Seòmar agus comataidhean

I found it useful for the regulations to be referred to the committee, because I think that there is a wider issue about the processes for traffic regulation orders being pretty cumbersome and time consuming, particularly for council officers.

I note that reform of this type of order will enhance the ability of members of the public to offer their views on the experimental orders that are being put in place, and that can form part of councils’ decision making on whether they should be taken forward in future. It is a welcome first step in amending these particular orders and making them fit for purpose.

It is disappointing that we have lost Malini again.

In the UK context, are we, in effect, offering tax breaks for the development of North Sea oil and gas fields? Is that a social subsidy? It seems that you are saying that a social development might be acceptable in terms of alleviating fuel poverty or subsidising fuel for consumers. Would something such as a tax break to enable continued exploration and development be acceptable?

Which one? [Laughter.]

I was asking about the wording

“inefficient fossil fuel subsidies”,

and where we draw the line. Do you have a perspective on that?

Yes, I have a question on the geopolitics of the situation, particularly in relation to the way in which India was seen but also to the commitments from those states that are reliant on oil and gas, compared to those that are dependent on coal. If more commitments had come from the countries that are reliant on oil and gas, would that have shifted the dial a bit when it came to commitments on coal?

There was a lot of discussion at COP about nature-based solutions, and some of that discussion is reflected in the agreement. How will that be taken forward at the biodiversity COP? There are concerns, particularly on the part of indigenous leaders, about the credibility of market mechanisms under article 6 of the Paris agreement.

The launch of the Beyond Oil & Gas Alliance was a seminal moment in Glasgow because, for the first time, it sent a message to coal-dependent states such as India that richer states such as our own are prepared to phase out oil and gas production with a just transition. The Danish minister who launched the alliance said:

“How can you be on a path to carbon neutrality but still aim to produce oil and gas to sell to others?”

Does the First Minister agree with that perspective, and when will Scotland join the alliance?

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government will be doing to amplify the voices of the global south at the 26th United Nations climate change conference of the parties—COP26. (S6F-00367)

It is clear that the Scottish Government is showing leadership. However, the global south has been clear that a just transition away from fossil fuels that leaves nobody behind must also be a priority at the COP.

Let us look at what other small nations of around 5 million people are doing by using their full powers over energy. New Zealand, Denmark, Ireland and Costa Rica are all moving on from the era of oil and gas. The case for independence rests on Scotland proudly joining them as a world leader in that real just transition. Does the First Minister agree?

COP26 is finally here and I am sure that many of us in the chamber will have mixed emotions. Perhaps we feel a sense of relief that it is finally happening, or a sense of hope and belief that we can deliver better agreements through the Glasgow talks. However, I hope that there is also a sense of collective guilt that no Government around the world has taken sufficient action to tackle the crisis.

The Paris agreement provided a skeleton of the framework that is needed to keep the increase to within 1.5°C. The Glasgow COP must now flesh that out with ambition from all nations acting in solidarity with those who have contributed the least to the crisis but who will inevitably suffer the most.

The pledges that states have made so far simply do not add up. We are heading towards an increase of nearly 3°C in global heating, which would be a huge climate injustice—a crisis that is based on the idea that some people are worth more than others, as Greta Thunberg described it.

The voice of the marginalised and colonised global south needs to be heard loud and clear at COP26. I look forward to the Scottish Government amplifying that voice using the Glasgow dialogues communiqué.

The focus on how we cut emissions is critical, but it cannot crowd out discussion and agreement on how to compensate for the vast amount of loss and damage to life and the economy that is already happening in the global south.

The annual $100 billion-dollar pledge that was made in Paris to help countries to adapt is just the starting point and it must be delivered in full. That is just the first bill from the cleaner half of the world to the developed nations such as ours for using our shared atmosphere as a waste dump for generations. It must be paid in full.

I suspect that many different COPs will take place in Glasgow, in the blue and green zones, on the streets, and in private lobbying spaces. For many of the businesses that will be providing the products, services and, I hope, fair work of the future, COP is a great opportunity to build confidence that rapid change is possible now. There is a first-mover advantage for Governments to drive recovery through investment in innovation supply chains while creating entirely new markets. However, we must also recognise that, for many fossil fuel corporations, COP26 is a further opportunity to steal the narrative around just transition, just as it tried for years to control the narrative about whether climate change was real.

Many corporations continue to spin the myth that maximising the economic recovery of every last drop of fossil fuel reserves is totally compatible with climate objectives, while parading false solutions, such as negative emissions technologies, as being capable of allowing their business models to continue largely unchanged. The time has come for all Governments to stop copying and pasting drivel from fossil fuel corporations into their energy strategies. For example, the concept of a net zero basin in the North Sea is utterly meaningless when the industry wants to scale up from 6 billion to 20 billion barrels of oil and gas extraction.

Last week, the UN production gap report showed how states are planning to allow the extraction of double the amount of fossil fuels that we can afford to burn if the heating increase is to stay under 1.5°C. Then we wonder why young people are so angry about the failure of Governments to address that basic fact of physics.

The politics and the action have to be in line with the science, and so far, they are nowhere close.

The Scottish Parliament’s post-COP legacy to the young climate strikers, the global south, and the world will be to double down on our climate plans, take responsibility, drive a real just transition, and deliver the system change that is needed to tackle climate change. The hard work has barely begun.