Meeting of the Parliament 07 September 2016
For those of us who inhabit the environmental bubble, it is easy to forget that we often talk in terminology that resonates pretty much only with those who are similarly inclined. That issue was brought into focus during a chamber debate last session when Alex Fergusson suggested that, rather than talking about biodiversity and risking quizzical looks from the vast majority of the people we are trying to reach out to, we should talk about the balance of nature, which is, after all, what biodiversity means.
In her programme for government speech yesterday, the First Minister identified another helpful change of language around the hugely important issue of climate change. Earlier this week, as the convener of the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee, I wrote to the Scottish Government, asking it to delay publication of the draft third report on proposals and policies until early January in order to maximise the opportunity for committees and the wider Parliament to scrutinise that hugely important report. But what does “RPP3” mean to the generally largely unengaged public out there? Styling it as the new climate change plan—something that WWF has also taken to doing—will make it resonate better with a wider audience, because that title will spell out clearly what the RPP actually is.
That matters because, on the back of Scotland’s success in reaching its 2020 greenhouse gas emissions targets six years early, RPP3 represents an opportunity to ramp up the ambitions and aim to achieve a 50 per cent reduction in emissions by 2020. In doing that, we will be moving into areas requiring considerable behavioural change that will need serious buy-in not just from the public and private sectors but on an individual level, so the messaging around RPP3 and other climate change-related legislation matters. Therefore, laying out the demands that will be made of the transport sector in the plan, which the programme for government document does, is a welcome step.
As a country, we must embrace strategies that reduce demand for transport and decarbonise vehicles, and if the reduction in air passenger duty produces a net increase in emissions—as it is recognised that it will—climate change legislation will have to identify and ensure the delivery of countermeasures to that. RPP3 and the planned new climate change bill will bring a new focus on how we build on our achievements thus far. So, too—fully integrated with the new climate change plan as it is intended to be—will the planned new energy strategy, which will lay out the Government’s low-carbon infrastructure priorities and target reductions in energy demand. The forthcoming warm homes bill is another welcome and necessary step in the right direction, given that such a large proportion of our emissions comes from heating.
Some of those measures will—either in their entirety or in part—come under the direct scrutiny of the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee, and there are other measures in the programme for government that will sit within the committee’s brief and impact on climate change adaptation. The investment of £3.6 billion through Scottish Water to upgrade water and sewerage infrastructure is one such measure. However, reading the document, I was struck by the range of other measures that, in some degree, will impact positively on our emissions journey without in any way coming under the remit of the ECCLR Committee or, indeed, the remit of the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform. The proposed forestry bill could lead to improved levels of tree planting, assisting with carbon sequestration as well as helping to tackle flooding. The replacing of old school, college and hospital buildings with more modern, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly facilities will help, as will the rail improvements that are coming down the track. That illustrates how embedded in virtually every aspect of government activity cutting emissions and tackling climate change are and must be.
Turning to other matters that are identified in the programme for government, I note that two areas that will command the attention of the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee are progress on reaching 1 million acres of land in community ownership by 2020, and oversight of the process of devolving control of the Crown Estate and ensuring that it operates in a way that requires it to take cognisance of much more than simply generating revenue.
Not surprisingly, the raft of secondary legislation under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 will command our attention, too. In her speech, the First Minister referenced the establishment of a register of controlling interests for land ownership and the Scottish land commission becoming operational as two key aspects of that. There are others of importance, such as the land rights and responsibilities statement. We as a Parliament must also recognise the need to explore how we build capacity across Scotland to take full advantage of the opportunities that are created by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 and the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. Delivering on the potential of those opportunities is not just about funding, it is also about ensuring that all our communities are supported in other practical ways to face up to the demands of the processes that they will be entering into.
On the subject of taking a rounded approach, I highlight what I hope will be an important aspect of the comprehensive decommissioning action plan that Scottish Enterprise is working up. We should of course maximise the economic return for Scotland from an activity that it is estimated could attract a spend of £17 billion, but the plan must—I am sure that it will—take account of the potential impact on the marine environment. Removing structures from the North Sea and dismantling them can and will create jobs, but there is a serious discussion to be had about the circumstances in which, from an environmental perspective, it might—and I stress “might”—be advantageous to leave elements of them in situ. The highly respected Scottish Wildlife Trust has made that point. My appeal is that the best interests of the marine environment—not perhaps in the most obvious way—are a priority consideration in any decisions that are made and that those decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.
In conclusion, reading through the programme for government document, I note that, although it was not highlighted by the First Minister yesterday, my committee can anticipate a bill on wild animals in circuses coming its way. Further down the line, we can look forward to bills on wild fisheries and the circular economy. Never let it be said that life as a member of the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee is lacking in variety.