Chamber and committees

Finally, Malcolm Bennie, Falkirk Council is not only Falkirk; it also covers Grangemouth. Nobody has mentioned Bo’ness, so we better mention Bo’ness. The Falkirk growth deal and the green freeport bid cover wider areas, but the Grangemouth future industry board speaks for itself—it is about future industries in Grangemouth, not the wider area.

On your point about being a director of place, the other committee that I sit on—the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee—has just produced a report on local government partners, and one of its recommendations is that place-based solutions matter, as they are how you can pull everything together.

We are behind that agenda—not only for Falkirk town but for Grangemouth, too. How do we prioritise Grangemouth strategically? Strategic housing provision is key to this. Is the big-picture stuff of potentially using district heating—and possibly hydrogen; who knows?—where you want to get to in relation to a place-based solution for Grangemouth?

We have heard about “greener Grangemouth”, but I think that you have just come up with a new one with “greater solutions Grangemouth”, which also sounds a bit bigger and more strategic.

I will ask about one of the things that we have concerns about. Some of the growth deals have been in place for some time, but yours is more recent. It might not be reflective of that net zero drive as it was originally thought of when it was first established. We are not unpicking growth deals, because they were very carefully put together, but you talked about the need for flexibility. It would be very helpful if you could explain what that might look like, particularly if we are looking at the just transition and net zero. If you cannot do that just now, maybe you could come back to the committee on that question, as that would be helpful.

I do not know whether Diarmaid Lawlor has any comments on that.

We are the Parliament, so we can make these points to the Government, which might be helpful. What we are trying to do in this inquiry is to find what would be the most helpful thing and make recommendations to the Government to inform the just transition plan for Grangemouth. This is your opportunity to make that pitch.

Do we have time to hear from Diarmaid Lawlor, convener?

Feel free to use the phrase “greater solutions Grangemouth”.

I can see Daniela Diz nodding: perhaps you want to comment.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for joining us after having been in New York.

Professor Galbraith, is there now a better chance that the COP15 outcomes will be delivered than there was under previous agreements?

Two of the notable targets for the global framework are the 30 by 30 target and the restoration target, which is:

“Have restoration completed or underway on at least 30% of degraded terrestrial, inland waters, and coastal and marine ecosystems”.

What is the scale of the challenge in biodiversity conservation in Scotland? I am the nature champion for Scotland’s extraordinary blanket bogs—obviously, our peatland restoration is absolutely huge—so I am interested to hear your comments on that in particular.

Can you also be a bit more specific about what type of programmes you would expect to see in order for us to meet the 30 by 30 target and the restoration target?

I will go to Dr Ruth Mitchell first, if that is okay, and then to Deborah Long.

Can I bring in Dr Mitchell, who is joining us remotely? Do you have any comments about global implementation?

It would be helpful if you could advise us on what that might look like with regard to our ongoing scrutiny.

Colin Galbraith might be able to help us with a view on what influence or leadership the Scottish Government—or Scottish institutions, including our scientific community—provided at COP15 or in the run-up to negotiations, which was a key period. What impact did the Edinburgh declaration have, for example?