Chamber and committees

I have a final, brief question for Professor Smith. In the environmental debate, we now factor in questions around biodiversity intactness. Scotland seems to be doing a bit better than some places in the UK on that score but perhaps not as well as other places in Europe. Other witnesses might want to chip in, but what do you understand by the term “biodiversity intactness”? In parts of Scotland such as the Highlands and Islands, for very good historical reasons, there is a slight recoil from the word “wilderness”, so what is biodiversity intactness, and how do you reconcile that with attempts to repopulate fragile areas?

I have often cited an example in my constituency, where a school has had to move because of the very phenomenon that you are talking about.

Has any attempt been made to quantify the costs that we face in the coming decades as we try to cope with the infrastructure problems that Scotland will face as a result of rising sea levels?

Professor Smith, on that very point, looking to the future, I am keen to know whether some of those mistakes are reversible. I will touch on other questions briefly with regard to what we mean by “biodiversity intactness”, but, helpfully, you raised the very point that I was going to ask about. I will not mention prominent broadcasters who invested in those trees in the 1980s. Are some of those decisions reversible?

I think and I hope that the 26th UN climate change conference of the parties—COP26—has produced a much deeper and wider public interest in and understanding of some of those issues.

I was certainly shocked by the statistics that suggest that, if we move from 1.5°C to 2° of warming, that 0.5° difference doubles some of the consequences that we are talking about—it makes them twice as difficult, which is a dramatic difference.

Can you or others on the panel give an illustration of the difference between those two possible scenarios that face us if we do not do something in the next 12 months, before the next COP, particularly in relation to the impact on the coastline in Scotland?

This question is probably for Professor Austin, although others might have an interest in it, too.

The issue of rising sea levels presents an existential threat to some parts of the world. A few days ago, I found myself speaking to a politician from Tuvalu who made that very point. However, as was mentioned earlier, it also has an impact on the Scottish coastline. I represent the Western Isles, so I have a particular interest in that. Will you say a bit more about what the trajectory is and what you expect to see—for instance, on the west coast of Scotland—over the next few decades?

I have a question for Ms Douglas. In your written evidence, you say very directly that

“The Act undermines the ability of devolved administrations to legislate to protect and improve public health.”

I am interested in that, and I think that there are many people in the devolved legislatures who would share that concern. For those who do not know about the act or what it does, can you elaborate on why you have that concern about the way in which it might restrict future legislation?

You mentioned some of the potential areas for new legislation around alcohol that it could affect. I do not want to ask you to speak for other organisations that represent health interests, but are there other areas of public health about which the same concerns are being or might be expressed?

I am interested in what you said about—I do not want to put words in your mouth—those changes implying the need to influence action at Westminster more than you would have to do at present. Did you say that that would present a resource issue or that that would be more difficult than influencing Holyrood?

Mr Clancy, you have given a picture of the considerations that have to go through the minds of ministers and others in the Parliament before legislating, and those are more complicated than they were when the Parliament was first re-established.

One of the other considerations is the Northern Ireland protocol. I ask either of the witnesses to say a bit more about the considerations that come into play in relation to that when Scotland acts.

No, that is helpful. I wondered—