislation. It was a genuine cross-party effort, but I want to say that real island proofing, which was such a fundamental part of that legislation, means taking decisions that benefit islands, not just using their legislation to highlight decisions that are to their detriment, which I'm afraid is what it's doing at the moment. I finish on that, Presiding Officer. There is goodwill not just in this chamber, but on our island communities. That also means that the Government needs to use every power that it already has to help our islands to meet its objectives. Thank you, Mr Greene. Before I call the next speaker, could I remind all members who wish to speak in the debate that they need to ensure that their request to speak button is actually pressed? I now call Alistair Alland, to be followed by Mercedes Villalba, or in six minutes, please, Dr Allan. Thank you, Presiding Officer. A few places have as much potential to contribute towards Scotland's carbon reduction efforts as our island communities. Peatland and certain types of seabed are carbon sinks on a vast scale. Peatlayers have been shown to be able to store up to 25 times more carbon than trees, while coastal ecosystems can sequester up to 20 times more carbon per acre than land forests. While in-tief planting is, of course, important in the right locations, ploughing up peatland for commercial forestation, as I think is recognised, would in most cases certainly release far more carbon dioxide than it could ever then recapture. In terms of the potential to generate electricity from renewable sources, the options in Scotland's islands are literally incalculable. Island-based wind power could make a significant contribution to the decarbonisation of the electricity grid in Scotland, and that only becomes possible in terms of major commercial developments in my constituency. Of course, if the UK's agency of GEM eventually gets round to authorising the cable to export that power to the mainland. To make all such projects more commercially viable, the UK Government also needs to rip up antiquated rules on transmission charging, which means that the further north a project is, the more it pays to be connected to the national grid, a principle that shows scant regard for the places where the renewable potential actually lies, which is impossible to begin to call fair. That is even before we consider, however, the enormous potential for offshore wind that is now being planned out to the west and north of my constituency as a result of the recent scott wind licensing round by the Scottish Government in Crown Estate Scotland, presenting the prospect of renewable generation on a totally new scale. I would certainly make the case that the cable from a number of those developments should make landfall in the western isles. Tidal energy is being exploited on a large scale near a number of other island communities, and I would also make the case for Scotland to look again at wave power as a potential source of energy, a source of energy of which there is no shortage in my own constituency. There is, of course, a conspicuous tension, and others have pointed to it today, between all that renewable potential and the reality of fuel poverty for many island communities. I have to say that 40 per cent of households in my constituency are classified as fuel poor, which is almost double the Scottish average and certainly one of the highest levels in the whole of Europe. Being off the gas grid, island communities find themselves uncommonly dependent on heating oil at a price that, as I have mentioned already today, has doubled in recent months and in a market in which the UK Government stubbornly declines to regulate. That means that, despite the considerable efforts of the Scottish Government on many fronts, the fuel poverty situation in many islands is set to reach unprecedented and intolerable levels this winter. I thank you for taking invention. I wonder if the member could elicit what the Scottish Government is doing to improve the quality of insulation and the resilience of houses on the island that it represents, because surely that is a big part of retaining the energy that is so expensive to use in the first place. Dr Allan? It is indeed, and the member will be aware that I have been in touch regularly with the Government on the subject to make sure that that process of insulating houses is restarted and increased apace, but certainly the commitment from the Government is there and the Government is working. I know to make that happen, but certainly it is good to see an increased focus on what carbon neutral communities can mean in practical terms for islands themselves. Part of that is, of course, about ensuring direct economic benefits for island communities from renewable projects through supply chains, leasing income and decisions about location of infrastructure. It was good only yesterday to see the Deputy First Minister cutting the first sod for the new deep water port for Stornoway with those aims in mind. Part of the solution is about ensuring continued improvements to the housing stock in the islands, as has been alluded to. We must see the addressing of island fuel poverty as one of the essential things that we are all seeking to do when we exploit island renewables. Part of all that is simply thinking about the future. Although island communities may not perhaps lend themselves to a huge expansion of public transport, we can look to a future where electric cars and buses are a more viable option and where some of the smaller ferries and even planes in the islands can be electric. There are many individuals, groups and businesses in the islands who are already putting in a huge amount of effort to reduce their own carbon footprint and to protect their island's unique environment and biodiversity. I think that not least of the fact that the western isles probably has the most rapidly scalable green hydrogen production location in the UK at Arnish. I am very pleased that the Isle of Barra, in my constituency, has been included as one of the six islands that the Scottish Government is pledging to directly support. I am sure that the benefits from that investment will be quick to spill over into the rest of our island communities. To conclude, Presiding Officer, as we look to build a greener future, islands must be at the forefront of our thinking, not just as a source of energy but as an example of what communities can do with that energy to make people warmer and healthier. That will also make the communities that others classify as remote become more economically resilient and attractive to live-in in the years that come. Reaching net zero cannot just be about hitting a target. By now, everyone in the chamber probably agrees that we have to drastically reduce our emissions. That is a testament to the climate movement, but not everyone agrees on how it must be done. For me, as a socialist and a trade unionist, our path to net zero must redistribute wealth and power from landowners and CEOs to ordinary workers and households across the country. Although the Scottish Government's motion today contains warm words about the opportunities available to island communities through a just transition, there are still significant gaps when it comes to explaining how such a transition will be made a reality. We need to see real support for offshore oil and gas workers, we need to create well-paid, secure jobs in the offshore wind sector and we need a strategy for community-owned, produced and distributed renewable energy. The Labour Party is in Parliament to give voice to organised labour. That is why our amendment makes clear that we want to see a worker-led transition for offshore oil and gas workers, including those living on Scotland's islands. Our transition to renewables must address the lack of training standardisation and skills transferability in the offshore energy sector so that workers who want to get out of fossil fuels and who want to work for a renewable future can do so without facing additional training costs. I believe that this can be achieved through the creation of an offshore training passport, but let's not stop there. Our transition must also empower workers through trade union recognition, through sectoral collective bargaining and through an end to casualised work. The Government should be using every opportunity it has to promote these goals, and wherever possible it should be leading by example in the public sector. As members will be aware, I have been working with the RMT and climate campaigners from Friends of the Earth Scotland to secure a commitment from the Scottish Government to support, at least in print, the introduction of an offshore training passport. After months of raising the issue in Parliament and engaging with the Green Skills Minister, the Scottish Government's position appears to be that the same failed market that has exacerbated the issues of skills transferability and lack of training standardisation is now best placed to address them. While ministers claim that they have no formal role in terms of existing legislation to address those issues, I believe that they can use their office to show political leadership and drive forward progress. I am pleased to hear today that the Scottish Government will support Labour's amendment, but I would like it to go further. I would like the Scottish Government to commit today to providing a statement to Parliament setting out its vision of standardisation for the offshore energy sector and to giving regular parliamentary updates on its progress. If skills standardisation is a change that the Government really wants to see, it should not be shy about providing some accountability for it. As well as worker-led transition for the oil and gas sector, Labour's amendment recognises the need for the creation of secure and well-paid jobs in the offshore wind sector. That is sorely needed, because so far the Scottish Government has chosen to outsource jobs and offshore wind capacity to enable multinational companies to turn a profit at the expense of workers and communities here in Scotland. Given the consequences of its decision to outsource jobs through the Scotland Wind Auction, Labour believes that the Scottish Government must now take a proactive role in the creation of secure and well-paid green jobs here in Scotland. Financed by the proceeds from the Scotland Wind Auction, a Scottish Renewables Fund could invest in the development of skills and the creation of those jobs throughout Scotland's offshore wind supply chain. It is not only job creation in energy that needs work, but it is also the ownership model of energy, which I believe should be explored. A public model of energy generation and distribution would cut out the profit motive, meaning that the lowest cost for consumers could be realised, and the best pay and conditions for workers could be won. Given that some local authorities have explored bold measures such as council-owned renewable energy to help in their transitions to net zero, I urge the Scottish Government to work with island communities to explore the potential for community-owned renewable energy as part of their own net zero transitions. I would like to conclude by urging the Scottish Government to move beyond the limitations of today's motion and to be bolder in its ambition for Scotland's island communities in their transition to net zero. Deliver the worker-led transition for offshore oil and gas workers that they expect and deserve. Create well-paid, secure jobs in the offshore wind sector instead of lining the pockets of multinational companies through outsourcing. Support island communities in meeting their long-term energy needs by supporting them in exploring the potential of community-owned