Chamber and committees

Item 2 is our first evidence session in relation to the Scottish biodiversity strategy. I refer members to the papers from the clerk and the Scottish Parliament information centre for this item.

In June, the committee agreed to scrutinise biodiversity policy and the proposals for the Scottish Government’s new biodiversity strategy. That will be the first substantive update of Scotland’s overarching biodiversity policy since 2013 and the starting point in a process that will lead into the development of rolling delivery plans and statutory nature restoration targets through the introduction of a natural environment bill. The Scottish Government is currently consulting on the strategy. The consultation will end next week, and the strategy should be published later this year.

Today, we will hear from two panels that will focus on land and marine environments. The session will be an opportunity to discuss what is needed to address the biodiversity crisis, reflections on the outcomes that are specified in the consultation, and views on the legislative requirements and what else needs to happen to deliver those outcomes.

We will start with a panel that will focus on land. I welcome our panellists, all of whom are joining us in the room. Professor Elisa Morgera is professor of global environmental law at the University of Strathclyde and director of One Ocean Hub; Suzie Saunders is policy advocate at Woodland Trust Scotland; Dr Paul Walton is head of habitats and species at RSPB Scotland; and Bruce Wilson is public affairs manager at the Scottish Wildlife Trust. I thank the panellists for accepting our invitations; we are delighted to have you here.

We have allocated around 70 minutes for this session. Members will ask questions in turn. As members know, it will help broadcasting if they direct their questions to a specific panellist or set out a running order for answering the question if it is relevant to all the panellists. I would like everyone—members and panellists—to try to be concise in their questions and answers, if they can be.

I will begin with a question for everybody and will go to Professor Morgera first. Scotland has so far struggled to make progress on slowing and reversing biodiversity declines. What are the key challenges for Scotland and the reason why some targets have been missed to date? I will allow everybody to answer that key question.

I will bring in Monica Lennon, to be followed by Jackie Dunbar.

I am afraid that I have to bring the discussion to a close. The session has been extremely helpful. Thank you for your clarity and your challenge.

We will have to bring the session to a close. I thank the witnesses very much for sharing with us their expertise on, and knowledge of, what is obviously a very complex and challenging area. In particular, I thank Susan Davies for persevering with us—we heard you loud and clear.

Once the committee has decided how we should best approach the biodiversity and nature emergency issue in relation to what we have heard, we will decide what we will do to relay that to the Scottish Government in our considerations and planning.

That concludes the public part of the meeting. We will now move into private session.

That reflects some of the comments that we heard at the Edinburgh international culture summit, when we were discussing climate change and that connection between people and nature, so thank you very much for that.

Thank you for bringing that issue so forcefully to our attention.

Yes.

The committee is keen to highlight the importance of the nature crisis and the fact that the 15th United Nations biodiversity conference of the parties—COP15—is coming up. In that context, we will broaden out the discussion before we narrow it down again.

What are the current expectations of COP15? Will the direction of travel that is set out in the consultation be sufficient to deliver international obligations? I will stick with Bruce Wilson before putting that question to everyone. I will then ask individual members to direct their questions to the witnesses.

Your advice to the Parliament and the committee is very important in that regard.

We resume the meeting with our second panel on the Scottish biodiversity strategy. We will now focus on the marine environment. I welcome our panellists Calum Duncan, who is the head of conservation Scotland at the Marine Conservation Society, and Craig Macadam, who is the convener of Scottish Environment LINK’s freshwater group. I also welcome Susan Davies, chief executive of the Scottish Seabird Centre, who is joining us remotely—I hope that she can hear us loud and clear.

I thank you all for joining us. I want to kick off the questions with why Scotland has struggled to make progress in slowing and reversing biodiversity declines. What are the key challenges for Scotland and what are the reasons why some targets have been missed to date? I come to Craig Macadam first, and I will then move to Calum Duncan and Susan Davies.