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Meeting of the Parliament 14 January 2014

14 Jan 2014 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Draft Climate Change Adaptation Programme

Dey, Graeme SNP Angus South Watch on SPTV

My preparing for the debate prompted me to re-read in detail the evidence on the draft programme that was given during two stakeholder meetings that were held on 30 October last year. I remember at the time sitting in committee and feeling quite invigorated by what I had heard. Going over the Official Report ahead of this afternoon’s debate had a similar effect. The evidence that we received was as constructive and detailed as it was wide ranging, so on behalf of the committee members I record our appreciation of the contribution that witnesses and stakeholders made to our deliberations. I also concur with the minister who, in his letter responding to the committee’s report, said that the process had

“provided valuable insights and raised useful questions”.

Across the panels, there was absolute unanimity on the fact that the impacts of climate change are being felt right across society. Professor Des Thompson of Scottish Natural Heritage told us:

“We are now seeing in our seas and mountains and on the coast rapid changes such as have never been witnessed before in a similar timeframe.”—[Official Report, Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee, 30 October 2013; c 2822-23.]

Andrew Bauer of NFU Scotland told us:

“From a farming point of view, the impacts are already here ... The growing seasons have changed, and farmers are already adapting what they are growing because extreme weather events are making potentially higher-profit crops more risky to plant.”—[Official Report, Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee, 30 October 2013; c 2823.]

Jim Densham of RSPB Scotland revealed that, across various RSPB sites including some of Scotland’s “most special places”,

“every day issues and impacts”—[Official Report, Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee, 30 October 2013; c 2824.]

are being seen that cannot be disentangled from climate change.

David Goodhew of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service admitted that the past decade had seen recognition that the impacts of climate change are more variable and wide reaching than was previously anticipated. He explained that the Fire and Rescue Service is now having to purchase more four-by-four vehicles with differential locks on rear axles and exhaust pipes set higher than 18 inches in order to meet the challenging range of circumstances in which the service must operate.

It is widely recognised that we have significant challenges to which to respond. Although the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs secretary of state, Owen Paterson, has sought to portray the consequences of climate change as offering an opportunity for agriculture, Andrew Bauer revealed that the sector in Scotland does not entirely share that viewpoint. He told us:

“we can foresee the benefits. However, the uncertainty could wipe them all out; you might be okay one year in five, but for the other four years you ... could suffer significant problems. ... I am not betting my house ... on the benefits outweighing the negatives that we have to deal with.”—[Official Report, Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee, 30 October 2013; c 2837.]

One specific downside that he predicted was that, in the future, we will see a decline in areas that are fit for production in some of our farming heartlands.

What is going on out there as we react to the impacts of climate change? What are we as a society doing well, and what do we need to do better? Let me deal first specifically with the adaptation policy. We were told that the Government had made good strides in implementing and developing the existing framework. The move away from a sectoral approach towards an integrated package was welcomed—albeit that there was a call for that to be built on. Jim Densham rightly made the point—as Alex Fergusson and Patrick Harvie have—that we need to think beyond five-year programmes of objectives, proposals and policies, which give us a short-term look at, and control over, what needs to happen, but do not consider the longer term. As Mr Densham said, we need to be clear about where we are going and how we will deliver a resilient and adaptable Scotland. That is something that he feels does not quite come across in the draft programme.

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Meeting of the Parliament 14 January 2014

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