renewable energy. It is incredible, as other colleagues have said, what is already happening in our islands. The Scottish Government recently supported Fulha Wool with £146,000 from the island communities fund, which was funded aimed at supporting green projects. Fulha is an island that has already done incredible things. Fulha was established in 1982, and the island has produced its own energy and efforts to decarbonise that system are on-going. That is with collaborative approaches not just involving other Scottish islands but knowledge and experience shared by others across the EU and the world. Rum, muck, canna, fer-island, egg—which my colleague Rhoda Grant went on to more detail on earlier—are all ground-breaking in their efforts to become self-sufficient with community-run and increasingly green energy developments. So much so that they, alongside the Neu Dar Peninsula, have been assigned the status of pioneering islands in the Clean Energy for EU Islands programme. With all those strong foundations already here, of course it makes sense for the Scottish Government to support six other islands to become carbon neutral. As an MSP who represents five of the six islands identified for the support, I am very glad to hear that the cabinet secretary will soon be meeting with those already making headway in those islands to make sure that those efforts are being made with the community rather than to them. There are undeniably extra challenges involved in living in an island community. Transport and buildings, we know, are the highest emitters of CO2 equivalent overall, and both of those are more of a pressure in the islands. Ferries and planes are a fact of life. They are things that you need to survive, not a nice alternative option that people could choose to give up if they wanted, like takeaway coffee cups or bottled soap. Many homes are now old, and they do not have the fabric to allow for things like turning down the heating or swapping to a new system. In Orkney, a place that has always been at the forefront of renewable energy efforts, many homes still relied on peat for heat well into the 20th century. So many buildings in the islands are still not compatible with air source heat pumps and other greener heating systems. It is important to look at this in the context of fuel poverty, which is at its highest in the UK in parts of my region, including the Northern Isles and Caithness in Sutherland. It is vital that, when we talk about doing away with oil boilers, we think about the impact that this has on people living in homes where they already had energy bills that were impossible to budget for before the cost of living crisis and the looming need to swap to a new, likely more expensive heating system. We have to think about the astronomical personal cost, regardless of any grants for installation that people will have paying for extremely high power consumption to heat a badly insulated house with green energy. I was glad to see a line within my Orkney colleague Liam McArthur's amendment drawing attention to the need to consider not just encouraging retrofitting but actively funding it. That is necessary, and I think that it is important that that aspect of the issue was brought to the debate today. We cannot push people experiencing the highest levels of fuel poverty in the UK further into that desperate situation. Bands on oil boilers have to come alongside immediately the possibility of actually being able to heat your home in a green way. We are not there yet, and I do know that social housing providers in the Isles are really feeling the pressure, particularly considering the higher costs of building materials. I am also glad to hear that there is an openness on the part of the Scottish Government to consider how to support more sustainable tourism in the islands as part of this carbon neutral journey. The Highlands and Islands has relied very heavily on tourism, but Covid restrictions, rising house prices and the struggles of local councils to keep up with extra demands on roads and other services have all demonstrated a need to diversify and perhaps open more eyes to the concept and drawbacks of overtourism. People will always want to come and enjoy our landscapes, our offerings and our culture, but all of those things are at risk of disappearing if locals, whether those who are born and raised in the region or those who have chosen to make it their home—and I mean permanent, not second—are driven out to be replaced with houses that lie empty most of the year, visited by tourists who have not been given the knowledge that they need to make sure that they do not damage the area as they travel through it. If our health and care and social workers cannot find housing, then life in the Highlands and Islands becomes not only difficult but doubtful. Even putting that aside, if hospitality workers cannot find a home, then tourists are not going to have very much fun. However, I will now go back to the positives of this debate because it is genuinely a very positive thing that we are here to debate today if we get it right. If we get it right, we can secure the future of our islands as fantastic, sustainable, affordable places to live and work. Scotland has to decarbonise and we have to work towards net zero. It is right that we not only focus on what will bring the biggest, most impressive stats all at once but focus on the places where investment is required as soon as possible to help people who are struggling and avoid plunging more into fuel poverty. A greener country cannot just mean flashy national statistics. It has to mean that those people who are living in difficult-to-heat homes surrounded by turbines and hydroschemes can afford to heat their home in winter without starving. That people in our islands are able to travel to work and still lead sustainable lives. It is clear that those efforts to put our islands at the forefront of our journey to net zero is good not only for tackling climate change but for tackling some of the real issues that need to be tackled around fuel poverty, housing and transport in our island communities. It is incredibly important that those plans are being developed based on the voices of those who live there. It was islanders who told the Scottish Government that they wanted action to support them to become more sustainable and it is now the Scottish Government that will deliver on that big ask. I now call on Karen Adam to be followed by Arianne Burgess around six minutes please, Ms Adam. Thank you, Presiding Officer. As a member of Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee and an MSP representing a largely rural coastal constituency, I commend the innovative action taken by the Scottish Government surrounding carbon neutral islands, which is part of an on-going process to support small island communities, which have themselves often been pioneers for sustainability and climate action. I can empathise with many of the issues and initiatives that provide a snapshot of a greener future, building on co-priorities for island communities but also providing a green print for carbon neutral progress on the mainland. I believe and hope that the actions taken in the context of carbon neutral islands will also help to address some of the other challenges for our islands and coastal communities, like depopulation, the need for tourism to be more sustainable and fuel poverty. We know that our islands are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change but also have huge potential and natural capital that will help us to meet our net zero ambition. The carbon neutral islands project will demonstrate the low carbon energy potential of Scotland's islands as hubs of innovation in renewable energy and climate change resilience. Scotland can be seen globally as taking island leadership a step further in the establishment of not one but six carbon neutral islands and an opportunity for island communities to lead the way in the country's broader journey towards net zero emissions. The project is not exclusive, of course, as has been mentioned to the six named islands, but will benefit all Scottish islands and, where possible, shed light on carbon neutrality, good practices generally through the sharing of best practice, the exchange of knowledge and progressive policies supporting islands to become carbon neutral. That will indeed help to protect their unique heritage, culture and biodiversity, while also delivering on our commitment to support island communities to flourish economically and socially. The programme for government will build upon the selection process incorporating very best of partnership work with stakeholders listening and learning as we go. As I mentioned before, Scotland's islands have been leaders in renewable energy development and innovation, and that is why we are determined to harness that potential and build on that success to meet Scotland's 2045 net zero ambitions. Like my constituency, island communities are remote and rural and often experience fuel poverty alongside a higher wind chill. Island industries such as farming and fishing have historically been carbon intensive as well as distilling. It is therefore a great challenge for islands to become carbon neutral, combining what can be done in the short term as well as the long. The islands have called for support building upon their own initiatives, and I am pleased to see that we have stepped up to the mark in doing just that. However, we are at the very early stages, and it is important that we move forward in a spirit of optimism and determination. Moving forward will involve carbon audits across the islands and a phased approach that informs our learning, and it will help to deliver key commitments in the national islands plan, creating jobs, protecting Scottish island environments from climate change and contributing to Scotland's 2045 net zero target. I congratulate the work and research carried out by island communities, including the collaboration with universities and the innovative work surrounding hydrogen and conversion as just one example. It is a well-worn phrase that nobody has a monopoly on such matters. We are keen, I am sure, to embrace many ideas and walk with island communities on a shared journey, building upon route maps towards a common goal. I agree with the leaders of some island councils that we are all needing to think smarter. We have to act quicker, and we have to deliver sooner. That is the climate change imperative, and the Scottish Government is doing just that. The work is on-going, but it is at pace. However, there are crossroads with some obstacles along this shared journey. As the cabinet secretary has mentioned in this chamber previously, the higher transmission network use of system charges remains a key barrier to net zero in Scotland, and we are calling on action in that regard. The analysis by the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets of GEM shows that, by 2040, Scottish renewable and low-carbon generators will be the only ones paying a wider transmission network charge with all others, including gas generators elsewhere in Great Britain, being paid credits. The Scottish Government has made it clear that a new approach is needed. Rather than small modifications to the existing methodologies of off-gems charging reviews and decision making that fully take into account the effects on renewables, project costs and ensures that they do not present barriers to investment and progress in Scotland. I welcome the process of consulting with stakeholders to get their views on how they can work together to deliver the project, with exploring good practices from islands around the world to fully understand how emissions can be reduced as soon as