Seòmar agus comataidhean

The strategy will be finalised first and the delivery plan will come after it. Matthew Bird might have timelines for that.

The member is quite right. Globally, there seems to be—and has been for a long time—a good understanding of the climate crisis with regard to carbon emissions and reaching net zero, but people might have been slower to grasp that the nature crisis goes hand in hand with that and, indeed, is part of how we are going to tackle it. The Scottish Government has made some really good progress in understanding how biodiversity and natural capital fit in across the piece.

Indeed, you can see that not only in the things that I have outlined already with regard to the national strategy for economic transformation, our national planning framework and the vision for Scottish agriculture but in our circular economy bill and the other work that we are doing in that respect. Of course, much of that is the answer to the how question, but what if your problem is the plastics in your oceans? Last week, I met a stakeholder who said that they had evidence that the otter kits in the Water of Leith consume plastics with their first ever meal, because the food has plastic in it. If that is your problem, your solution is to take that plastic waste out of the environment and make things more circular.

In everything that we are doing, from the deposit return scheme right through to our national planning framework, we are considering biodiversity, and I am really pleased that we are taking those steps. I think that we are going in the right direction but, as minister for biodiversity, I will always say that we can do more.

Yes, absolutely. Our land is such a mosaic that there is not one solution that would be suitable everywhere. Cairngorms Connect is a very successful project, but it is only one project. Of course, private land is owned for many uses, including farming, forestry and all the businesses that we have in Scotland, which is why we need to look at solutions across the piece.

We are looking at how agriculture subsidies can be reformed to support agriculture. We are looking at minor adjustments to grouse moor legislation to ensure that that land is managed well. We are looking at how we can improve public transport. We are looking at all the pieces across the board. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for managing land. It is about ensuring that each individual farmer, crofter and land manager has the tools available to them, so that they know how to apply for the right grants and support in order that they can manage their land in the way that is right for it.

Landowners know what they need and what to do, so I see our role as facilitating and signposting people by saying, for example, “Here’s the nature restoration fund. Here’s how you get the agricultural subsidies that will allow you to do what you need to do. Here’s how you apply for forestry grant schemes.” All those things together incentivise land use for biodiversity. They also mean that land managers have those choices, so they can look at their land and decide what is best for them and what will work for them.

Biodiversity colleagues are feeding in to that process. The process of agricultural reform is on-going and addressing biodiversity is one part of it. We are feeding in to that, and officials and NGOs in that area are feeding in to that process, but, of course, other stakeholders in that space, such as farming stakeholders, are working together as part of the on-going process to define what that 50 per cent is and how that will work for farmers.

As it is a partnership between NatureScot and private companies, I do not know which aspects of that information will be in the commercial, confidential space and which aspects will be in the public space, so I am unable to commit to the member exactly how much will be shared publicly. However, I am happy to commit to sharing the learnings from that project, so that we can take those forward into what I hope will be other, similarly successful projects.

However, in line with my earlier answer to the question that Jackie Dunbar raised, that does not mean that we have not got started. As with the rest of the biodiversity matters, there are two streams—the urgent, evidenced actions that we are already taking and the long-term strategy to join them up—and so it is for the finance. We absolutely will deliver that finance plan along with the strategy, but that does not mean that we have not got started.

For example, we know about our finance gap in natural capital. In 2021, a report from the Green Finance Institute assessed our finance gap for nature in the UK, which is defined as the difference between the required spending and the committed, planned spending. Central estimates of our finance gap for the next decade are £20 billion for Scotland, which is about £8 billion for biodiversity protection enhancement and £9 billion towards climate change mitigation. That information is already with us.

We have already spoken about our nature restoration fund, which is public money that is being put directly into nature restoration—the member will be aware of the pilot agreement between NatureScot and Hampden & Co to invest in natural capital. We all know that we need to bring private investment into the sector to fill the finance gap, and that pilot is the first step. Again, we have not waited to get started; we have already started, but that strategy will still be forthcoming.

We certainly hope to gain learnings from that project, and I am happy to write to the member to let him know the timescale for sharing those learnings.

Absolutely. I can provide a little bit more detail now, but I am also happy to correspond.

The investment model that is being looked at is based on a bridging loan provided by Hampden & Co to the landowner to create woodland, both through planting and through natural regeneration. That loan bridges the gap between the initial investment and the flow of carbon revenue. The carbon credits that are generated can then be retired—so, that is offset to collect those carbon credits. That is the general model, but I am happy to write to the committee with more detail on what is available.

That was a really interesting aspect of the Edinburgh process. Members might recall that, during the 26th UN climate change conference of the parties—COP26—subnational actors such as Scotland, some American states and some European regions were frustrated that members of the United Nations might not have been as ambitious as subnational actors wanted them to be. The same concern was expressed in the biodiversity space during COP15, which is why the secretariat asked Scotland to lead the process for subnational bodies. In Montreal, I met the mayor of Kunming, the deputy mayor of Paris and some amazing people from Sao Paolo, Quebec, California and other parts of America, and it was interesting to talk to them about what they were doing in that ambitious space.

The member is absolutely right that regional governments can do so much, because they are on the ground and are at the coalface of how things happen. I am happy to outline some of the things that we are doing. A lot of stuff will need to be delivered by local authorities, so I meet the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities regularly, and NatureScot works closely with a network of local authority biodiversity officers on those matters.

The nature restoration fund has a specific Edinburgh process stream, which is for local authorities to use to take on projects. We are providing direct funding to local authorities—£5 million was allocated during 2021-22 and £6 million was allocated during 2022-23.

Another interesting initiative for local authorities in Scotland is our nature networks. In October 2022, we announced an additional £200,000 for the expansion of nature networks in Scotland. The vision is that each local authority will have a nature network, which will address the problem of habitat fragmentation. As human activity has encroached on nature, nature has retreated to sort of islands. That is a problem for resilience because it means that species cannot move between those islands and, therefore, cannot keep their genetics healthy by intermingling. It also means that species are less able to adapt to climate because they cannot relocate or move as the climate changes around them. We can tackle habitat fragmentation through nature networks, which will be delivered by local authorities in Scotland. That is very exciting because it means that each local authority can decide what will work for it and what is right for it. I am interested in how we join up those networks across boundaries so that we have a continuous network of nature throughout Scotland. Some really interesting work is happening in that regard.

We have no specific newt knowledge, but we are happy to write to the member on that issue.