Chamber and committees

Yes.

I am pleased to speak in my first committee debate as a member of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee—I think that this is the first time since I joined the committee that we have had a debate in the chamber. I thank the clerks, my committee colleagues and all those who participated in the committee’s inquiry. Without their input, the inquiry and our recommendations would not have been possible.

All the challenges that have been highlighted during the NZET Committee’s inquiry are made even more acute during the present cost crisis. For example, the evidence that we took shows that there is no doubt—I know this as a former local councillor—that the increasing inflationary pressures that are being experienced by local authorities will have an impact on their ability to deliver on the important net zero ambitions.

Indeed, successive Scottish budgets have demonstrated this Government’s commitment to the centrality of a just transition to a net zero and climate resilient Scotland. The 2023-24 budget prioritises a just transition to a net zero climate resilient and biodiverse Scotland with more than £2.2 billion of investment in 2023-24, and this year the Scottish Government has allocated £194 million to help to reduce energy bills and climate emissions through the warmer homes Scotland area-based schemes and Home Energy Scotland.

Scotland’s ambitious climate change legislation sets a target date for net zero emissions of all greenhouse gases by 2045. Progress has been made and Scotland is more than half way to net zero, but it still has much to do. Our inquiry heard how we are now entering the most challenging part of the journey to date, with a need to halve our emissions again by 2030. It is not going to be easy.

The next full climate change plan will show the emissions reductions of the economy-wide policies in the plan, as well as detailing other benefits such as job creation and the costs of the policies. The transition to net zero will require a truly national effort from all sectors of the economy, including significant private sector investment in net zero and climate resilience to ensure the long-term strength and competitiveness of our economy. Central to that—members will not be surprised to hear me say this—is a just transition for the north-east of Scotland, including my Aberdeen Donside constituency.

However, our evidence shows that, in order to fully make that transition work, the UK Government must also take action to secure a just transition. The UK Government’s green jobs task force recommended that the Government should set out how it will match the support that is available through the European Union’s just transition fund. Unfortunately, that has still not been acted on. The UK Government has still to match the Scottish Government’s £50 million just transition fund.

Well, the UK Government has taken £300 billion from the north-east of Scotland through the Treasury since the 1970s, if you are going to start matching funds, Mr Kerr.

I call on the UK Government to play its role in ensuring that we achieve a just transition and to match the support that is available through the EU scheme. It is vital that we all take responsibility and do our bit.

One of the areas that I have an interest in and that the committee’s inquiry covered is green skills and getting young folk into green jobs. Tackling climate change is not just about Government policies or investment, and there is a significant role for the whole of Scottish society in supporting transformational change. We heard how Scotland’s skills response to climate change needs to be a national endeavour. An agile, aligned and responsive skills system will be vital to the delivery of a green recovery. The scale and pace of change needed across all sectors will demand a significant realignment of our investment in education, training and work-based learning, towards green jobs.

Scotland already has many of the skills required to facilitate the transition to a low carbon economy. Those skills exist across many of our established sectors, including energy, engineering, construction and chemical science. However, the Scottish Government must take a range of actions to support the development of green skills. The climate emergency skills action plan is central to creating a future workforce that can support our transition to a net zero economy and ensure that workers are equipped with the skills that employers will need in that green economy. Our inquiry shows that the green jobs workforce academy is an important step in achieving that and will help folk of all ages to assess their skills, identify skills gaps and access upskilling or retraining courses. Alongside the just transition plans, the Scottish Government is developing a pilot of a skills guarantee, offering folk in high-carbon jobs support in moving into good green jobs.

One example of the role that local government and its cross-sectoral partners are playing in financing and delivering a net zero Scotland is the joint working of Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council and Moray Council, which are working collectively to finance and deliver a new energy and waste plant. Just yesterday, as Liam Kerr mentioned, we visited the energy-from-waste plant in Aberdeen—a plant for unrecyclable waste, so that there is no longer a reliance on landfill. I was involved in the project from the beginning, when I was a councillor, so it was great to see the project coming along and nearing completion. Once completed, it will hook up with the local district heating network and help to reduce fuel poverty in the local community.

Again, I welcome the steps that the Scottish Government is taking to tackle the climate emergency, while being aware that there is still a way to go. I look forward to hearing other members’ contributions.

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to propose the scheduling of time for a ministerial statement on compulsory sale orders. (S6O-01971)

When introduced, compulsory sale orders will allow local authorities additional powers to deal with vacant, derelict and abandoned land and buildings, which will allow a greater ability to tackle private absentee landowners. That will mean that the Logie shops in my constituency, which are an eyesore, could be taken over and turned into a useful community asset. Can the minister advise on a timescale for the introduction of CSOs?

If I remember rightly, the figures that we are seeing mean that the deer themselves are starving. You can correct me if I am wrong, but I think that that is what I found out previously.

Countries could learn from each other.

My question follows on from what Monica Lennon was saying, so I will leave it to you, convener, to decide who would be best to answer it if time is short. Monica mentioned the EU. I would like to find out about international best practice on biodiversity. What does that best practice look like? Did COP15 shine a light on international best practice in governance, or could more be done?

I come to Deborah Long first. You have mentioned deer management a couple of times. Can you go into more detail on that, and explain what you think the issues are and what solutions are needed to address those issues?

Would you suggest a cull or moving them on to other grounds if possible?