Obviously my hon. Friend the Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Neale Hanvey) will be supporting this Bill. It does not go as far or as fast as perhaps we would all wish, but it is what is before us, and given the scale, nature and urgency of the crisis we are facing, it deserves our support.
Even though this Bill is primarily English and Welsh, we will be supporting it, and there are two good reasons for that. First, it is a global issue that this Bill and indeed other aspects of policy are seeking to address. Climate change and the actions that are damaging our biodiversity everywhere across the planet transcend all national borders and all national boundaries. It may be tragic and sadly ironic that many who have contributed the least will suffer the worst, but the fact is that all of us will be harmed and all of us are required to act. Secondly, there are issues that Scotland can learn from. Although a legislative consent motion has been given by the Scottish Government to move on some matters, there are issues that the Scottish Government themselves could do with picking up on, and I will refer to those if I have time.
We support the amendments, particularly amendments 26, 27, 36 and 37, because we have to seek to expose those who are taking actions to fund and fuel this crisis, especially those who are based domestically. We are a global village. What we do in this country does affect other places. Our carbon footprint is reducing, although we have to do much, much more. We can never forget that it was in this country that industrialisation took off and that it contributed greatly to the problems we face today. That is why there is a great deal of legitimacy in the calls from the undeveloped or developing world for this country and other developed nations to go further and faster, rather than simply looking at them.
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I listened to the hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Neil Parish) speaking about his amendments, which I support. He rightly narrated the dangers and challenges in Brazil, with the effects of deforestation in the Amazon basin. We need to act, because the points he made were quite correct. This is not simply about rogue ranchers in the Amazon rainforest; nor is it simply about failures of action or complicit actions by leaders such as Bolsonaro; nor, even more whimsically, is it due to the love of young people—or indeed all people—in this country and the USA for cheap burgers. It is a structural problem. It is about funding and finance for those who carry it out. It is not being done by indigenous people in the Amazon rainforest, nor is it being done by individuals in isolation. It is not random, isolated or individual in the main; it is planned, co-ordinated and funded, and we in this country are complicit in that. That is why we need to act. We need to make sure that we have the legislative powers not simply to monitor and scrutinise, but, more important, to take action against this. Only in that way will we address the issues the hon. Member correctly raised. This is about us playing our part here to support theirs there.
Scotland equally has lessons to learn. Although the rhetoric has been good, and I fully support it, and although targets have been set, and they are to be welcomed, we must have constructive action too. Reference has been made to other parts of the UK, beyond England and Wales, planting more trees. That is correct,
but equally it should not simply be a cash crop for wealthy landowners, as it was decades ago—a way for people to reduce their supertax or higher rates liability. We have to take action to ensure that we have not only targets, but the powers to make them enforceable. As well as protecting the “third” and developing world, as have to take powers here in Scotland to make sure that we play our part.