possible. Finally, I agree with the cabinet secretary that Scotland's islands can play a really significant role in the race to net zero. It is a good example of this Government's determination for Scotland to lead the world in tackling climate change. A carbon island programme sets a high level of ambition for our islands to aspire to in the decades ahead. Islands are the perfect setting to lead on innovation and developing new technologies. That is why they are often dubbed island laboratories. I am glad to see that the Scottish Government has recognised this in selecting six Scottish islands to lead the way in becoming carbon neutral. It is right that we consider the unique problems and the challenging contexts that our island communities face from the climate emergency. Support to ensure that their long-term prosperity is crucial. As the just transition progresses and the scale of change quickens, they will need more support than ever. I want to give credit to the innovative and ambitious work that is already being done by island local authorities and community development trusts by taking matters into their own hands. They have looked to the future and embraced renewable energy. The chaplaincy development trust on one of the inner islands of Orkney, for example, has harnessed revenue and electricity from the community wind turbine and reinvested the income in local housing built to passive house standard. In partnership with local, national and international partners, they have also demonstrated the research and development opportunities that islands present. By installing a hydrogen electrolyzer, they have not only advanced our understanding of local mixed energy systems, but they have also taken practical steps to reduce the carbon footprint of their local school, which now runs overnight on locally produced hydrogen thanks to a new dual boiler system. That is island innovation at its finest. With greens now in Shetland for the first time and more greens in Orkney council 2, I am excited to see the community-led transition in our northern isles go from strength to strength. The progress made on islands like chaplaincy and elsewhere is not surprising. The community on egg, as mentioned earlier by Rhoda Grant, has demonstrated for decades the wealth of opportunities and benefits that come with community-driven decarbonisation and community ownership. The zero-carbon islands programme must harness the potential for research and development, employment in high-quality green jobs and sustained population growth, because big challenges remain ahead if we are to reach net zero in our islands. Fuel poverty is rife across Scottish islands communities who disproportionately suffer extreme fuel poverty. Even before the current cost of living crisis, islanders spend extortion amounts on heating while receiving below-average wages, and as the existing homes alliance highlights, they are also almost likely to have homes rated below EPCC. Our islands have the highest proportion of unhealthy cold homes in Scotland, but there is an opportunity to create jobs while tackling this crisis. Investment to bring homes across the islands and islands up to EPCC and install low emissions heating could support up to 24,000 jobs over the next decade. We must also provide affordable homes to attract and retain those working in the area. That is why, as part of the bute house agreement, the Greens will work with the Scottish Government to develop a remote rural and island housing action plan. The best way to reduce carbon is to make better use of homes that are already there, bringing into productive use second homes, holiday homes and empty homes, and buying back formal council homes. We also need to bring new-build construction closer to home using local materials such as timber and role-based insulation and, as part of a circular economy approach, that will strengthen island economies. The roll-out of the Scottish Government's heat network fund is also vital. I strongly urge the Government to consider our island communities as a top priority in the delivery of local heat networks. With excellent renewable energy sources, our islands can demonstrate a new model of local energy systems where communities are prosumers, both producing and consuming their own energy. Challenges in national infrastructure also pose a barrier to island decarbonisation. The Scottish Government must make much stronger progress on grid development and supporting the national grid where it can, while also exploring island grid smart systems to provide communities with greater resilience, ownership and independence. With our island's renewable energy resources being some of our most valued assets in the drive to net zero, it beggars belief that the UK Government is not doing more to unlock those abundant resources and supply low-cost renewable energy to houses across Scotland and the rest of Britain. Instead, energy to generation projects on island space is very high transmission costs, as we have heard already, due to their distance from large population centres. Islands can help the rest of us to decarbonise if only the UK Government could sort out the vital transmission links for Morkney and the Western Isles. A new approach is needed to support projects to expand, as well as ensuring that some of the profit is directed back into the local community. I urge the Scottish Government to press the UK to sharpen up its approach in this area of reserved policy. We cannot overlook the carbon footprint of ferries. In Orkney alone, it is estimated that 36,000 tonnes of carbon is emitted each year from the burning of oil and bunker fuel by ferries servicing the island. The challenge of reaching carbon neutrality is nearly insurmountable if the barrier is not tackled and the Scottish Government must play a leading role on that within the next two years. I am just about to conclude. I agree with her about the environmental impacts of the fuel burning of the ferry fleet within Orkney. Does she agree that that is a cost that should not be borne by Orkney Islands Council alone? I would have to look into it further as to the issues of whether it should be borne by Orkney Islands Council or whether it should have support from the Scottish Government. In closing, each island community has its own unique set of circumstances and individual challenges, but I look forward to seeing how the Zero Carbon Islands programme will bring together people and skills to achieve concrete outcomes on the path to net zero. I now call Paul MacLennan to be followed by Fulton MacGregor at around six minutes. In its programme for government in 2021-22, the Scottish Government committed to support carbon neutral islands. That included pilots for islands to run on 100 per cent renewable energy, create circular economies and explore more sustainable transport options. The Scottish Government also gave a commitment to work with at least three islands over the Parliament to enable them to become fully carbon neutral by 2040, as four on earth to a net zero Scotland by 2045. As we have heard, the cabinet secretary for rural affairs announced during his speech at COP26 that the Scottish Government was doubling its commitment and that six islands would be supported to become carbon neutral. Scotland is an island and coastal nation with about 93 inhabited islands and over 10,000 miles of coastlines. Our islands can be exemplars, they can lead the way in ensuring that Scotland meets our 2045 net zero ambitions. The Scottish Government is committed to adjust transitions as referred by 2045 with an ambitious target of 2030, which is only eight years away, of a 75 per cent reduction in emissions. Scotland's emissions are already down by over 50 per cent since the 1990 baseline, and we continue to outperform the UK in delivering the wrong term reductions. The Scottish Government's budget sets out record levels investment to address the climate emergency and deliver a just transition to net zero, including the first £20 million of our £500 million just transition fund. In 2019, the Scottish Government produced Scotland's first ever national island plan that had 13 strategic objectives. Three strategic objectives have brought to work towards carbon neutral islands. The first one was strategic objective eight and was going on about environmental wellbeing and biosecurity, and that is to improve and promote environmental wellbeing and deal with biosecurity. We are dealing with a biodiversity emergency as well as a climate change emergency. The objective nine was about climate change and energy itself, to contribute towards climate change mitigation and adaptation and to promote clean, affordable and secure energy. Today we get to if 10 was all about empowering island communities. In the consultation for the plan, climate change has emerged as one of the most pressing of these issues. There is an extremely resilient and innovative by nature and I am determined to play that part and indeed want to be at the very forefront if responding effectively to the climate emergency. We are all committed to supporting and protecting Scotland's islands and are proudly promoting them as a wonderful place to live, visit, work and study. We need to continue to work closely with the communities and the public agencies that support and serve these communities. Our islands are profoundly important not just to Scotland but to the whole of the world. They contribute hugely to our culture, heritage, environment, identity, landscape, economy and society. The Scottish Government commitment to publish the islands connectivity plan by the end of 2022 is also very welcome. We know that the connectivity plan will replace the current ferries plan. I am very grateful to Mr MacLennan that I talked about the islands connectivity plan, which we all look forward to seeing. Does he believe that the ferry services in Orkney and Shetland should be included in that connectivity plan if it is to genuinely be a national ferries plan or a successor to the national ferries plan? I am aware that Mr MacArthur had mentioned that before and I think that that was considered by the Cabinet Secretary and I look forward to getting the answer from her in that regard. The island connectivity plan will be taken forward through the national transport strategy and strategic transport projects review. That will enable us to consider other potential viable options connecting to islands. The connectivity plan will replace the ferries plan by the end of 2022, and engagement and consultation on that will enable substantial public and community input. The Scottish Government plans to explore potential to build more fixed lines to island and remote communities and work with island communities to reduce resilience on the ferries. Again, that needs to be part of the consultation process. The infrastructure investment plan for 2021-22 to 2025-26 will produce and maintain a long-term plan investment programme for new ferries and development reports will contribute towards reduced emissions. Brex undoubtedly had an impact on island communities. It has been previously reported that EU structural investment funds that more than £1 billion had been invested in the socio-economic development of the Highlands and Islands since the 1970s. That included projects such as Fetland fibre optic, Scalpy and Erisgy bridges, Lockhearn and Wind, Farm One South used and electrification. The second annual report on the islands plan was just published recently. Some key findings included new models have emerged to support community climate action via a developing network of regional climate action hubs, providing vehicles for communities to come together and engage in collective climate action. Two pathfinder projects were launched in