Chamber and committees

Will the cabinet secretary outline what steps the Government will take to improve Scotland’s system of land ownership and use, so that our land can contribute to a fair and just society by balancing public and private interests?

Worldwide, we are in the midst of a climate and biodiversity emergency. It is the actions of leaders across the world that will determine the future of our world for future generations.

We know that the science is real. Climate change is real and human activities are the main cause of it. Scientifically, we are now firmly in the Anthropocene, a period of unstable global warming in which global temperature has risen by 1.1°C in the past 100 years. That temperature increase has caused immense damage, but it is not too late to act.

I grew up watching Sir David Attenborough and have witnessed his shift to being more protectionist with regard to our environment and biodiversity. At the age of 95, Sir David stated that he cannot just stand by, and I agree with him. In his latest television show, he said:

“We are at a unique stage in our history. Never before have we had such an awareness of what we are doing to the planet, and never before have we had the power to do something about that ... The future of humanity and indeed, all life on earth, now depends on us.”

Those are powerful words, which we must all heed.

What we have learned during the pandemic is that society is able to come together to take radical action for the common good and, as we head into recovery from Covid-19, we must keep that spirit alive to build a sustainable recovery.

In Scotland, we are already delivering to address the climate and the biodiversity emergencies. In government, the SNP has made Scotland the first country in the world to declare a climate emergency and has since passed legislation for the world’s most ambitious emissions reduction targets, which aim to bring us to net zero emissions by 2045. We have already halved our greenhouse gas emissions since 1990 and we are world renowned for having underpinned our net zero targets with a legislative commitment to a just transition, ensuring that no one is left behind. We have committed to a green recovery from Covid-19 and have announced a £62 million investment in an energy transition fund. Further, we have been active on the world stage, leading the Edinburgh process on biodiversity and publishing the Edinburgh declaration, which calls for increased action to tackle biodiversity loss.

Scotland is playing its part, but we must have an international approach as well as a local approach that takes our communities and citizens with us on this vital journey.

Scotland is leading the way in the UK on tree planting, with 82 per cent of UK woodland being in Scotland. In 2019-20, we planted 11,050 hectares of new woodland, exceeding our annual 10,000 hectares target. That is extremely welcome. However, if we are to be truly serious about addressing the climate and biodiversity emergency, we will have to change land use as we currently understand it and focus on forest and woodland, peatland and renewable energy.

I have been contacted by some constituents who have concerns about proposed forestry, woodland and wind farm developments across the south of Scotland. Those concerns range from the percentage of Sitka spruce compared to the percentage of native broadleaf species that are planted, to the visual impact of offshore and onshore wind farm development. I am interested in pursuing thorough community engagement so that offshore wind farming could be created if it were to bring good green jobs and much-needed community benefit—especially to Wigtownshire in my region of South Scotland.

I am pleased to see the commitment from the Government in the revised climate change plan to hold

“early engagement, consistent communication, and genuine dialogue between different groups and communities.”

I ask the cabinet secretary to outline how that engagement will be done, and whether local authority planning frameworks will be changed to enable development, given the urgent need.

The Government has funded the restoration of more than 25,000 hectares of degraded Scottish peatland. Some of that funding has come direct to the Crichton Carbon Centre and the Galloway Fisheries Trust in Dumfries and Galloway, where peatland expert Dr Emily Taylor and the team are restoring more than 17,000 hectares of peat in the River Luce catchment area. That is important work, as peatlands are capable of absorbing and storing 50 per cent more carbon than some of our trees can.

When I visited a peatland restoration project with Dr Taylor, at Carsegowan Moss near Wigtown, we measured the peat bog at 6m deep. That is good, because deep peat is normally measured at 40 cm. One issue that Dr Taylor raised with me was that there is currently no international agreed definition of deep peat. Given that peatlands have a proven ability to sequester carbon, I ask the cabinet secretary to pursue an international agreement on peat level definitions, so that carbon sequestration can be calculated more efficiently.

