Hansard

I am delighted to open the debate in support of Scotland’s islands on their journey to become carbon neutral. I will outline the Scottish Government’s progress in supporting our island communities in their climate change journey, not least our exciting carbon neutral islands project, which puts islands at the forefront of our climate change ambitions.

I want to acknowledge and thank members for the proposed amendments to the motion. I am happy to support the amendment from Rhoda Grant, confirming that moving to net zero requires a just transition. The carbon neutral islands project will not only benefit the environment but support local economies, green skills and general wellbeing. I am also pleased to support the amendment from Rachael Hamilton.

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting our island communities, and the innovative carbon neutral islands project highlights islands as hubs of innovation in our move towards carbon neutrality. The project will align with wider efforts to decarbonise and will follow a threefold approach: leveraging existing net zero-related public funding, promoting public-private partnership and driving private investment. Over the summer, we will publish a report setting out the next steps that we will take to support the islands that are included in the carbon neutral islands project, as well as how the project will benefit all other Scottish islands.

I am afraid that I am not in a position to support Liam McArthur’s amendment, because, as set out, it does not recognise the clear division of responsibilities between ministers and local authorities. The Scottish Government absolutely recognises the importance of the other ferry services in Scotland, including the internal ferries that are the responsibility of our local authorities. However, the replacement of those ferries is wholly the responsibility of local authorities.

On the fuel poverty points raised in Liam McArthur’s amendment, powers related to the energy market are reserved, so the United Kingdom Government holds most of the levers to address the pressures on energy bills. That being said, since 2009, we have allocated over £1 billion to tackle fuel poverty and improve energy efficiency.

We are committed to continuing to spend more per head on energy efficiency in remote rural and island areas, where we know that installation and labour costs are higher.

The carbon neutral islands project will build on a whole host of work that is going on across our islands on climate change mitigation and adaptation. However, before turning to the project itself, I will first say a few words about climate change and our islands.

Climate change and nature loss are among the greatest threats facing our planet. Small, low-lying islands are under threat from climate change and predicted rising sea levels. Climate change is expected to increase instances of flooding and coastal erosion, while simultaneously negatively affecting water supply, food production, health and tourism, and accelerating habitat depletion. Communities on Barra, South Uist, Tiree and Sanday—to name just a few—know all too well that climate change is already on their doorstep.

However, climate change should not only be perceived as a threat. It is a threat, but it also provides opportunities. Moving towards net zero should be seen as a driver towards a more fair and prosperous Scotland, and our islands have a unique role to play in that journey. As Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands, I stress my deep concern about the challenges faced by our island communities. Our islands reflect the nation that we are. They help to define how international audiences see Scotland and they contribute hugely to our economy. We simply cannot allow them to suffer the consequences of climate change.

We have declared a climate emergency and stepped up our climate action and commitments through the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019, which calls for net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045—five years earlier than the United Kingdom. Scotland’s climate change legislation also ensures that we prepare and adapt to the impacts that are already locked in, including rising sea levels and more extreme weather. Even before the latest scientific Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change findings were published this spring, we knew from previous reports the very real threat and heightened risk that the climate emergency poses to our planet. It is therefore crucial that the international community takes every opportunity to raise global climate action and ambition.

The 26th United Nations climate change conference of the parties was not only one of the largest events ever to be held in Scotland but one of the most important. We can be proud of the contribution that we made towards a successful outcome. The summit concluded with the adoption of the Glasgow climate pact, which saw countries commit to increased ambition and action. The pact reaffirms the aim to cap global temperature increases at 1.5°C and take action on adaptation and finance. Further, for the first time, there will be discussions on helping developing countries to pay for loss and damage.

It is against that wider background that the Scottish Government is determined to be world leading in tackling the climate emergency. We want to promote and support the huge potential and natural capital of our islands to help us to reach our net zero and climate resilience ambitions.

It is within that wider context that we announced in our programme for government a commitment to support at least three islands to become fully carbon neutral by 2040. I was delighted to announce at COP26 that we are taking that ambition even further. We now aim to support six islands in their journey towards carbon neutrality by 2040. That will allow us to provide direct support to one island in each of our local authorities that have responsibility for islands in Scotland.

The carbon neutral islands project is underpinned by three key principles: alignment, fairness and replicability. First, the project aims to align with existing island-based climate change efforts and avoid the duplication of those efforts. Secondly, the project will support islands to become carbon neutral in a just and fair way. Thirdly, the project will provide opportunities for all Scottish islands through an effective process of learning and sharing of net zero and climate resilience-related good practice.

As part of the selection process for the islands that have been chosen as part of the project, we established an external technical working group, with the initial goal of developing a set of criteria that would inform the selection of the six carbon neutral islands. The working group is made up of local authority officers and representatives from a wide socioeconomic range of organisations, such as Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the University of the Highlands and Islands, the Scottish Islands Federation, the Scottish Futures Trust and the young islanders network.

The six islands were identified through a collaborative process, which started with 58 criteria suggested by the group members. That was narrowed down to six broad criteria that were then used to identify the six islands. The criteria related to: housing, fuel poverty, energy, transport, economy and carbon sequestration.