September 2021 with one hub covering the north islands and islands in Scotland. Work is developing also regarding the approach to heat decarbonisation and resilience sustainability of island energy systems, which will be in the islands energy strategy that will be published in 2022. Additionally, Local Energy Scotland continues to deliver the Scottish Government's community and renewable energy scheme, CARES, supporting community groups and organisations and rule of SMEs to explore their renewable energy options. Jenny Minto and I recently met Michael Matheson in that regard to discuss that issue. CARES' advice and funding support is available to communities across Scotland, including our island communities. The Scottish Government has also worked closely with the Scotland's distribution network owners to ensure that their business plans reflect the scale and pace of change that are required to meet our targets. The draft plan that is submitted to off-gem, if approved, would unlock more than £3 billion of investment in our local networks. As part of the investment, the SNCN provides essential services to communities. On 59 remote islands, 211 subsea cables have included provision for £35 million of investment for new subsea cables, and £43 million is proposed for maintaining and operating standby diesel generation for island communities at seven sites. That includes replacing the engines at battery point on Isle of Leos to improve its environmental impact and upgrading the capacity and bone more power station on Isla. In conclusion, the national island plan has given us a good start to moving towards carbon neutral by 2045. The commitment to carbon neutral islands will take us even further. I welcome the motion and commitment to the six beautiful islands that will become carbon neutral by 2040. That is the kind of ambitious commitment that we need to see to tackle climate change, and I welcome those islands working towards those goals. I have to preface the speech by admitting that I feel like a wee bit of an imposter in this debate, and I hope that my colleagues who represent islands, as I can see some of them looking at me, and those islands that I mentioned today will give me some leeway, because I know that it's like myself in the chamber. My interest has always peaked when I hear any mention of Co-Bridge and Christon to make sure that the member gets the information right when they say it so, but I do hope that today when I refer to the islands that I'm going to, that I do so accurately. I've only been able to enjoy one of these islands, however, and I've visited a great Cymru on many occasions, as I'm sure several of my other Glasgow and Lancer based colleagues have also done so. It's a bit of a right for every primary six or seven school people to cycle around Millport. I think that that's something that they all have to do, and I absolutely loved, even more recently, taking my family to come and have fond memories, as I said, of cycling around the island and enjoying the stunning views. Indeed, I was there just this time last year, and I stayed at the Millport Pier hotel, and I can say that it was very much a family-friendly experience, so I'm happy to mention that. I look forward to seeing the islands' transformation towards carbon neutral, and I'm sure that, with the current use of bicycles, as I mentioned, that will help it greatly in that goal. We are a proud coastal nation, of course, and I'm very proud of our island communities, and it makes perfect sense that these islands lead the way in achieving our climate change goals. We have already seen renewable energy blossom on our coastlines with tidal and wind power industries embracing a natural environment. Maybe the Deputy Presiding Officer, who is not in the chair today, but in the chamber, will keep me right, but I've read reports that Orkney residents have installed some 700 wind turbines in their backyards, generating electricity for their personal use and the grid, showing how amazing their natural resources are for providing green energy for our homes. Orkney was one subtly dependent on power that was produced by burning coal and gas in the Scottish mainland and then transmitted through an undersea cable. What an amazing example to say that community-owned wind turbines generate power for local villages. Islanders drive non-ploting cars that run on electricity and devices that can turn the energy of the waves and the tides into electricity. I'm not just saying this to get on the good side of Mr MacArthur, because he's leading up the parliamentary football team on Thursday, which I am playing in. We can also look to island of Egg, which is community-owned in 2008. Egg became the first world community to launch an off-grid electric system powered by wind, water and solar, and it's important to note that this was led by residents who taught themselves how to run it. Before that, expensive diesel generators that only ran for a few hours a day were relied on for power. Today, this 12-square-mile island continues to set an example, not only in how to deliver electricity from renewable energy, but how societies could meet their energy needs without access to a national grid, a challenge affecting nearly one-fifth of the world's population. Those plans are very ambitious, as others have mentioned, but ambition without the means to carry out the aims is inoperable, which is why I'm happy to see that the Scottish Government has ensured that the tools are there to allow communities to realise those goals. From April to July 2019 the Scottish Government consulted widely on what was important to islanders for island communities. That consultation process is highlighted where we need to step up our collective efforts and focus our energies to address the challenges and realise the aspirations of everyone who lives in Scotland's islands. Climate change emerged as one of the most pressing of those issues by developing carbon neutral islands that attract jobs and investment that the project aims to retain and bring more people to Scotland's islands. The sustainability of Scotland's islands is vitally important and the national islands plan provides a framework for action in order to meaningfully improve outcomes for island communities. The Island Scotland Act 2018 introduces many measures that ensure that there is sustained focus across Government and the public sector to meet the needs of island communities, not just now, but in the future. I do remember being in last term's Wreck Committee for a period of time, which included some of the scrutiny of this very bill that I'm talking about, and I would agree with the comments of Jamie Greene earlier when he was talking about the island proofing being a really key part of that. Brexit, of course, has had an impact on island communities and the on-going Covid-19 pandemic has also meant that the implementation of this national islands plan has been met with unfortunate delays. The Highlands and Islands Climate Hospital, which supports communities with climate action, will be integral to the process of going carbon neutral. I note that they are hosting a Highland climate festival this summer, which I would encourage local members of my constituency to go to. It certainly looks like great fun. Had I been up there that week, I would have certainly went there myself, but I'm planning my own holidays for just slightly after the week after having looked at the dates. There will be development officers at the hub who can support any events and applications for funding, so I would encourage anyone from this area watching this debate to get in touch with hub to see how they can be assisted. Finally, it is important that the six islands get support to go carbon neutral. That is not our single focus. The project is intended to benefit all Scottish islands, which I think is a point that was made by my colleague Alasdair Allan. Through knowledge exchange and the sharing of good practices, stemming from implementation of the carbon neutral project, we can work towards a greener and fairer Scotland. For that reason, because I support the Government's motion, I thank you. I want to give advance notice to the closing speakers that we have some time in hand and therefore are likely to be reasonably generous in terms of the timing of those contributions. I now call Jamie Halcro Johnston to be followed by Jackie Dunbar, around six minutes please, Mr Halcro Johnston. Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. Frantic speech rewriting starts across the front benches. The ambition in the national islands plan to support carbon neutrality is a positive one. Our island communities have shown themselves to be aspirational in transitioning to net zero and have demonstrated the sort of leadership and approach that can serve as an example for the whole of Scotland and the UK, but alongside a positive vision must come practical ideas, as well as pragmatic engagement with the individuals, organisations and businesses that make up our island communities. The six islands identified by the cabinet secretary must be just a start and act as an example of where the Scottish Government's support is needed most. These islands must be ahead of the curve and we must see solutions shaped early. There will also be the challenge of positive collaborative working. Local authorities covering many of the island communities have already shown an admirable dedication to tackling climate change and we should also remember that our islands are future campaign, which was the motive force behind much of our island planning, was directed to both Governments at Scottish and at UK level. To make real improvements on all of our island communities, not just the six that have been announced will be challenging work. It must involve public services at all levels, navigating the multitude of public bodies that play a key role in island life. Sadly, we should also keep in mind that this is a Scottish Government, not used to meeting its carbon reduction targets. After 15 years in office there is a growing sense that big aspirations are not often met by delivery and too often when bold ambitions are set, even into law, there is little accountability for failure. Targets still are the emissions of our ferry network and are further away than before and islanders will note that the only ferry to join the Kalmack Flat, the fleet in recent years, was sold off by Norwegian ferries as they move to a carbon-free future. Perhaps we are simply supposed to enjoy the journey towards these targets, hit or miss, but good intentions will not make for the vital changes that we know is required. It will require both work and investment, but of course there has been real and visible progress locally. My home, Orkney, has shown just some of the potential for our islands to demonstrate that a different future is possible. In February 2020, I had the opportunity to participate in the Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee's visit to the islands as part of our wider energy inquiry. I know that many other members have had the opportunity to come to Orkney and see some of what is happening on the ground. Orkney's main problem is not a shortage of renewable energy but rather a surplus and the challenge to use it most effectively. EMEK, with sites across Orkney, will celebrate its second decade next year. Those facilities have provided the UK with world leading research into harnessing wave and tidal power, but it is more than just experimental. It is feeding power into the grid now and on a small scale, converting excess electricity into hydrogen, which can then be reused. It is not only the islands themselves who stand to benefit. There is a strong case and work on going to increase the interconnect