Chamber and committees

COP26 was a significant point with regard to our planet’s future. However, although much positive progress was made, we still have a long way to go. As we have heard today, COP26 succeeded in the ambition of keeping 1.5 alive and in sight, and its importance is no longer questioned, but it will be delivered only through immediate global efforts.

Here in Scotland, we have some of the most ambitious climate targets anywhere in the world. One of the large-scale messages at COP26 was that countries in general must halve their emissions by 2030, against 1990 levels. That is why Scotland’s legally binding 2030 emissions target, of a 75 per cent reduction, is world leading in its ambition.

The Scottish budget for this year reaffirms our commitment to those targets. It provides the first £20 million of our 10-year £500 million just transition fund, £336 million for energy efficiency, low carbon and renewable heat, and £60 million for large-scale heat decarbonisation projects. Those are just some of the actions that the Scottish Government is taking to meet our climate targets.

I am extremely proud of the role that Scotland played in COP26. We led the way by becoming the first developed nation to commit funding to loss and damage, and we recently committed to trebling the world-first climate justice fund to £36 million during the current parliamentary session. I want to expand on that role.

Scotland is committed to a climate justice approach through recognising that those who are least responsible for the global emergency are being affected most severely by it. Our children did not create the mountains of plastic that we see lying in villages in Indonesia, poison our oceans or cut down the rain forests. Likewise, it is not the countries that have been worst affected by climate change that are profiting the most from it, and now leaders of the rich developed countries must go further.

I want to highlight the role of our young people in the climate crisis. They were not wholly satisfied with the outcomes of COP26. Young people have been truly inspirational, showing absolute determination and passion, and they are arguably the most environmentally focused part of our society. If we fail them, it is young people who will bear the brunt of our inaction and incompetence. It is our generation’s duty to ensure that our children have a planet to inherit.

Just a few weeks ago, the NZET Committee heard from members of the Scottish Youth Parliament and the Children’s Parliament. It was so refreshing to speak to them and hear some of the things that they wanted to focus on, such as promoting active travel, sustainable green transport and the circular economy. However, we should not just listen to young people—they must be included and play a key part in the decision-making process. Our approach to climate change will require co-operation at all levels, and our young people are drastically under-represented in the community setting, local government and national government. We need to ensure that we are welcoming and encouraging our young people to get involved.

I am therefore delighted that the £500,000 for the social enterprise Fuel Change will accelerate the programme’s expansion and enable more young people to contribute to developing low-carbon solutions to climate-related challenges.

There are many challenges ahead, some of which my colleagues have highlighted today, and the work of the NZET Committee will be crucial in working through them. The Scottish Government has taken action and, given the policies that I have outlined, it is clear that it is committed to meeting the targets that have been set. However, given the reserved nature of many key policy levers on decarbonisation, a more ambitious UK-wide approach will be critical to us achieving our goals. Although the net zero strategy affirms UK Government priorities, it does not go far enough in many of the areas in which we have repeatedly called for action.

The world’s leading nations cannot procrastinate any longer. COP26 was not job done. It did not deliver as much as global south countries, activists and campaigners rightly demanded. COP27 must see the world deliver on commitments with urgency and energy and it must ensure that the promises that were made are met and that climate action delivers for those who are on the front line of the crisis.

That was a very helpful answer.

I ask Mick Hogg the same question. How could a smart, integrated ticketing system be achieved? Are the Scottish and UK Governments taking action to deliver on that? Could integrated ticketing in practice be a challenge for workers, due to the ticket applying to more than one method of public transport? Please give me your views on that.

Thank you all for your answers. I have no further questions.

Michael, you touched on this earlier. I put the same question to you, with a short supplementary. Do you feel that an integrated ticketing system would benefit not only the public but the rail industry in the long run?

Hello, panel. The committee has heard calls for better integration of walking, cycling and bus and rail services, including smart ticketing. Just last week, Scotland’s Climate Assembly told the committee that it wanted a much more integrated and joined-up way of travelling and a mechanism for making public transport cheaper, particularly for low-income families. How can that best be achieved? Are the Scottish and UK Governments taking the right action to deliver that goal?

On this international women’s day, I am extremely proud to stand here in the most representative Parliament that this country has ever seen. As a woman from a working class background, I never thought that I would be standing here. It is proof that we are moving in the right direction, but we have a long way to go.

It is right that recognition has already been given to the horrors that women are facing right now in Ukraine and I join others in emphasising my dismay over that. It has been heartbreaking to see the displacement of more than 1.5 million citizens, most of whom are women and children, and in terms of those who have been unwilling or unable to flee, we are hearing about allegations of rape, women giving birth in underground stations and newborns being treated in makeshift bomb shelters. The strength and bravery of those women cannot be overstated.

I welcome the First Minister’s apology to the people who were convicted under the Witchcraft Act 1563. I am in the process of beginning a member’s bill to pardon those victims, who were mostly women, and I am sure that it will go a long way in tackling bias and sending a message across the world that that is not acceptable.

Turning to the present day, I pay tribute to the contribution and sacrifices that women have made throughout the pandemic. Women have played a huge role in keeping society together during the toughest of times, undertaking the majority of front-line roles and taking on an increase in caring within the family setting. However, that has come at a cost. The UN Women organisation has estimated that the impact of the pandemic on women’s equality could mean a roll back of 25 years of progress on women’s rights.

