Although those targets were ambitious, were there suggestions from the Climate Change Committee for how we could meet them?

We need so much action, not just to ensure that the affordable electricity that we are now producing benefits communities—which could happen through community and co-operative ownership, too—but also to make our houses more energy efficient in the first place, so that people are not wasting heat and power in urban and rural communities. We should all be considering the Winser report. There is also NESO—the National Energy System Operator—the launch of which the minister was at last night. We need to do a lot of work together.

It is a “now” issue. I have appreciated working with Gillian Martin, who has shown a willingness to collaborate on the bill. However, everything cannot rely on the cabinet secretary and her colleague. This must be a cross-Government issue: it needs all departments—transport, planning, business, housing and rural affairs. I worry that it is just seen as a climate issue, yet it cannot be just the work of the energy and climate change directorate.

Take transport, for instance. One of the Government’s bold new strategies is to explore integrated ticketing—a policy from 2012. The Scottish Government aims for a 20 per cent reduction in car kilometres, but that is a goal from 2020, which still has no clear strategy.

Will the member accept an intervention?

Mr Doris made the important point that the issue involves both expenditure and benefits. Without spending or investing, we miss out, not only on the opportunity of reducing climate emissions but on the other wider economic and social benefits that could come. It is an important recommendation, but it needs to address both aspects. Does the member agree?

I mentioned the principle of having a statement in Parliament. That would mean that the Government could get the Climate Change Committee’s report and, before every policy action had been signed off, we could at least have a statement from the cabinet secretary about the direction of travel on how the Government might respond. That way, the Government could generate support across the chamber.

I thank the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee for its excellent report and those who fed in their concerns and judgments to the committee, especially given the incredibly short timescale.

Scottish Labour will support the bill at stage 1, but we are hugely disappointed that we have ended up needing it. We have had poor environmental leadership over the 17 years of the SNP’s time in Government, which has meant that we have lost the opportunity to be a world leader on climate action. Our Parliament’s targets were ambitious and were celebrated for being bold, but the Scottish Government’s action has not matched the ambition in either of the climate acts.

I used to be a lecturer, so I could take at least an hour to answer Mr Macpherson. We have talked about things we would have done. We would have agreed with so many of the Climate Change Committee’s recommendations about action.

We have missed nine out of 13 annual targets and the bill is being rushed through Parliament because of a failure to do the heavy lifting on the policies and their implementation. That is what I want to focus on.

One only needs to turn on the news and to see storm Milton battering the south-east of America to realise that the climate emergency is a “now” issue. We could be debating the matter any week of the year, and people would be facing another climate challenge and extreme weather in the world.

It is happening closer to home, too—record temperatures, extreme rain, sea level rises and forest fires are impacting our urban and rural communities. We need action across Scotland, and we need to address the issue now.

Will the member take an intervention?

No. I want to get on at the moment.

If Grangemouth was a litmus test, as suggested by the Just Transition Commission, one could argue that we have not seen success to date. We will be waiting until next March to see a draft plan, which is weeks before the refineries are due to be closed. We need faster action now.

Clarity on the just transition fund is an issue. The fund faced a 75 per cent cut in the previous budget, and organisations and businesses that rely on it are now uncertain about the fund’s future, so it would be good to get more clarity on that in the winding-up speeches. The fund needs to have a clear strategy alignment. For example, if we are going to have an offshore skills passport, the just transition hub is vital. It was mentioned in the minister’s speech, but we are waiting for action and to see things delivered on the ground.

Something that came across strongly in the report that we are debating today, and from what the Just Transition Commission has previously reported, is the need to move beyond just consulting communities. They really need action now. In her summing-up speech, perhaps the cabinet secretary could tell us not only how the Government will work with communities, but how it will involve them in the action that will be taken.

An issue that has been mentioned to me is the fact that we are going backwards on employability spend. As the reports say, we need to reverse the 24 per cent cut in employability spend. There are small businesses that cannot afford the cost of retraining because of the cost of courses and the time that would be missed from work. That is a real problem for them. Therefore, it is vital that help is provided on the ground for the workers and small businesses that want to participate in the transition and are ready to do so. They need support.

It is important that we look at how we could invest in communities now. There is great potential in Grangemouth in particular. We have an opportunity to invest in the community beyond the refinery, as Daniel Johnson said. The Grangemouth inquiry report mentions the flood prevention scheme, which has not been completed; in fact, it has not even been started. That scheme needs to be accelerated. There also needs to be investment in Falkirk Council—

I thank the committee members and all those who were involved in contributing to the reports, because they could not have been more timely.

I acknowledge the importance of the UK and Scottish Governments working together. It has been good to hear in recent weeks that the acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy has been able to work with UK colleagues. It is good that both Ed Miliband and Michael Shanks have been involved and that the Governments have invested the additional £20 million on top of the £80 million in the Falkirk and Grangemouth deal.

It was also very good this morning to meet Brian Leishman, the MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, and talk to him about the work that he knows is needed now. There are opportunities, but we need action now to ensure that a just transition is delivered, because people’s jobs are on the line. We have known for years that a robust plan was needed for the future of the oil refinery, the town, the community in Grangemouth and the other industries in the area. [Interruption.]

The committee report on the north-east and Moray could not have been more timely. The committee’s recommendations were published—