Chamber and committees

I thank Paul O’Kane for securing the debate on this important issue, and the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust for all the work that it does. I also thank Paul O’Kane in advance for hosting the Scottish national Holocaust event next week, when the Parliament will welcome pupils from Northfield academy in my constituency, who I believe will be speaking at the event. I am always pleased to see young folk from Aberdeen coming into our Parliament.

As the motion notes, the theme of this year’s Holocaust memorial day is “Fragility of Freedom”. Over the past few years and across the world, people’s freedoms feel much more fragile.

When I was younger, I remember thinking of the Holocaust as a one-off tragedy—an act of unspeakable evil, carried out by evil folk, who just kind of disappeared at the end of the war. Over the years—especially the past few years—I have come to realise that the Holocaust and other genocides are at the end of what tends to be a long journey. I have come to realise that the folk who carried out those acts were not always evil—that they were once quite ordinary, and that many went back to living ordinary lives. I have come to realise that saying, “Never again,” is, sadly, just an aspiration rather than the promise that it should be.

I have also come to realise how many challenges the groups that were targeted in the Holocaust continue to face. Can any of us say, hand on heart, that, in the past few months, we have not seen, at home or abroad, any bigotry and discrimination that is aimed at Jews, Gypsy Travellers, those with disabilities, or the LGBT+ community? I cannot say so. I think that those things are becoming more common and, in some circles, are starting to be seen as acceptable.

That situation is very dangerous, and we need to challenge it whenever and wherever we see it, because, before the death camps, there was the discrimination, the dehumanisation and the turning of folk against their own fellow man. I fear that we are not doing enough to prevent that from happening again.

When the details of the Holocaust first emerged, folk reacted with horror, and the world said, “Never again.” However, in the years since, and with varying degrees of recognition, we have continued to see that sort of atrocity. We saw mass killings in Guatemala and said, “Never again.” We saw them in Bangladesh and said, “Never again.” We saw them in East Timor and said, “Never again.” We have seen them in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Zaire, Darfur, Iraq, Syria and Myanmar, and we keep saying, “Never again.” In the years to come, when that list is, inevitably, even longer, will we just keep on saying, “Never again”?

Looking ahead, instead of just saying, “Never again”, we need to say, loudly and clearly, what we are saying today—as individuals and as a nation, at home and abroad. When we see discrimination, dehumanisation, persecution, and mass killings, we need to call those for what they are and call for them to stop. That is the least that we can do to show that we have learned the lessons of history, and to make “Never again” a reality.

A range of food and drink producers have voiced concerns that the additional labelling might add bureaucracy and put off consumers. If Scottish businesses are saying “‘not for EU’ is not for us”, how will the cabinet secretary advocate for them to the UK Government?

I have the honour and privilege of being one of the MSPs who represents the future net zero capital of the world. We are not there yet, but, although we have a fair bit of work to do to realise that ambition, I am confident that we will make that title our own. That confidence is not unfounded. I believe that there are a range of reasons why Aberdeen will be a global leader in the move to net zero and at the heart of a fair, green and growing Scottish economy.

The motion recognises the vital role of public investment, and our region is being supported by a £500 million just transition fund from the Scottish Government. If the UK Government is going to do the right thing and increase green investment, matching the Scottish Government’s £0.5 billion investment in the north-east would be a sensible starting point.

I will not take an intervention. I would love to, but I will be talking up Aberdeen and I do not want it talked down.

Beyond public investment, so much of what saw Aberdeen establish itself as the oil and gas capital of Europe has left the city very well placed to research, develop and pioneer the new technologies that will be needed to reach net zero. On top of that, we still have oil and gas companies that are based in Aberdeen and that recognise that their own long-term future relies on their being able to deliver more sustainable forms of energy.

However, the most important reason why I am confident that Aberdeen will be the net zero capital of the world is the people we have in Aberdeen, who are some of the most talented and innovative workers from across the world. There is a line from Jimmy Reid’s rat race speech that I keep hearing from a colleague:

“The untapped resources of the North Sea are as nothing compared to the untapped resources of our people.”

That line needs to underpin Aberdeen’s approach to the just transition and our investment in a green economy. That we have oil and gas in the North Sea was key when it came to establishing Aberdeen as an energy capital. When it comes to renewables, although we rightly recognise the potential that our land and sea offer, I do not think that we talk up our folk enough. I will never tire of talking up Aberdeen and its folk.

Over the years, Aberdeen has amassed a workforce that includes many of the brightest and best in the industries that are key to making our economy green. Some of those workers were trained here; others have come from far and wide and have chosen to work here. Having such a skilled workforce means, however, that it is in demand around the world. The investment that we are seeing in the foundations of a green economy today will give those workers opportunities to move across to our green industries. It will help to keep them here and ensure that we retain our greatest asset in the move to net zero—our people.

I will use the rest of my speech to talk up a few examples of some of the amazing folk, businesses and organisations across Aberdeen that are key to growing our green economy today and that will help us to become a global net zero capital in the future.

Last week, I had the great privilege of visiting Verlume, a company in my constituency that specialises in intelligent energy management and storage technologies. It was not the first time that I had visited the company, but the word about its work seems to have gotten out, because this time it was also being visited by the chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, the cabinet secretary and our First Minister. During the visit, the First Minister spoke of wanting us to have a fair, green and growing economy. I think that Verlume’s operations facility in Dyce, where it does the work that has made it a front runner in the energy transition, was the perfect backdrop for that.

Another business that has received Scottish Enterprise’s backing, and which I am looking forward to meeting soon, is Kionnali Living Systems, which is headquartered in the Bridge of Don area of my constituency. Avriel and Corinn, who founded the company, are re-imagining what housing will look like in years to come, and I look forward to seeing what the future will bring for them and the role that they will play in making that future more sustainable.

As we look to the future, I was pleased to meet Bryan Snelling, the chief executive of Aberdeen Science Centre, just last Friday, to hear about the work that it is doing to bring science, technology, engineering and maths learning about wind farms and engineering into communities and schools across the north-east of Scotland. The staff and volunteers at Aberdeen Science Centre have, for decades, especially with their outreach work, captured the imagination of our youngsters and encouraged many who are in the green economy today to study and work in STEM.

As we look to realise the untapped resources of our folk, whether through outreach work, support for start-ups, investment in growing opportunities, the just transition fund or creating green jobs, I am hopeful for a future that will see Aberdeen established as the net zero capital of the world and a Scotland that is fairer, greener and wealthier.

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported concerns regarding food labelling being a devolved matter, what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the potential impact on Scotland’s food and drink sector of the reported proposal for “not for EU” labelling on food and drink products in the UK. (S6O-02994)

Thank you, convener—I am nothing but patient.

We heard previously from the UK minister that the Scottish cluster was vital for the UK Government to meet its net zero targets.

Good morning, cabinet secretary. I will ask you a couple of questions regarding carbon capture and storage, and it would be remiss of me as a north-easter if I did not take the opportunity to ask you about the Acorn project. Are you able to give the committee an update on the latest developments and on where we are with the Acorn project? I would be interested to hear your views on the impact on the project of the UK Government’s delay in approving it in the first instance—if any.

The Scottish Government has pledged, I think, £80 million for CCS support in Scotland. Can you outline some of the conditions that need to be met before that pledged money is released, or has it already started being released?

Back to you, convener.