The majority of women are expected to be managers in our own homes, taking on the majority of caring responsibilities and everyday mundane tasks including cleaning and cooking, and the pandemic has served only to strengthen that expectation. A publication from Engender noted that if all that uncounted labour was recorded in national accounting, it would be worth an estimated £1.1 trillion, or around 56 per cent of gross domestic product.

New mothers have also missed out on a whole range of experiences with their little ones and, over the past two years, pregnant women have experienced pregnancies like no other, with limited visits from birthing partners, missed antenatal classes and face masks during birth. With a two-year-old daughter and a seven-month-old son, I have experienced some of that myself and I have heard at first hand, both through my personal relationships and from my constituents, how difficult mothers and pregnant women have found it. It is no wonder that mental health issues among women are soaring—an issue that I am confident that the Scottish Government is committed to improving.

As my colleagues have rightly highlighted, we have seen an increase in cases of domestic abuse during the pandemic. That was especially heightened during severe restrictions. Eradicating violence against women and girls is a priority for the Scottish Government. In our first 100 days in government, funding was directed specifically to rape crisis services, and the delivering equally safe fund will see funding go directly to front-line services and prevention. It is absolutely right that tackling violence against women is, and remains, a priority.

With all of those issues put upon us, it has been an extremely hard time for so many women and I pay tribute to each one who has given everything that they have during the pandemic.

I move on to this year’s theme for international women’s day: “break the bias”. Structural barriers and prejudice continue to cause inequality in our society and that theme challenges each one of us to take action against prejudice whenever we see it. I believe that in Scotland we have come a long way with gender equality but, despite that, bias continues to surround our everyday lives, and breaking it can be difficult.

Stereotypes fuel misogyny and women should not have to act or behave in a certain way to conform to outdated stereotypes. Women face judgment, stigma and criticism for everything we do, everything we say or dare to speak about, the clothes we wear, how we style our hair, our weight, our height and how we conduct ourselves on social media. We are expected to go above and beyond to help, and to keep a smile on our face while we are doing it.

We get judged if we choose a career over a family. Likewise, we get judged if we decide to start a family and, if we do, even more questions come.

How are we going to cope with work? Are we even going to bother with work? How do we raise our children? Are we going to bottle feed or breastfeed them? The list is exhausting, and it goes on and on.

So much more is expected of us women, and there are so many ways in which we are expected to behave. Whether someone is a young girl, a woman, a mother or grandmother, I have no doubt that they have faced that kind of judgment, or questioning along those lines. It is tiring. Please, can we just let women be, and stop scrutinising them in a way that few men would ever be subject to? From witnessing the women in my life, I have no doubt that the majority of us are smashing it, regardless of any negativity or perceived bias. However, it takes an emotional toll, and it is unjust that women should have to fight those battles daily.

Our Scottish Government is blazing a trail when it comes to fighting for equality for women but, as with most things in Scotland, we do so with one hand tied behind our back by Westminster, which reinforces gender stereotypes with abhorrent, misogynistic policies such as the disgusting rape clause, the cheated WASPIs and the British Prime Minister’s refusal to apologise for writing in an article in The Spectator that the children of single mothers were

“ill-raised, ignorant, aggressive and illegitimate”,

and for calling for action to

“restore women’s desire to be married”.

To the UK Prime Minister, and to any other misogynistic man in a position of power, I therefore say, as a young woman who was raised by a single mother, that we will not stop, we will not be quiet, and we are here to be heard.

I want my daughter to grow up in a world where she is free to do what she wants and to follow any path that she wants, without fear of judgment—a world where she does not have to walk down the street with her keys between her fingers, in the way that we all have in the past. Equally, I want my boy to grow up in a world where he is respectful to women and understands that we are all equal. We have made much progress here in Scotland, but, undoubtedly, we have such a long way to go to break the bias. Until the day when we achieve true equality for women of all different backgrounds, we have much work to do.

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made with the United Kingdom Government on the devolution of drug legislation to the Scottish Parliament, particularly in relation to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. (S6O-00817)

It is going to take a national mission to end drug addiction and drug deaths in Scotland, and the Scottish Government is doing everything within its devolved powers to tackle that. However, with the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 still reserved to Westminster, we are tackling the issue with one hand tied behind our back. Does the minister agree that the legislation should be devolved immediately, so that Scotland has all the levers available to fully address the issue and save lives?

I do—it is about land use, which I know is quite a different topic. I noted the comments about community land ownership in the assembly’s response. In what ways do you think that communities can be better supported to address the climate emergency? Do you believe that outright ownership of assets is the only way forward, or could better partnership working also achieve the goals? What additional policies would the assembly like to see implemented?

It is nice to see you all. You have answered the questions fully, so I will pick up on a couple of points that stick out. I will focus on the assembly’s feeling that the Scottish Government’s response to the sustainable diet public information campaigns recommendation is inadequate. What new initiatives and public information campaigns do you recommend?

To follow on from that, I add that those who are informed and aware of the situation know about the need to make more sustainable choices, but doing that is not always possible for people who are on low incomes. We touched on that when we talked about bulk packaging in our shops. Does the assembly have other ways or ideas to open up choices for everyone?