capacity to the mainland. The subsea cables that exist were designed for a very different time and a very different electricity network. In the meantime, there is a positive sense of direction in deploying what we do have on the islands themselves. As the committee saw, Orkney has one of the highest updates of electric vehicles in the UK. Last year, we were also testing the UK's first electric-powered aircraft flights. We have a long history of harnessing the power of the wind, something that we are not short of in Orkney. In 1951, Orkney was the site of the UK's first grid-connected wind turbine at Costerhead. It is also worth remembering that the islands play a key role in the oil and gas industry. Flotter oil terminal, not cited across Skapperflow from my own home, was built in the 1970s and represented an enormous investment in Orkney. There was a co-dependent relationship there. An energy shift requires a fair and well-managed transition, and in turn renewable energy can benefit from the expertise that has been built in the past. Which leads to another question, one which has been raised previously. Despite key roles as energy hubs, our island communities, alongside the Highlands and Islands more generally, are the places where fuel poverty are often at its highest. The legacy of an ageing housing stock combined with many households continuing to rely on oil for heating remain considerable challenges. There is also the wider question of regional economic inequality that plays a significant role. Relatively simple changes such as proper insulation, while requiring a great deal of work at scale, must not be neglected. One organisation that the former committee met in 2020 was Reflex Orkney, a collaboration between EMAC, the local authority and a range of other partners, including funding from the UK research and innovation. Recognising the need for better integration and active management of our energy resources, it has been working on a whole range of decarbonisation options from heat to transport, storage to smart charging. It has been shaping the sort of visible change that we need to be seeing, not just on our islands, but across our country. Presiding Officer, while there are undoubtedly challenges ahead, I have a strong belief in a positive and optimistic future for energy and deep carbonisation in our islands. What they have already achieved independently has been remarkable. What they can achieve with effective collaboration can be incredible. However, we should remember the principles of the islands act and wider commitments made as part of the islands policy. This debate should be about support and co-operation, not about central direction. The Scottish Government must respect the distinct communities that make up Scotland's islands and work to ensure that they are the key drivers of their futures. The Government can provide a lead, and it must go farther in that role than we have seen so far. Ultimately, that must be a task that brings in communities, businesses and so many others. I welcome the opportunity to speak about supporting our island communities in their journey to become fully carbon neutral by 2040 in today's debate. From the outset, I want to be clear that our islands are vital contributors to Scotland's environment, society, economy and our enormous tourism offering, as well as to our national culture and heritage. As an MSP representing part of the Granite City and not our islands, some may ask why I am speaking in this debate, and it is simple because our islands matter. Our islands can lead the way for our whole country in offering solutions for current and future challenges, most pressingly the climate emergency. In 2019, the Scottish Government consulted widely on what was important to islanders and island communities. The consultation process showed where more work is required to better support our island communities, but, importantly, it allowed the voices of island residents to be heard and their priorities to be known. Surprisingly, climate change emerged as one of the most urgent of those priorities. Despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Scottish Government has acted on the needs of our island communities, particularly in tackling the climate emergency. The Government is committed to demonstrating the low-carbon energy potential of Scotland's islands as hubs of innovation in renewable energy and climate change resistance and resilience. That will be achieved while positively impacting on island economies, population retention and growth. Island communities are already engaged in acting to cut emissions, including through working to ensure sustainable tourism by decarbonising transport infrastructure as well as sources of fuel for heat, which helps to tackle fuel poverty, and issue hitting our island communities particularly hard. I think that we have heard from members across the chamber today in regards to that, and those actions are welcome. The transition to net zero will require significantly greater levels of renewable energy to be deployed. The Scotland Wind Leasing Round, led by Crown Estate Scotland, offers significant potential for gigawatts of offshore wind power from the end of this decade. In addition to the scale of those projects, the move to deeper waters further from shore presents fresh opportunities in new technology development such as floating wind. That will offer more supply chain opportunities for Scotland than it has achieved in fixed bottom wind to date, presenting a huge potential not only to our islands but to the country as a whole. As a north-east MSP, I welcome that offshore wind is now recognised by the oil and gas industry as being a critical part of decarbonisation within the UK continental shelf, which is now committed to decarbonised operations by 2035. Our islands play a critical role here. Already, we are seeing work under way to ensure energy integration such as the powering of offshore oil and gas platforms by renewable energy. That is a priority for the Scottish Government. I welcome that those working in our oil and gas sector are being supported by the Scottish Government and industry to diversify their skillsets away from fossil fuels and into renewable energy. It would be remiss of me to discuss islands without noting that island communities are bearing the brunt of a hard Brexit, recklessly expedited during a global pandemic. The Scottish Government is acutely aware of the impact that Brexit has had on our island communities and across the country, with EU support having been a lifeline to Scotland for decades. It has been reported that EU structural and investment funds in excess of £1 billion have played a significant role in the socio-economic development of the islands and islands since the 1970s. I know that I have seen a lot of the funding in place in the islands because just this weekend I was up there visiting my sister. Moreover, schemes supported by EU funding included the Shetland fibre optic broadband cable, the Scalpate and Erskie bridges, the Loch Carnan wind farm on South Uist and the electrication of egg. Our island communities are also missing out on around £150 million of potential investment, having been shortchanged by the UK Government's so-called shared prosperity fund. Against the backdrop of Brexit and Covid-19, the Scottish Government continues to support our island communities through the national islands plan and now through the decarbonisation plan. The same simply cannot be said for the UK Government. In closing, islanders are extremely resilient, innovative and are determined to play their part and indeed want to be at the very front of responding effectively to the climate emergency. I therefore welcome the work that is under way to help our island communities to achieve their enormous potential of becoming carbon neutral by 2040. I welcome the steps that the Scottish Government has taken to protect our islands against the backdrop of Brexit, and I again highlight the invaluable contribution of our islands to North East Scotland, to Scotland as a whole and to the globe. Fulton MacGregor talked earlier about memories of cycling around Millport and his aspirations to take a crack at the other islands that are in the initiative announced by the cabinet secretary. I can perhaps advise him that if he fancies a crack at Hoy, he may want to investigate investing in an electric bike. However, as a hardy islander, in the words of Jamie Greene, any debate that focuses on our islands and our island communities, their needs and their potential is one that I wholeheartedly welcome. In fact, I may go as far as to suggest that this should be a weekly requirement under standing orders. If that is to go too far, however, I simply say that I am delighted to be taking part in closing on behalf of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. I also broadly welcome the motion in the name of my good friend, Marie Gougeon, though I thought Rhoda Grant made some valid points. Not simply as she referred to Orkney as we are leading something else, I think that she should be required under standing orders. I think that she also talked, as others did, about viewing this debate within the context of the Government not meeting its targets in recent years more generally in terms of climate change mitigation, but also recognising the fact that any measures taken in the islands will need to be bespoken, tailored to those needs. Rhoda Grant also, in her amendment and in her contribution, talked about the particular challenges of transition for island communities that are more heavily reliant on oil and gas. I am not going to conjecture over how the six islands were taken. I take that in good faith, as the cabinet secretary has set out. However, there are certainly other islands for which the transition will be more challenging, and it will be a transition. There are elements in the SNP-Green coalition Government that appear to be in favour of less of a transition and more of a handbrake turn, and that is a concern. Rhoda Grant was also right to talk, as others did, about the requirement through that transition for school development in our islands as well as more nationally. A number of speakers today have talked about the link between what we are doing here, particularly in relation to transport and population retention in our islands. I had an exchange with Rachel Hamilton earlier in the debate, in which he talked about population retention being crucial to efforts to move towards carbon neutrality. I also posited the idea that she raised the issue of the island bonds. I would suggest that, in terms of attracting and retaining population, as well as rolling out piloting low-emission air transport in somewhere like Orkney, there is an opportunity of aggregating the funds through the island bonds, as well as through green transport initiatives, which would have the double benefit of moving us towards our climate aspirations, but also making more resilient not just the population within one island community but across the outer north isles in Orkney. Where I perhaps take exception with the motions wording is in the idea that it is the Scottish Government's initiative that puts Scotland's islands at the forefront of climate change policy. No, it's not. As we've heard from colleagues across the chamber this afternoon, it's the ingenuity, the hard work, the ambition of islanders that is putting our islands at the forefront of those efforts. One example would be Jenny Minthals, which she made the case on behalf of the islands in her constituent. I was very interested by the experience in relation to some of the distilleries, as I know that Highland Park has sought and barked down a similar route and has been frustrated in terms of some of