Meeting of the Parliament 05 February 2026 [Draft]
I have great faith in Edward Mountain, even though he might be talking himself down today. As convener, he expertly chairs the committee every Tuesday morning.
As I look around at the colleagues who are in the chamber, I know that we can do this. As Douglas Lumsden said—I think that he is flirting with the idea of supporting the bill—it matters to the people of the north-east of Scotland; it matters to my constituents; and it matters to us all.
There are technical points for us to deal with. I understand members’ frustration and curiosity about section 40 of the 2014 act and why there have been no prosecutions. Colleagues have raised concerns about whether we have the right resources in place for our regulators, including SEPA. I hope that the bill has allowed that debate to open up.
I thank Bill Kidd for mentioning Polly Higgins, and I want to mention those colleagues, including Richard Leonard, who brought tears to my eyes. I cannot take people being nice to me—I am not used to it.
However, I reassure members that this is not about being sentimental or about Scotland trying to get headlines. We are now one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. We all love Scotland and we all care about its future, but we cannot be complacent any longer.
In committee, when the cabinet secretary was giving evidence, colleagues asked, “What if the bill puts off investment? What if people do not want to come to Scotland because we have an ecocide law?”. Well, I want people to know that we will have an ecocide law. We welcome investment and we want development, but we need it to be in the right place and done in the right way, and I have great trust in our planning authorities to do that. Maurice Golden is giving me a look; I note that my husband is a planner, so I have to say that I trust our planners. Planning is where I learned about protecting our environment, and we must recognise that planners already look at environmental impacts.
Amendments have already been set out in writing that we agree on, and we can work on them at pace. I am listening to all committee members, but it is up to the committee to agree the time to do the work. I will be working, and my door will be open to everybody. If we kick the issue down the road, we will do a great disservice not only to our current constituents but to future generations. That is why it is not just environmentalists backing the bill—it is health charities such as Asthma and Lung UK and bodies such as the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland, because they know that our young people need a safer, healthier Scotland.
I thank the Scottish Government and all members who are backing the bill. To those who are not yet convinced because they are worried about the amount of time left, I ask them to give the bill a chance. I assure all members that I will work night and day to ensure that we will have a robust bill at the end of the process.