Scottish Liberal Democrats are committed to protecting the Scottish Government’s £9 million international development budget. This saves and changes lives overseas and we are committed to continuing this, which is why Scottish Liberal Democrats MSPs in the Scottish Parliament recently voted for the Scottish budget which maintained this fund at £9 million. We now need to build on these strong foundations by finding ways to improve the quality of aid, so that it focuses on the real needs of the people it is designed to help.
We are also committed to the full implementation of the Climate Change Act. The Scottish Liberal Democrats were the only major party consistently to argue for the 42 per cent reduction in emissions by 2020, and we are proud of the role we played in securing the inclusion of cumulative emissions, sectoral targets and tough annual targets within the Act. Concerted effort is now required to meet those targets, and we recognise that sustained, early action over the course of the next parliamentary session is crucial.
Finally, Scottish Liberal Democrats support efforts to make Scotland a fair trade nation and we are committed to raising awareness and promoting the fair trade agenda in Scotland. As you know, public sector purchasing decisions can have a big impact on the lives of producers in developing countries, and including fair trade principles in all stages of procurement would make a material difference to those producers. We are therefore supportive of a presumption in favour of fair trade products in public sector procurement contracts, where it is possible to do so while complying with European Union procurement legislation.
ScotLibDem answers on Global Poverty
Scottish Liberal Democrats are committed to protecting the Scottish Government’s £9 million international development budget. This saves and changes lives overseas and we are committed to continuing this, which is why Scottish Liberal Democrats MSPs in the Scottish Parliament recently voted for the Scottish budget which maintained this fund at £9 million. We now need to build on these strong foundations by finding ways to improve the quality of aid, so that it focuses on the real needs of the people it is designed to help.
We are also committed to the full implementation of the Climate Change Act. The Scottish Liberal Democrats were the only major party consistently to argue for the 42 per cent reduction in emissions by 2020, and we are proud of the role we played in securing the inclusion of cumulative emissions, sectoral targets and tough annual targets within the Act. Concerted effort is now required to meet those targets, and we recognise that sustained, early action over the course of the next parliamentary session is crucial.
Finally, Scottish Liberal Democrats support efforts to make Scotland a fair trade nation and we are committed to raising awareness and promoting the fair trade agenda in Scotland. As you know, public sector purchasing decisions can have a big impact on the lives of producers in developing countries, and including fair trade principles in all stages of procurement would make a material difference to those producers. We are therefore supportive of a presumption in favour of fair trade products in public sector procurement contracts, where it is possible to do so while complying with European Union procurement legislation.