I welcome the debate and the progress that is being made on the climate and biodiversity crises in Scotland, but I repeat the need for international co-operation and for bringing people with us on the journey.

I have written to the minister regarding the progress in infrastructure projects around South Scotland, such as the reopening of the Beattock railway station and the upgrading of the A75 and A77. Those projects were identified as part of the STPR2 process through community consultation that involved more than 2,000 people, whereas the UK Government union connectivity review engaged with no people in South Scotland. I therefore press the minister to give timescales for the implementation of the STPR2 recommendations, which will improve the lives of people across South Scotland.

Ractopamine, cloxacillin, and butylated hydroxyanisole—BHA—are just a few of the chemicals that I am concerned about with regard to any trade deal. Those chemicals have been banned across the EU since 1981 on health grounds, with restrictions also placed on imports of hormone-treated beef from third countries.

Ractopamine is a growth hormone used to make cattle, turkeys and pigs leaner before slaughter, and the US dairy industry uses it to increase milk production. Cloxacillin is a veterinary antibiotic growth promoter, which is used in Australia but banned for use in the EU, and butylated hydroxyanisole is a toluene-based antioxidant, which is used in the USA in many products, from crisps to sausages. It is known to be a carcinogen and is banned for use in the EU.

I welcome the opportunity to speak in this vital debate and I congratulate my colleague Jim Fairlie on securing it. I am concerned about the impact of trade deals on Scottish agriculture. I am also concerned about the drugs that are used on animals.

I am interested in what Jim Fairlie is saying. It is also interesting that the Food and Drug Administration in America has a handbook of acceptable levels of defects—the “Food Defect Levels Handbook”—which allows for a maximum level of, for example, rat poo in produce. There is no equivalent in Europe. Conservative members are rolling their eyes at all this, but why does the FDA have a book that sets acceptable levels of mites, dust, insect parts and mammalian excreta in food? That is what we can expect if we move towards the trade deals that the Conservatives envisage.

There are animal welfare issues, too. I am really concerned about how we move forward. I want to stand up for our Scottish farmers and for the safety of the food that we eat. We need to protect our farmers in Scotland; the Government in Westminster is not doing so.

The Scottish Government is rightly committed to ensuring that cancer screening and diagnostic services are prioritised as we continue to remobilise the Scottish NHS as we recover from Covid. Cervical cancer self-tests are being trialled by some health boards, including NHS Dumfries and Galloway. They have the potential to be an effective way for women to screen for human papillomavirus. Self-tests have also—given that 6,000 women in the NHS Dumfries and Galloway area have missed appointments—been proved to reduce the number of women who default on their appointments.

Can the First Minister outline how cancer diagnostic services will be prioritised? In particular, can she provide an update on the cervical cancer self-test roll-out?

I am concerned that any conditions that are applied in the trade deal will open the door to future trade deals that present risks for our food supply chain. I know about antimicrobial resistance; I know about damage to people’s kidneys because we are on the last line of antibiotics. If we do not need to be concerned about the products that I am talking about, maybe we should ask ourselves why they have been banned in the EU since 1981.

The issue is vital to the future prosperity of our industry and the health and security of our nation, and my view is shared by NFU Scotland.

Wow—I cannae believe that the member even asks me about that. The trade deals that are being negotiated need to take stock of the production processes for the produce that will be shipped to this country. It is—[Interruption.] I am hearing yitterin from the sidelines, but I want to talk about the growth hormones and antibiotics that are used in the production of American, Brazilian and Australian meat, which Food Standards Scotland deems unsuitable for use here in Scotland.

I will give way only if Finlay Carson can give me a 100 per cent guarantee that no food produce that contains growth hormones and antibiotics will come into this country as a result of the trade deal from his Government in Westminster.

What is the First Minister’s response to the eight cases of Covid-19 B.1.617.2, or delta, variant—formerly known as the Indian variant—that have been identified in the NHS Dumfries and Galloway area, given that the variant has been described as a variant of concern by the World Health Organization?