Meeting of the Parliament 25 March 2025
I am grateful to Willie Rennie for raising the issue. I have a confession to make: I have not read those reports yet. I commit to doing so, and will look closely at the points that he raised. I am just being frank with him; I have not yet read those reports.
Fair trade, with its focus on global solidarity and marginalised producers, is an important part of our international development programme, alongside other key areas. Over the past year, we have launched new programmes on health and inclusive education, from new strategic education partnerships with the World Bank to support at a very local level for girls and learners with disabilities to better access school, and from a new strategic partnership with the World Health Organization on non-communicable diseases to developing community palliative care within our partner countries.
Beyond our support for our partner countries, through longer-term programming, we have also continued to contribute globally where humanitarian crises occur. It was reported that 2024 had the highest number of countries engaged in conflict since the end of world war two. Climate change is increasing the risk of conflict, with more frequent extreme weather events and the world hitting 1.5°C for the first time last year.
According to the December 2024 report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 305.1 million people are expected to require immediate humanitarian assistance in 2025. We have continued to respond to global crises, principally through our standing humanitarian emergency fund panel, including for the less well-known crises, such as that in Sudan.
I turn to our commitment on climate justice. Scotland remains committed to addressing the injustice that is at the heart of climate change—that those who have done the least to cause the crises are suffering the impacts worst and first and are often the least able to respond. That is becoming ever more evident, with some global south Governments’ budgets so consumed with responding to the latest climate disaster and debt relief payments that little or nothing is left for health and education. This is why the Scottish Government established the world’s first climate justice fund, with the £36 million fund specifically focused on supporting the most marginalised communities around the world to address the impacts of climate change. That support extends to the very producers that we are discussing today. For example, the climate justice fund water futures programme in Malawi worked with UK retailers to ensure water sustainability for communities in Malawi to protect their key exports, namely tea and coffee.
It is in recognition of the challenges that our partners face that we remain committed to growing the international development fund to £15 million by the end of this session of Parliament and to maintaining a £1 million humanitarian emergency fund.
Scotland also faces its own challenges, of course, and we cannot shy away from the fact that there are increasing pressures on public finances. However, our international development funding reflects our commitment to support and align with the sustainable development goals domestically in Scotland and to contribute overseas as a good global citizen. We have been clear that we do not want to
“balance the books on the backs of the poor.”
Today’s debate on Scotland’s renewed fair trade nation status serves as an important reminder that we live in a world that is facing immense challenges and that we need to work together to ensure our planet is more equal, fair and sustainable for everyone. Promoting fair trade does just that.
I am pleased to move the motion, and I ask members across the chamber to support it.
I move,
That the Parliament welcomes Scotland’s renewed status as a Fair Trade Nation; recognises the dedication and hard work of Fair Trade campaigners, businesses and communities across Scotland in sustaining this achievement; congratulates Scottish Fair Trade for its leadership in promoting and strengthening Scotland’s Fair Trade commitment; acknowledges the vital role of Fair Trade producers, workers and enterprises in the Global South in building a fairer, more sustainable trading system; recognises that Fair Trade is a partnership that supports the rights, dignity and livelihoods of those throughout the supply chain, and commits to uphold and advance Scotland’s role as a Fair Trade Nation as part of its broader commitment to global citizenship and international solidarity.