the projects that they were unable to take forward. Nevertheless, for years, Orkney has been harnessing its natural resources to blaze a trail in terms of innovation, first in renewable energy generation and, more recently, in the use of that energy in transport and heat. Again, like Jenny Minthals, I've probably ought to declare an interest as a member of the Reflex project in Orkney, which Jamie Halcro Johnston described very well indeed. Indeed, I've no doubt that Mary Gougeon will have seen much of that for herself when she enjoyed some time in Orkney last summer. It's been in evidence since the first turbine on Berger Hill in the 70s, EMEX establishment in 2003, through to the world's most powerful tidal turbine orbital that the minister will be very familiar with, connected last year. Any number of landmarks along the way, I can confirm to Fulton MacGregor that there are around 700 wind turbines, including one in my backfield, and 400 solar installations across the Isles, allowing Orkney to generate around 130 per cent of its electricity demand from renewables. We've the highest percentage of EV use in Scotland, as well as the highest number of charging points, although I think that Jamie Greene made a very fair point that that is certainly not replicated in island communities around the country. More recently, plans were unveiled that could see flot oil terminal transition into a green hydrogen production facility using offshore wind produced west of Orkney. I welcome this initiative and warmly welcome the inclusion of Huy, but we would urge caution on ministers for hugging the credit. I would also hope and expect the other islands in my constituency and elsewhere to benefit from knowledge transfer and the sharing of experience, as well as of Government support. However, it is in the areas of heat and transport that I want to see the Government go further and faster. Those are the areas at a national level where ministers are failing to meet their targets. As Beatrice Wishart reminded us, they are also the areas that arguably matter most to islanders, whether in terms of the effect on delivery of lifeline ferry and air services or in efforts to address the appalling levels of fuel poverty that have been reflected in every single speech that we have heard this afternoon. That is why my amendment makes clear that any ambition to create carbon neutral islands must factor in the need for low-emissions ferries. The S&P's record does not inspire confidence in this area, as the Fiasco at Ferguson's testify. Beatrice Wishart is also right in highlighting that the exclusion of Orkney and Shetland's internal ferry services from the Government's own connectivity plan to the success of the national ferries plan suggests that ministers are sticking their heads in the sand rather than facing up to the reality of what needs done. That is simply not good enough, particularly as Orkney is already innovating with hydrogen ferries, referred to by Ariane Burgess, use of shore power, as well as low-emission aircraft. Replacing the ageing fleet on those lifeline ferry routes, however, is now a matter of urgency, not just in reducing emissions, but safeguarding services upon which island communities depend. On decarbonising heat 2, we need greater urgency from Government and a targeted approach in our islands. Levels of fuel poverty and extreme fuel poverty in Orkney and, as Alasdair Allan suggested in the Western Isles, are amongst the highest, not just in Scotland, but across the continent. That is even before the current cost of energy crisis. I thought that Alasdair Allan also made a fair point in relation to the need to provide a cap on heating oil in what I thought was a very thoughtful contribution. I thought of contribution 2 from Emma Roddick, who set out in very clear detail the fact that the measures needed to improve energy efficiency are more challenging and costly to deliver in the island. That is why my amendment calls for priority to be given to our islands and a targeted plan of retrofiting. It was disappointing that cabinet secretary said that she was unable to support the amendment. Her motion claims credit for much of this, but apparently making progress in these transport and heat areas are either the responsibility of local authorities or the UK Government. Carbon neutral islands is a welcome initiative, a worse the islands involved all the very best, but it must not be the sum of our ambition, nor can we afford for it to be another glossy announcement where delivery is left to chance. It is in the areas of transport, particularly ferries and in heat, where the needs of islanders and island communities must be urgently met as we continue on our journey to net zero, and I urge Parliament to back the amendment in my name. Thank you. I will just remind the chamber that I can afford to be generous in regards to time allocated for those closing, and I call on Colin Smyth. Today's debate has been a welcome opportunity to shine a light on the work of our island communities as part of our journey to net zero. The six islands will be part of the carbon neutral islands project, but also the 88 other inhabited islands who are not. I want to place on record Labour's thanks to the island authorities, the community groups, the businesses on our islands such as the whisky industry that is highlighted by Jenny Minto and Jamie Greene for the work that they are all doing, leading the way in the fight against climate change, which, of course, our islands are especially vulnerable to, as the cabinet secretary highlighted in her opening comments. However, the debate has also highlighted the scale of the challenge that we face, and the fact that we may have targets net zero by 2045, and as Rhoda Grant highlighted, the very modest target of just six islands carbon neutral by 2040, what we do not yet have is a plan to meet either a point stressed by Rachel Hamilton. As a result, Scotland consistently misses our emissions reduction targets, and the longer we take to put in place proper plans to meet those targets, the less likely any transition will be a just transition. The failure to deliver that would be particularly devastating for our island communities, yet, Presiding Officer, there was no mention of a just transition within the SNP green motion, so I am pleased that it will be supporting Labour's amendment. It is particularly important at a time that families across Scotland are facing a cost-of-living crisis with household bills rising. An important point made by Rhoda Grant is the fact that, for our island communities, the cost of energy of food of petrol is already disproportionately high on average 15 to 30 per cent higher compared to urban areas. Rhoda Grant, Beatrice Wishart, Ariana Burgess, Jamie Halcro Johnston and many others rightly raised the shameful levels of fuel poverty facing our island communities. As Alistair Allen pointed out, according to Energy Action Scotland, fuel poverty is 40 per cent on the western isles, almost double the Scottish average. Households on our islands such as Shetland do not only have no access to mains gas in the western isles, it is just 14 per cent. The main source of domestic heating is often oil or solid fuel, and as Emma Roddick spoke passionately about, for those households, electrification of heating would come at a prohibitive cost. The total cost of meeting the Government's commitments on heat decarbonisation is estimated to be an excess of £33 billion, but only £1.8 billion has so far been committed to meeting that cost. Presiding Officer, if we are serious about a just transition, the burden of that commitment cannot fall on the shoulders of those who can least afford it. We need better support for our island communities when it comes to properly insulating their homes and retrofitting those houses. As Rhoda Grant and Beatrice Wishart highlighted, we also need to stop the madness of building homes to a standard that means that they will need to be retrofitted in the future. Alex Rowley will soon bring a bill before Parliament to ensure that all homes are built to a passive home standard. I hope that the Government will consider at that point supporting that bill. A number of members across the chamber have also raised other areas where more urgent action is needed if we are to tackle the climate crisis. Alan Highland highlighted the issue of transport. Transport remains the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland, responsible for more than a third. Public transport options on our islands are, of course, very limited. For many, a car is not a luxury, it is a necessity. The Government has set a target to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2032, but the availability of alternative low-emission vehicles remains prohibitively expensive. The lack of charging points is in danger of leaving electric car owners in rural communities and islands stuck at the side of the road. The Climate Change Committee says that we need around 30,000 public charging points in Scotland by 2030, so the plan for just an extra couple of thousands from the Scottish Government over the next few years falls woefully short. As several members stressed for our island communities, our ferry network provides a lifeline transport link. However, the Government's approach to cutting emissions or our ferries appears to be well not to run them with cancellations and delays from the creaking age in CalMac fleet, now the norm for long-suffering island communities. There is real skepticism over the Government's commitment to make 30 per cent of CalMac's fleet zero carbon by 2030 when they have spent years and hundreds of millions of pounds failing to deliver just two new ferries. As Lear MacArthur's amendment highlights, it is not just a CalMac fleet that needs to be decarbonised. In the opening comments, the cabinet secretary said, while there are challenges for our island communities to become carbon neutral, there are also big opportunities. I agree, as Rhoda Grant stressed, renewables are one of those opportunities whose potential remains largely untapped, not least when it comes to jobs. We all remember Alex Salmond's promise that Scotland would be the Saudi Arabia of renewables. The SNP pledged 130,000 green jobs at a decade on, and the most recent number directly employed in the low-carbon and renewable economy was just 20,500 and fallen. Offshore wind in particular offers huge opportunities for our islands to help to deliver the just transition, given as Rhoda Grant and Jamie Halcro Johnston highlighted the significance of the oil and gas sector to the economy of many of those islands. However, the recent Scotland's sea beds on the cheap entirely overseas multinationals failed to include legally binding guarantees on jobs. Scotland will get none of the billions of profits and a pitiful level of the rent. Imagine the difference if those offshore wind projects were in the hands of a publicly owned energy firm who put their social responsibility before profits, creating a pipeline of work for Scottish firms, not the Scottish Government's approach of supporting big business, pursuing the cheapest supply chain option. At the very least, we need to ensure that every single penny of the £700 million that the Scottish Government does receive from the Scotland Wind leasing round will be ring-fenced for a Scottish renewables fund to help to bring those supply chain jobs to Scotland. By investing in Scottish ports and Scottish infrastructure and crucially in Scottish skills, an issue that my colleague Mercedes Villalba highlighted again when she raised the issue of an offshore training passport. It is an issue that the Government cannot keep sitting on the fence over. It has responsibility for training and skills