Seòmar agus comataidhean

Is the committee content to delegate authority to me to sign off a report on our deliberations on that affirmative instrument?

Members indicated agreement.

Excellent. That completes consideration of the affirmative instrument. I thank the cabinet secretary and her officials for attending.

We will move to our next theme, on forestry.

Before I bring in Susan Davies, I have a quick question. Professor Austin, you mentioned bottom trawling, which is an emotive point—you might regret mentioning it. You suggested that there was some evidence that the bottom trawling industry emits as much carbon as aviation, but you said that that was a weak argument. That is an issue in which science is crucial in ensuring that we address the big-ticket issues rather than the ones that produce an emotive response.

With regard to blue carbon, there are the physical disturbances that we have discussed and there is climate change, as well as land use and land management changes. Exactly how critical in that equation is physical disturbance in comparison with other climate change factors with regard to carbon dioxide in the ocean, the ability to sequestrate carbon dioxide and whether we are at the tipping point for that changing? Just how important is physical disturbance in the big picture?

For a final word on that question, we will hear from Bill Austin.

We move on to the theme of marine protection and enhancement. Ariane will kick things off.

Is there anybody in particular that you would like to address the question to, Ariane?

Is Rob Brooker coming in?

That takes us smoothly on to our second theme, which is peatlands and soils.

Is there a suggestion that, at the moment, renewables sector developers might be greenwashing by saying, “We might be displacing peat here, but we will restore it somewhere else”?