3. To ask the Scottish Government how it defines “sustainability” when creating policies aimed at reaching its net zero targets. (S6O-02666)

Specific definitions can be adopted, depending on the subject matter. Of course, the natural definition is:

“development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

When exercising our functions under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009, including developing policy for our next climate change plan, Scottish ministers take into account the need to do so in a way that contributes to sustainable development, including the United Nations sustainable development goals. The 2009 act defines the goals as those that are set out in “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015.

I visited Dalswinton Estate, in Dumfries and Galloway, to meet the owner, Peter Landale, and discuss how Scotland’s estates are working to support rural communities and housing and to meet Scotland’s net zero targets in the face of the global climate emergency. Peter described his six tenets of sustainability: efficiency of production, animal welfare, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, quality and community.

Does the Cabinet secretary agree that those tenets are important in ensuring that we have true sustainability that works for rural Scotland and our planet?

Yes—I absolutely agree with the point that Emma Harper makes. I welcome the fact that businesses, including Dalswinton Estate, are recognising the need to consider economic, environmental and social sustainability in their businesses. I certainly commend the six tenets of sustainability that she narrated. That is exactly the kind of work that my colleague Mairi Gougeon and I had hoped that our vision for agriculture—among other climate strategies across the Government—would elicit.