and, if it continues to take the view that it should be left to the market, at the very least, as Mercedes Villalba said, the Government needs to set out publicly its expectation of what the sector should deliver. It is bad enough in offshore and Scotland's wind energy. The Government has offshoreed the profits from it, but the lack of intervention in so many fronts, in particular the failure to include conditionality and contracts, cannot be allowed to also offshore the jobs. We all recognise the need for a transition to net zero, but it must be a jobs-led transition that leaves no worker, no family and no community behind. Climate justice needs to go hand in hand with economic justice, and only by delivering both, will all our communities, both Ireland and mainland, have a genuine jobs-less transition that we need to see. From the outset, I reiterate that Scottish Conservatives support towards the global ambition to reduce carbon emissions and to address the climate emergency in Scotland and worldwide. We recognise the critical role that our islands will play in allowing Scotland to meet its climate targets and to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. Although there is undoubtedly a need to be bold in the ways in which we reduce emissions, the Scottish Government must ensure that any approaches that it takes receive public backing and garner widespread support. In seeking to make six of our islands carbon neutral, that is a process that will not be delivered top-down by government, but it has to be one that has island communities at its heart. That involves residents and must be one that strikes a balance between the realities of island life and the need to meet important climate targets. Whilst the Scottish Conservatives support the aims of the Scottish Government in this respect, we remain concerned that the Government continues to neglect other pressing issues that are impacting our island communities. Those are issues in here and now, affecting islanders day in and day out now. One of those most urgent issues is island depopulation, which has been a problem for many years. There is a justified fear that efforts to tackle it simply are not working. Indeed, the Government's own national island plan identified this single-issue depopulation as the top priority for Scotland's 93 island communities. Members have already spoken across the chamber about some of the reasons why island depopulation remains a serious threat to island life. I want to summarise some of those points. As many people touched on, the critical state of Scotland's ferry infrastructure is a key reason why efforts to reverse depopulation on the islands are failing, and we simply cannot separate that from what we are discussing today. I know that the Government is never keen to talk about this, but the fact is that, after 15 years, the lack of a robust and reliable ferry network is driving people from our islands. As Carmac's own ferries community board, Rachel Hamilton quoted this earlier, she said that there is a neutral body. She said that this is a real threat to our island's ability to retain and attract people, ensure services that are sufficiently reliable and at prices that permit viable communities, and thereby avoid depopulation. We welcome on the topic of ferries. The Scottish Government's stated ambition in the 2021-22 programme for government is to ensure that 30 per cent of state-owned ferries are lower mission by 2032. That will plainly contribute to making our islands carbon neutral. That was a point picked up by Ariane Burgess, Beatrice Wishart and Liam McArthur in their contributions. First of all, the Scottish Government has to build ferries now and deliver them on time. There is no use in making our islands carbon neutral if fewer people are living on them and nobody can get to them. Another important issue is housing. Again, that has been touched on by speakers across the chamber. We need to incentivise the need to retrofit existing homes where possible to make them more energy efficient. That was a point that Emma Roddick covered very compellingly. She stressed the need to support island communities to become more sustainable. That is just harder to do on islands than elsewhere. However, we need to build new houses that meet those standards, especially in our island communities. I often get emails—I am sure that other island representatives do too—from young constituents who want to live, work and raise a family on the islands that they are brought up in, but they cannot because there are no affordable homes. In fact, affordable housing is the number one issue on the islands. It is an issue that I am afraid has not been helped by the fact that the Scottish Government has failed to deliver targeted house building funds to rural and island authorities over the last five years. In the last session of Parliament, I submitted a written question to the Government and it was revealed that the Scottish Government passed on less than half of its £25 million rural housing fund to councils. More woefully, its island housing fund delivered just nine houses in five years. The Mull and Iona community trust could not have put it more starkly when they said that the lack of housing is causing significant problems to our communities and threatens to accelerate the depopulation of our working-age residents. One other area that Rachael Hamilton mentioned in her remarks is the need to properly support and incentivise crofters in their important role in reducing our carbon footprint. I refer to crofting in my register of interests, but I want to applaud the way in which crofters are developing more environmental ways of producing foods, goods and managing land. Indeed, many crofters will say that they have been doing this since the dawn of time. The work that they do is too often overlooked. It is critical that the views of crofters are acknowledged by the Scottish Government and included in its plans for carbon neutral islands. 77 per cent of land is held in crofting tenure, so the actions of local crofters will play a vital role in achieving carbon targets. However, poor transport, a lack of housing and the need to support our crofting communities must be prioritised if we are to ensure thriving, sustainable and environmentally sound island communities. We need more detail. I have listened to a great interest during the debate, but there has been very little detail from Government as to how it will deliver its pledge to make these six islands carbon neutral. What does it mean in practice? We need more than just this debate to thrash out the details, because we have to scrutinise that policy. In closing, I would like to focus on some of the other powerful contributions that we have heard. Jenny Minter made a speech where she did make an effort to concentrate on pragmatic points that showed what islands can do. She spoke about the distillery on Islay and also heating the local swimming pool. What does it mean? What does it look like to make our islands carbon neutral? In her excellent speech, she gave us some colour as to what that might be. Rhoda Grant spoke about the development of skills and the effects of fuel poverty, especially on the islands. Beatrice Wishart mentioned tunnels as a good way of reducing emissions. We heard from Jamie Greene about how the Scottish Government must use every power in its armoury to help that ambition. In the first of the Orkney contributions, we heard Jamie Halcro Johnston talking about renewable energy facilities and world-leading research in electric vehicles on Orkney. In the second of the Orkney contributions, Liam McArthur, the local MSP, spoke about low-emission transport again and the natural resources and renewable energy sector on Orkney in particular. He made an absolutely critical point. It is the ingenuity and ambition of islanders that are driving this forward, not Governments. They are the innovators here, not Governments. That is absolutely fundamental to this debate. There are many more people that I would like to cover, but I think that it has been an excellent debate with lots of issues covered. We support the ambition to help Scotland's islands to become carbon neutral, but we do so on the basis that communities have to be at the heart of this process. The phrase just transition is overused, but it remains true. Island communities deserve nothing less. Change and transition must be just and it must be fair to them as we move to a carbon-neutral future. Before I address the contributions to this debate, let me say a few words on the other two key areas within my portfolio. A climate emergency requires a stronger circular economy. We need to create an environment where everybody in our society feels they can contribute to a circular economy in a simple and effective way. The recycling improvement fund begins to work in this direction, for example. Biodiversity and nature are also crucial. Adaptation requires working together with nature and protecting and restoring our biodiversity will always be at the heart of our adaptation policies. We are doing this through our 2019 adaptation programme, which critically affects island communities because of coastal erosion and sea level rises. We have increased our funding towards flood risk management and coastal change adaptation. Moving towards net zero can and should see biodiversity and nature as an asset while embracing the opportunity for green jobs. This afternoon, we have heard so many excellent and passionate contributions in support of our island communities. I am going to try and pick out what I think are the four key themes that we have heard this afternoon, as well as responding to some specific details. I liked what Jamie Greene said, that our islands are sometimes harsh, sometimes peaceful and always inspiring. I thought that that was beautiful. The number one concern that I hear from across the chamber is about heat in homes and fuel poverty. I am pleased that there is recognition across this chamber about the importance of insulation and upgrading of homes, about the importance of a transition away from fossil fuels, that this is being recognised to tackle carbon emissions, fuel costs and enabling quality of life by providing warm homes for everyone in Scotland, including in our islands. The Scottish Government's heat in building strategy, published on 7 October, sets out actions to decarbonise Scotland's building stock in line with our legislated climate change targets. The Scottish Government will allocate a total of £336 million to heat energy efficiency and fuel poverty over the next financial year. That will include £64 million for our local authority-led area-based schemes and an increased allocation for warmer homes Scotland of £55 million. I welcome the increased funds through the warm homes Scotland initiative. I wonder whether she could agree to look at how this might be best deployed in doing what a number of members have referred to this afternoon about targeting it where it is most needed so that what you end up with is a streamlined system that heat abs and warmer homes Scotland are working collaboratively to deliver the measures, whatever they may be, to the households in the islands who most desperately need it. That will require capacity within warmer homes Scotland. I thank the member very much for the intervention, and I am very happy to take that under consideration. I am sure that myself and my colleagues will be very happy to look at that. Rural households face many challenges in the transition to zero emissions heating, such as generally higher costs of installation, older buildings and fuel poverty. In recognition of that, our area-based schemes provide enhanced support to rural households. Scottish Government is considering