8. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle climate change. (S5O-04656)

Scotland has the most rigorous framework of domestic climate change legislation in the world. We have already halved our greenhouse gas emissions since 1990, restored 20,000 hectares of degraded peatland, planted 22 million trees and cut waste emissions by 30 per cent. Even as we tackle the impacts of Covid-19, we are ensuring that our recovery is a green recovery by investing a groundbreaking £1.6 billion to transform how we heat our homes, £60 million to support decarbonisation of the industrial sector and £100 million for a green jobs fund to build back better.

Building on our programme for government commitments, our forthcoming update to the 2018 climate change plan will set out the next steps that we will take towards meeting our new and ambitious targets.

Energy is central to addressing climate change, but the development of the onshore wind sector has been a huge missed opportunity for communities, which see ownership of onshore wind farms concentrated in the hands of venture capital firms and foreign-based multinationals whose profits are then repatriated to Germany, Spain and Italy.

What is the Scottish Government doing to avoid repeating the mistakes that it made in onshore wind development and to ensure that offshore wind developments are held by communities, so that profits that are generated go back into the local community and economy, and not to the shareholders of foreign-based multinationals?

Among other things, the work that is being done with Crown Estate Scotland is very much directed at the issue that Neil Findlay has raised. We are working closely with Crown Estate Scotland to ensure that developers will need to commit to the anticipated level and location of supply-chain impact in future projects, and to incorporate them in formal agreements. That will provide developers with a clear and transparent route through which to demonstrate their progress on the industry supply-chain ambitions, and it will provide them with the opportunity to show their commitment to companies in Scotland. That is one of the initiatives that we are currently undertaking.

Of course, we continue to call on the United Kingdom Government to amend the contract for difference auction process, through which contracts are currently awarded solely on price. We want the process to better reflect the value that is added to the economy and the importance of supply-chain sustainability when contracts are awarded to projects.

Can the Cabinet secretary outline what the Scottish Government hopes to achieve as the European co-chair of the Under2 Coalition over the coming year?

I am pleased to say that Scotland is now the European co-chair for the Under2 Coalition, alongside a number of other co-chairs, including Governor Newsom of California, Premier Zikalala of KwaZulu-Natal and Governor Domínguez Servién of Querétaro, which I hope I have pronounced correctly.

Our term as co-chair has begun. It is happening in a crucial time for climate action and it will help to drive momentum towards a green recovery and a net zero future, ahead of the 26th climate change conference of the parties. I can advise Parliament that, under our capacity as co-chair, I have already done a number of international video events.

As European co-chair, Scotland will champion the principles of just transition, inclusivity and wellbeing.