Chamber and committees

I am sure that the committee would like to hear about that report when it is available and how you intend to fund that. It is clear that your budget meets the targets that you have; the issue is whether those targets are sufficient for what is required. It is about the climate change target as opposed to the budget.

Perhaps Elizabeth Leighton could comment on the point about co-ordination, if she can. If we wait for everything to be aligned and co-ordinated, we might not get started on what we need to do. Your general view on that would be helpful, as well as your view on how we can support small-scale developments. Does NPF4 encourage that? If not, what needs to be done to help improve that?

I will pursue the issue a bit more. Supply chain development brings resilience as well as opportunity. With regard to the Government’s activity, will you share with the committee how much of a step change you think there is across the public sector in embedding the importance of supply chain development across other departments, as well as your own? For example, will you share more about supporting the supply chain development in the NHS?

Are there also private sector opportunities, such as for heat pumps in relation to net zero? To what extent do such opportunities exist, and do you think that our agencies are geared up to keep a laser-like focus on supply chain development?

I know that it is virtual, but I can feel your passion there. When we started our inquiry, there were real constraints on around supermarkets and food supply, so I would appreciate your take on where things currently stand in relation to the resilience of our food supply.

You also talked about carbon miles and what powers we have in Scotland to make that part of any public sector contract. Globally, there are movements in that direction, but it would have implications for food and drink in particular. I am interested in that.

I thank you for your note on the construction supply chain. Cement has come up a number of times. The enormous amount of energy that is required for cement production has implications for net zero, so innovation would be needed. The constraints in the construction supply chain during the past year are another reason why we need resilience in that regard.

Perhaps you can talk about those products: food and drink, and cement. You already mentioned timber, but if you want to add anything on that, you can do so.

Will you give us an assessment of where the constraints are for inward supply of food to Scotland? Bearing in mind Brexit and the Covid constraints, what is the Government’s current take on that?

What are the top planning, practice and regulation changes that will be most helpful for your membership to deliver net zero in the short term and the long term?

It is about the speed and scale of co-investment between councils and private companies, which is important if we are to deliver on net zero. The Subsidy Control Bill is going through Westminster. Obviously, we want subsidy control and understand its importance but, if there is risk aversion because of the nature of that system, that could affect the scale and speed of co-investment between private companies and councils. With previous co-investments between private companies and councils, there have been streamlined schemes to help to get rapid approval. Given that we need clarity to move forward with tackling net zero, would your membership welcome some kind of streamlined scheme for approvals of subsidy by local authorities?

If you want to come back to us on that, I am happy for you to do so, but that is a live issue in the Parliament just now.

I am glad that the witnesses could join us to share their valuable insights. I will ask you separate questions, to pursue some of the points that you have already made.

The Scottish Government has established a green heat finance task force. As its work has just started, your perspective on what that should cover would be helpful.

I will come to Jeremy Lawson first on the idea of aggregating investable propositions. I very much appreciate your comments on wider concepts and frameworks, but what does that look like in terms of aggregation? The Scottish Government has established a green investment portfolio, but even with £3 billion-worth of funding, things will be challenging, particularly given that there are subsets to that portfolio. What size of investment would your investment colleagues consider it worth coming to the table for?

Monica Lennon covered some of the area that I wanted to ask about. Does the minister have any final message to those who are concerned about the environmental impact of plastic pollution in particular?

Is it easier to do offsetting to address that issue than to be part of the decarbonisation agenda for pension funds and their trustees?