We then asked local authority members to suggest up to three islands within their territory against each of the criteria. That was followed by a request to non-local-authority members to sense check the matching exercise. Finally, Scottish Government officials analysed input from all members in order to identify a mix of six islands that could provide the greatest possible learning for all Scottish islands.

Although we are fully aware that each island is unique, we attempted to come up with a group of islands that not only matched the agreed criteria, but provided a mix of population, size and past climate trajectory. For the carbon neutral islands project to deliver on its promise of sharing learning and good practice across all Scottish islands, that mix is crucial.

Following that process, I am delighted to announce that the six islands that will be part of the carbon neutral islands project are: Hoy, Islay, Great Cumbrae, Raasay, Barra and Yell.

The key questions that anybody on those islands may well be asking themselves are what changes they will see on their island and how they will benefit from their island being included in this project. By joining the project, we believe that islands will benefit in several ways.

First, islands will receive support in carrying out an in-depth climate accounting exercise, or to build on any exercises that may have been developed previously. Secondly, they will receive support in completing a community-informed climate plan, which responds to the interests of the island stakeholders and community. That will ensure that the voice of communities will truly drive the decarbonisation and resilience-building process. Thirdly, the islands will receive support to develop an investment strategy for the implementation of the community-informed climate plan. In due course, the islands will also receive support for specific decarbonisation and adaptation projects and activities.

In terms of the support to be provided, key island-based organisations will be working with island stakeholders and communities to implement the climate accounting exercise, the community-informed climate plan and the investment strategy.

A further benefit comes from the possibility of developing peer learning among islands around the world, whereby a Scottish carbon neutral island could be matched with an island overseas, through demonstration visits, leading to strengthened relationships with our European and international colleagues.

I also want to take the opportunity to emphasise that joining the carbon neutral islands project does not put any specific burden on the island or its community. Rather, the project will work for, and with, the communities on each of the islands at a pace that the community considers most appropriate for them.

Most islands will already be carrying out activities related to the carbon neutral islands project and by being a part of this exciting work, will receive additional support to develop good practice. By joining the project, the carbon neutral islands will become net zero lighthouse communities and will be able to support other areas across Scotland in the national journey to net zero by 2045.

A further key question that island communities may be asking themselves across the six islands is, what happens next? I will outline to Parliament what our next steps will be in the project. Following today’s announcement, we will organise our first visits to the six islands to meet key stakeholders. It is important that we visit the islands as soon as possible, not only to discuss any aspect of the project that the community may wish to ask questions about, but to continue learning from island communities by actively listening to them.

During the summer, we will introduce the key partners involved in the implementation of the project, and we will continue to map the many exciting and interesting climate change-related projects that are already taking place on our islands, in order to ensure continuity and alignment and to avoid unnecessary duplication. It is our desire and goal to start developing the necessary relationships as soon as we can, in order to ensure that the carbon neutrality journey is driven by the community on each of the six islands.

Following the visits, all islands will see the development of the climate accounting exercise, the community-informed climate plan and the climate investment strategy. As I have already said, those will be developed by key project partners together with the community and any other relevant stakeholders.

Once those first three steps are finalised, carbon neutrality projects and activities will be scoped and our work towards securing the necessary funding, from both the carbon neutral islands project and elsewhere, will be carried out. This phase will start at the beginning of the 2023-24 financial year and will continue throughout the lifetime of the project.

One last thing that I wish to reiterate is that the carbon neutral islands project is intended to support Scotland’s islands to achieve carbon neutrality according to their priorities and at a pace with which they feel comfortable. The project is a real opportunity for islands in Scotland to embrace the journey towards net zero and climate resilience that they have started and, in some cases, pioneered.

I will draw to a close. I am excited to move to the next stages of the carbon neutral islands project now that we have announced that Hoy, Islay, Great Cumbrae, Raasay, Barra and Yell are the islands taking part.

Alignment is a key principle that underpins the project. The project will sit within the wider landscape and seek to build on many of the exciting things that we are already doing as a Government. Scotland is already at the forefront of climate change mitigation and adaptation at the global level, and it should not come as a surprise that net zero and climate resilience are key drivers of our work on islands. I am sure that throughout the debate we will touch on the many exciting climate change initiatives that we are working on in relation to islands.

I am very much looking forward to the debate, and to discussing the wider work that we are carrying out to support our islands towards carbon neutrality.

I move,

That the Parliament welcomes the Scottish Government’s announcement of the six islands that will be supported towards becoming fully carbon neutral by 2040; notes that the six islands are Hoy, Islay, Great Cumbrae, Raasay, Barra and Yell; recognises that these six islands will embrace the opportunity for island communities to lead the way in realising Scotland’s climate change ambitions; notes that the project will benefit all Scottish islands, and not only those supported directly as part of the project, through knowledge exchange and good practices; welcomes this initiative, which puts Scotland’s islands at the forefront of climate change policy while celebrating their unique culture and heritage, and acknowledges that the six carbon neutral islands will become international trailblazers and champions of carbon neutrality across the world.