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I have no further comments.

Motion moved,

That the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee recommends that the Marine Licensing (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Order 2026 [draft] be approved.—[Mairi Gougeon]

Motion agreed to.

I got there in the end.

Again, this SSI on marine licensing does not apply to and is not relevant to fisheries. It is important to note that, where exemptions exist for key sectors, it is only because those sectors are already governed by other pieces of legislation. For fisheries, we provide licences for the vessels themselves, rather than in relation to the marine environment. There are other areas that are governed by other pieces of legislation.

Again, part of the SSI is about ensuring that we have a framework to enable us to better regulate or screen the activity that could be taking place in the high seas. We do not have a full picture of the extent to which such activity is taking place at the moment. However, a number of nations have ratified the agreement, and the conference of parties that will take place later this year will give us an opportunity to have more of a discussion about capturing such activity so that we can see exactly what we are talking about. My officials might have more information to add on that.

09:15

Yes, but it had no further comments to make about it.

That is not strictly true, but I will reciprocate. Thank you, convener, and the rest of the committee. I have predominantly appeared in front of the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee, but the work that this committee has undertaken, particularly on land reform, has been extensive and detailed. I have really appreciated my engagement with members around the table and the work that we have done together. Thank you so much for that.

I also always appreciate the scrutiny that the committee undertakes. As I said at the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee last week, I cannot say that it has always been a pleasure to sit at this end of the table and be grilled, but I really appreciate the scrutiny. I send my best wishes to everyone who is standing for election again and to those who are stepping down at the end of this parliamentary session. It has been a pleasure to work with you all.

I would, convener. Good morning to the committee.

The Scottish Government is committed to meeting the obligations under the biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction agreement. As the committee will be aware through the legislative consent process for the United Kingdom’s Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Act 2026, the BBNJ agreement aims to conserve and sustainably use marine biodiversity in the areas beyond national jurisdiction and plays a role in supporting the delivery of global biodiversity and climate goals. Ensuring environmental impact assessments of the effects of planned activities that might cause substantial pollution of, or significant and harmful changes to, the marine environment is a key pillar of that agreement.

The Scottish statutory instrument supports the implementation of those EIA requirements in a way that accords with devolved legislative competence to control matters of the marine environment

“in and as regards Scotland”.

It extends the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010’s licensing regime to activities carried out by Scottish persons in areas beyond national jurisdiction and works alongside changes made to Scottish EIA regulations by the 2026 act. It also extends current exemptions so that they have effect in that area and introduces new exemptions both for activity that does not meet the BBNJ’s EIA threshold and for most cabling activity.

The SSI also updates a previous division of licensing responsibility between the UK and Scottish ministers to better reflect the devolved position by amending an exemption for activity in the high seas, involving loading in Scotland or the Scottish marine area when the vessels or aircraft are British registered.

The Scottish Government and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs consulted on the approaches, and feedback has been used to shape the proposals. Officials have worked closely together to ensure that approaches align and that they are clear to users.

The SSI ensures that the Parliament introduces Scottish controls for Scottish actors. If we did not introduce the SSI, the UK Government would introduce controls on all such activities, irrespective of whether there is a Scottish aspect. The UK Government will introduce equivalent controls for UK persons and proposes to exempt those activities newly introduced by our SSI, thereby avoiding double regulation.

In order for the United Kingdom to participate in the first meeting of the conference of parties, which is the decision-making forum under the BBNJ agreement, it must join that agreement in time. The SSI, together with the EIA changes under the 2026 act, will provide the framework for meeting the BBNJ EIA requirements in a proportionate way that honours devolution and enables the UK to join the agreement, to which the UK is already a signatory, ahead of the first conference of parties, which will take place later this year.

Although the SSI has been developed and introduced in a very short period of time due to compounding factors, we are confident that it will honour devolution, that it will provide proportionate regulation of activities in the areas beyond national jurisdiction and that it will meet the EIA requirements under the BBNJ agreement.

I am happy to answer any questions that the committee has.

It is important to point out that we still have to get to grips with what the activity in the high seas might look like. The SSI is about putting in place a framework so that we can screen such activity against the EIA requirements. We will gather more information on the extent of that activity from the conference of parties. However, the consultation that we have undertaken suggests that very few Scottish actors operate in that space at the moment. Of course, where such activity relates to Scottish persons or Scottish actors, its monitoring and enforcement would ultimately be our responsibility, as we would be the licensing authority. However, what that enforcement could look like is largely to be determined. We need to understand the scale of the activities, but the overall intention is for it to be our responsibility.

It is not a gap, because the fishing activity is already governed by other licences and regulations.

Regardless of where the fishing takes place.

If they were Scottish persons and we were providing the marine licence for them in that area, it would fall to us, as the licensing authority, to monitor that activity, whatever it looks like, and potentially enforce the instrument.