Seòmar agus comataidhean

Will you work with campaigns in the south of Scotland to develop a prospectus for a national park, or is that outwith your remit?

You mentioned that you have a seat on the board of some of the companies that you are investing in. I know that other fund managers do that. For example, Baillie Gifford has a direct relationship with the portfolio companies that it invests in through its positive change programme. Of the seven investments that you have made so far, with which companies do you have board representation?

I have a couple of follow-up questions. First, I am interested in where you draw the line in relation to exclusions and ethical screening. For example, Eilidh Mactaggart mentioned munitions companies. If a munitions company wanted to diversify into using some of its military hardware for a technical application to do with climate change or whatever, would that be within your scope for investment?

Another example might be forestry. The investments that are taking place are massively welcome, but how far do you go in screening how they are used in marketing? For example, Shell might say, “Come and fill up your car at this petrol station with our petrol and diesel—it’s fine because, for every tank of fuel you buy from us, we are investing in another five trees.”

In thinking about those secondary ethical considerations, I am interested in where you draw the line in your governance with regard to those companies.

It would be useful if the committee could get that information in a list.

Good morning. I will ask about the UK Government’s engagement in the beyond oil and gas alliance. That initiative is being led by the Danish Government but it seems to be building up a head of steam: Germany, Iceland, Costa Rica, Belize, Portugal, Netherlands, Ireland and New Zealand are all engaging in the work of the alliance. What conversations have there been with the Danish Government about that? How do you intend to engage in the conversation that will be launched at COP26 in Glasgow?

Coming back to the points that have been made about how UK oil and gas policy might be evolving, particularly with regard to alignment with the Paris agreement, I wonder whether the policy of maximum economic recovery actually puts the oil and gas companies in quite a difficult position. If I were on the board of Shell—which I am not, by the way—I would be faced with, on one hand, a Dutch court ruling telling us that the company has to reduce by 45 per cent its emissions not just from production but from the sale of all fossil fuels and, on the other, the legal obligation that we would have under UK law to extract every single drop from the reserves if we had a licence, under maximum economic recovery. Can you see the difficulty in making the transition under the current policy of maximum economic recovery? If so, how do you see that policy changing over time?

That suggests that there will be some need for oil and gas, going forward. However, do you acknowledge that that is not the same as maximum economic recovery? That is not the same as there being 20 billion barrels of oil and gas in the North Sea; there might be somewhere south of 6 billion barrels.

Has an attempt been made to engage the UK Government on the substantive policy area? If so, what was the reaction? Why are we now looking at a policy that the UK Government produced without any Scottish Government involvement?

Moving on to something a wee bit different, I know that you share responsibility for biodiversity with Mairi Gougeon, but perhaps that should be a priority across the whole of Government in the way that climate change is becoming a priority. I acknowledge that this stuff is difficult, but the stark reality is that we failed to meet 11 of the 20 Aichi targets that were set for 2020. There might be more of a need for a just transition in some of these areas than in other sectors, and I think that you have already alluded to agriculture, fisheries and the marine environment as areas where we need a step change.

I am interested in hearing your thoughts on this issue, given that you have part of the brief and have a minister working with you on it. What do you see as not only the challenges but the opportunities? How do we ensure that biodiversity is as mainstreamed as climate change is becoming across Government policy, whether it be in farming, the planning system, energy or whatever?

I am interested to know whether active policy work was under way in the Scottish Government.