Meeting of the Parliament 03 May 2023
Finlay Carson may wish to use language such as “banning fishing”, but the point is that we are in the midst of a consultation process that asks about the principles of HPMAs, including how they are constituted and what features we might wish to protect. The consultation includes the issue of blue carbon, which directly responds to Finlay Carson’s point. However, the issue is not just about carbon; it is about ecosystems and species abundance, issues that are critically important to the equilibrium of our natural world. All of those issues are connected to the climate emergency, and I would expect Finlay Carson to understand that. That matters to me, and it matters most of all to the people who are economically, socially and culturally connected to our seas.
That brings me to my second point, which is that it is an unavoidable truth that, as we take the action that we have to take to respond to the climate emergency, we have to do it in a way that is fair, just and leaves no one and no community behind. That is the task that I and the Scottish Government are committed to, and it is one that we take very seriously indeed. That is why we have approached this really complex and emotive topic with as much democracy as possible. It is why, at this early stage in the process, the Scottish Government has held no fewer than 40 stakeholder meetings during the development of the consultation and since then, to assist stakeholders in completing—