options for an island's uplift across our delivery programmes to provide additional support in island areas. Funding is also being made available through the CARES—community renewable energy—to help communities in rural and island areas to develop cleaner, greener and cheaper energy. The investment will empower communities that operate existing local independent grid electricity schemes to develop local independent climate-friendly electricity supplies. £3 million is being made available to develop projects in 2022 and 2023 and expressions of interest to the fund, administered by Local Energy Scotland, closed in January 2022. The next top theme from this afternoon, from the debate that we have heard, is about depopulation and about the challenges of recruiting and keeping people to ensuring that our island communities are places where people want to live. I understand a little bit of those issues myself having worked in renewable energy in Orkney, in both wave and tidal energy, and I understand the difficulty of recruiting for posts to attract people to the islands and the importance of doing so in order to make that those businesses and economies of the island successful. Rachel Hamilton specifically spoke about population, and populations have been identified by many across the chamber as an issue. As my colleague said, it is the number one strategic objective of the Scottish Government's national island plan. The issues around depopulation are complex and there is no silver bullet. The Scottish Government's ministerial population— Rachel Hamilton, thank you for taking the intervention. Does she agree that rural depopulation can be reversed by good ferry transport, by good connectivity, but not having to wait for what the Greens are looking for, which is a green form of energy for ferry transport, but just getting the ferries running? Thank you very much to the member for the intervention. As we have heard this afternoon, I have heard over and over again, and I am happy to listen that connectivity to the islands, ferries and other forms of transportation are absolutely vital to not only the life and health and safety of our island communities, but to repopulating them. It is not just about ferries and transportation, although those are very important. In our vision for thriving island communities that are highly desirable places to live, I think that the housing crisis needs to be taken into consideration as well. I will finish on the connectivity. The island's connectivity plan will replace the current ferries plan from January 2023. As part of the connectivity plan, we will produce and maintain a long-term plan and investment programme for new ferries and development at ports, and that will aim to improve resilience, reliability, capacity and accessibility, increase standardisation and reduce emissions, to meet the needs of island communities and those travelling to islands for both business and leisure. I am very grateful. All of the things that she has suggested will be in the connectivity plan are very welcome and very sensible, but can she confirm that Orkney and Shetland's internal ferry services will be included in the connectivity plan, which is, after all, supposed to be the successor of the national ferries plan? I thank the member very much for the intervention and for the question. Obviously, connectivity to Orkney and Shetland is vital for those communities on those islands. I look forward to seeing the island connectivity plan when it is published in January 2023. The connectivity plan will investigate the opportunities and technologies that are available in the maritime sector and set out pathways towards the delivery of vessels that will operate with zero or significantly reduced carbon emissions. Transport Scotland is aware that other ferry owners and operators, both in this country and in Europe, have recently commissioned hydrogen fuel cell and battery hybrid vessels. Transport Scotland will engage with those stakeholders to learn what was involved in the design and development process and the thoughts behind choosing that mode of propulsion. That will be done as part of the commissioned work into alternative fuels for the vessels in our longer routes. To come back to the matter of housing, which is raised by several members, but specifically by Emma Roddick, many of the actions in housing to 2040 will bring benefits to island communities, including the development of a new fund for local authorities to apply to in order to bring empty homes back into residential use, as well as steps to regulate short-term lets to empower local authorities to strike a better balance between local housing needs and the concerns of residents with that with the tourist industry. I know that housing is an issue in all our rural and island communities. We are also committed to continue and refresh the Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund, which has benefited island communities through provision of infrastructure to mitigate the impact of increased tourism. To continue on, the third theme that we definitely heard today, repeatedly and rightly so, was connectivity and ferries. I hear and understand the frustrations around and the importance of connectivity in that area. The fourth theme that we heard covered today was about renewable energy. That has many aspects to it. We have heard from Jenny Minto and Fulton MacGregor about how successful and important community energy schemes can be. Our community and renewable energy scheme cares delivered by local energy Scotland and on the Scottish Government's behalf provides bespoke expert advice and support, including funding support, grants and loans, to community groups and organisations, rural SMEs and other eligible organisations seeking to explore their renewable energy options. Cares supports the delivery of the Scottish Government target to deliver two gigawatts of community and locally-owned energy by 2030, as well as our ambition for at least half of all newly consented renewable energy developments to have an element of shared ownership. Is the Presiding Officer content for me to carry on a bit? Up until May of last year, when I was elected to this chamber, I worked as an energy in the tidal energy industry and I have worked in wave energy also in the island of Orkney. I completely understand the frustrations around connectivity to Orkney and around the situation as we have discussed today. Those are not devolved matters, but absolutely the emphasis on the opportunities in green hydrogen are recognised by our hydrogen action plan. The turbine was involved in the turbine that generated the first green hydrogen in Orkney, so I completely understand the focus there. I also understand from having worked in the industry the challenges of getting skilled individuals. It is more of a personal interest, but it is a flag to everyone in the chamber. It is not just that we need skills in renewable energy, but we need skilled people in all the traditional trades as well—mechanical engineering, electrical technicians, all those very traditional skills. I would especially encourage women to look into those things. I had a very enjoyable and successful career as an electromechanical engineer, and I know that that is possible for other women, too. We have heard mentioned a few times the importance of a skills passport, and I am very pleased with the progress of Aupito working with trade unions towards creating that skills passport, which I know is going to be so important. I would like to thank Rhoda Grant for her amendment and for her asking an excellent question. Why those six islands? What difference can a small number of islands make when it comes to tackling the climate emergency? I think that the answer is that we need to get started and urgently, and we need to learn by doing. By going first, those islands will show us the way and provide learning that the rest of us can follow, the rest of our islands and the mainland, to decarbonise at speed and to do so in a just way that we can all agree is so important. I had a conversation yesterday with Elizabeth Marima from the UN, and we were talking about how small nations, small islands and starting the pebble rolling can make a difference. She was thanking Scotland for her work on financing in nature capital, and I was saying, when we were talking about a global crisis, what difference is Scotland making, such a tiny nation? She said that Scotland is leading the way and showing a pathway for other countries, and as Scotland goes, so do our islands. I think that that is a wonderful way to think about how we can all contribute to tackling the climate crisis. I have been so delighted to have the opportunity today to close today's debate in supporting Scotland's islands on their journey to become carbon neutral. This debate has highlighted that islands are not on the fringes of the discussion about how to tackle climate change quite the opposite. When it comes to net zero, our islands are at the centre of Scotland's efforts. Whether it is further developing floating wind or green hydrogen, islands and island communities need to benefit from the infrastructure and the green skills that go with them. It is important to highlight that moving towards net zero should be seen as an opportunity to leverage innovation and to develop the green skills that are needed to decarbonise Scotland. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues in government, communities and all other stakeholders on our islands, and, of course, on the mainland to support our journey to become carbon neutral. That concludes the debate on supporting Scotland's islands. Since last Wednesday's Conservative Party business debate on the Ferris Fiasco, the Opposition parties in this Parliament have asked repeatedly that the Deputy First Minister appear before the Parliament. Earlier today, I was told that there was nothing new to say, but there most definitely is. Last week, it was revealed that the Deputy First Minister was directly involved in the signing off of the ferry contracts, despite the First Minister previously telling us that it was only Derek Mackay's doing. Given Mr Swinney's willingness to speak to multiple media outlets on the issue, have you received any indication from the Scottish Government this afternoon that the Deputy First Minister is now willing to deliver a statement to this Parliament regarding his involvement in the matter? I thank the member for his point of order. The member will be aware that the requests have been put at the bureau, and I am currently unaware of any update on the situation that was discussed this morning. It is, of course, for the Government to respond to such requests. It is time to move on to the next item of business, and there are four questions to be put as a result of today's business. The first is that amendment 4428.1, in the name of Rachel Hamilton, seeks to amend motion 4428, in the name of Mary Gougeon, on supporting Scotland's Islands on their journey to become carbon neutral, be agreed? Are we all agreed? The motion is therefore agreed. The amendment, rather, is therefore agreed. The next question is the amendment 4428.3, in the name of Rhoda Grant, which seeks to amend motion 4428, in the name of Mary Gougeon, on supporting Scotland's Islands on their journey to become carbon neutral, be agreed? Are we all agreed? The motion is therefore agreed. The next question is the amendment 4428.2, in the name of Liam McArthur, which seeks to amend motion 4428, in the name of Mary Gougeon, on supporting Scotland's Islands on their journey to become carbon neutral, be agreed? Are we all agreed? The Parliament is not agreed, and there will be a short suspension to allow members to access the digital voting system.