Gwladig aethraeb ysgolion, ond ar y Cyflau Gwaith Gwlyb bawb hwn yng Nghym Gwiliaeth Agusolion am y Os missing a members of business debate on motion 10561, in the name of Graham Day, on earth hour 2018. The debate will be concluded without any questions being put, and I would ask those who wish to speak in the debate to press their request to speak butons, please. I can place on record my appreciation of the co-operation of the Conservative chief whip, who I understand intends to contribute for facilitating a debate slot swap, which affords us this opportunity. Last Saturday evening, at 8.30, lights around the world went out to mark WWF's earth. Our annual event is a symbolic act of solidarity for the planet, marking the threat posed by climate change. Globally, hundreds of millions of people take part in earth our events. Members of the public shared some great stories of on-the-night activity on social media. People held candlelit dinners, went on nature trails, staged upcycling and repairing workshops, and the 2050 group had a candlelit kewi. I'm not surprised to learn that research has shown that 85 per cent of those participating in the initiative are likely to have been inspired to do more to protect the planet throughout the rest of the year. That is self-evidently good news, because it is ultimately behavioural change that will make sure that we are on the path that we need to be on in order to halt the worst impacts of climate change. This year, WWF asked members of the public to not just sign up to taking part in earth our 2018, but also to make a promise for the planet. Individuals have been making promises, including when out and about to use a reusable coffee cup or refuse plastic cutlery, taking steps at home such as switching to green energy and turning washing machines down to 30 degrees or wherever they are to reuse and compost left over food. As I suggested in the plastics debate last month, we politicians may have thought that there was a need to prompt behavioural change and absolutely to facilitate it, but we are now most definitely seeing a direction being set by the public, effectively calling for us to make things happen. Whether it is television shows such as Blue Planet, the mess that those undertaking beach queens are finding, or the coffee shops that provided the carrot of a discount for reusing a coffee cup before the big change pleasingly started to do so, there are numerous triggers for the public that are making them realise that we need to act. Some of the steps being encouraged may sound challenging just to think back to the days before the plastic bags charge and how quickly people got on board with that to see that the public will respond. My constituency, I am delighted to hear that Arborodabi participated in this year's initiative, Historic Environment Scotland, is a great supporter of the programme. However, my motion refers to Scotland being the first country to have all councils participating in Earth Hour. I was therefore disappointed to be advised by Angus Council that it would not be participating this year. Personally, I have previously highlighted Angus Council's involvement through, for example, its turning off its lights, raising awareness among staff and community partners of climate change and school lessons. I have since learned through WWF that Angus Council were to free promoting Earth Hour through their internet and social media channels. Forgive me for being underwhelmed when we should all of us be upping our effort, not rowing back. However, outwith the action or lack of significant action from Angus Council, I know that many constituents participated, as indeed did Glam's castle. Those running the castle are in the process of implementing some very positive environmental measures. They are actively looking into powering the castle itself using their hydroelectric plant that runs off the river by the sawmill in the village. That already powers the estate office and the provision of power to the castle would totally remove the need for heating oil and gas. Steps are also being taken to reduce the use of plastics. The thrust of this programme is to remove all plastic carrier bags from retail outlets and replace them with good quality paper bags. The restaurant will also be departing from plastics. Starting this year, any disposable items will be carved. Charging points for electric vehicles are also going to be installed. As the castle says, with over 100,000 visitors a year, it may only be a small contribution, but it is a start. Let's applaud Glam's castle and others who are journeying down the road. We as a society domestically and indeed globally need to tread. Let me acknowledge that, in other parts of Scotland, many other local authorities remain at the forefront of earth hour leadership. Dundee, Aberdein City, Aberdeinshire, Highland Council and Glasgow have all played their part last weekend. Public way-owned Lothian buses showed a promotional animation on their number one route, which is served by fully electric buses. The company, along with the Glasgow subway, the biggest transport providers in Scotland, Scotland's two big cities, have both featured adverts for earth hour 2018. What exactly are we doing all this for? WDF, who deserves enormous credit for coming up with the earth hour concept, recently published a report on wildlife in a warming world based on work undertaken by the University of East Anglia and James Cook University. The research concludes that up to half of plant and animal species in the world's most naturally rich areas, such as the Amazon and the Galapagos, could face total local extension by the turn of the century due to climate change if carbon emissions continue to rise unchecked. Even if the Paris climate agreement's two degrees target is met, those places could lose 25 per cent of their species. The Amazon, for example, has around 10 per cent of all known species in its ecosystems, and it plays a crucial role in regulating the global climate. The region, though, is highly vulnerable to climate change. Even a rise of two degrees would threaten more than one-third of species in all groups without them being able to adapt by moving to other areas. Let's look at Madagascar, a two-degrees rise in global temperatures as forecast to make the country climatically unsuitable for more than a quarter of all species. The call for action, Presiding Officer, is crystal clear. In conclusion, the annual earth hour activities are clearly to be commended. However, whilst they are important, we must remember that it is not only through action now that it is the whole year round that we will have to undertake to be able to tackle climate change and the challenge that it faces head on. Good progress has been made here in Scotland in taking responsibility for that, but we cannot stand still. The Scottish Government's upcoming climate change bill provides an opportunity for us as parliamentarians to lay down a fresh marker, but it is only with behavioural change that, as I said, I believe that the public is now largely leading that we will get to where we need to be on this critical issue. I look forward to earth hour and lights out 2019 and the positive measures that many climate change-related actions citizens across the globe will undertake between now and then as a result of earth hour 2018. As speeches have up to four minutes, I have Maurice Golden followed by David Torrance. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I also congratulate Graham Day for securing this member's debate and have to confess that it was more convenient for me as a keen advocate of climate change to indulge the member in the switch. I would also like to thank WWF for their continued support across the world for tackling climate change and, indeed, their efforts with respect to earth hour. Locally in the west of Scotland, in both east and west of Burtonshire council, were awarded the WWF earth hour super local authority badge. I am sorry to learn about Angus Council, but I hope that next year they will be running for that particular award. Also in East Dunbartonshire, the lights were switched off at William Patrick library in Kirkntillock. Interestingly, the education department and NHS worked together on producing a sustainable school meals cookbook. I am sure that the children of East Dunbartonshire will be delightful in tasting that going forward. Also for this year's promotions, there was hashtag promise for the planet, where individuals can make promises to take action to make a difference in climate change. I would like to focus on a couple of materials that I think we should all be looking at more closely in tackling climate change. The first of which is, of course, plastic. It has been in the media as a result primarily of Blue Planet and David Attenborough, but the interesting statistic is that there will be more plastic by weight in the oceans than there will be fish by 2050. Certainly, over the past 30 years, about 8 billion tonnes of plastics have been produced. However, projections show that, over the next 30 years, there will be 34 billion tonnes of plastic produced. That is an increase of over four times. That is a real worry. What we can do about it is to firstly extend producer responsibility, so those producers of plastic packaging bear more of the cost of disposal. By doing that, we not only begin to encourage producers to take responsibility for their products, but we also begin to influence the design of those products. By designing those products in slightly different manners, we can help to tackle litter. I use an analogy of the old aluminium tin can, where you popped the ring pull-off and you were left with two bits, and the ring pull-off often got discarded. We then redesigned that so that the ring pull maintains with the can. It is that sort of development that we need to see. Also, in terms of plastic, we need to increase recycling, and it will be interesting to see how deposit return can impact on that. The second area that I would like to highlight is that of gold. I was just chatting to my colleague Donald Cameron, who got married 10 years ago. 10 years ago, when he got married for that gold ring that he places on his finger, to produce that gold ring, three tonnes of waste was produced. When my sister got married last year to produce the same gold ring—we are not with the same husband, clearly—to produce that gold ring, 30 tonnes of waste was created. The amount of waste that was created in the gold mining industry is increasing because the quality of ore is decreasing. There are 600,000 children employed in the gold mining industry worldwide, often in some of the poorest conditions. I do not have quite enough time to explain about the use of cyanide, mercury and ferric acid in the gold mining industry. However, to finish on what we can do, there is more gold in one tonne of waste electricals that is discarded in the United Kingdom than there is in the ore found in the rock in Africa, Australia or China. By recovering that and recycling more with respect to gold, plastics and all our other materials, we can begin to tackle climate change. Thank you very much, Mr Golden. Learning lots there. Fascinating. I think that you should have a debate all about that. Sorry, cabinet secretary. Maybe we will just have a chat about it at some time. I have David Torrance to be followed by Alex Rowley. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I would like to thank Graham Day for bringing this motion to Parliament today to recognise the importance of IFAR 2018. I welcome the debate in the chambers that foster great dialogue about the steps that we can take to tackle climate change both on an individual level and the legislative level. Small changes that we make in our daily lives can collectively have a large impact on the environment, and the legislation passed in Parliament can nationally influence our carbon footprint. That is why today we recognise IFAR 2018, providing individuals, businesses, organisations and governments such as ours a way to show solidarity and take one of the most pressing issues of the 21st century. According to the World Wildlife Fund, the last 25 to 30 years have been distressingly damaging on our environment due to climate change, pollution and overconsumption. The list of species affected as a result of these factors is staggering. 80 per cent of freshwater species and over 50 per cent of the population of land species have declined. Today, one in six of the planet species are at risk of extinction from climate change. You can visualise the impact of climate change in the wildlife here in Edinburgh at the National Museum of Scotland. Go to a survival gallery in the natural world section of the museum, and you will see walls of animals that are critically endangered are now extinct. The exhibit is somber but important, as it visualises the fact that the loss of species that we are seeing today is estimated to be between 1,000 and 10,000 times higher than that of natural extinction rates. That is why today we commend the WWF IR campaign. Such a simple concept has a powerful visual impact and causes us all to pause and think about the implications of our daily actions on the environment. I am proud that, as Graeme Dace stated in his motion, Scotland is the first country to have 100 per cent of its councils participate in the hour. In five, five councils switched off the lights in more prominent buildings, including Fife House, Roffsy House, Bankhead Central, Townhouse and Coddy, and the City Chambers down Firmland and the county buildings in Cooper to mark the event. However, our power, as important as it is, cannot be the only step that we take to tackle climate change. Such a symbolic event is designed not only to show solidarity but also to spark action, and it is this action that we need to encourage to support within Scotland via grass-root initiatives but also Parliament legislation. I am pleased that, in Fife, the council has engaged in many diverse projects that tackle climate change. There are 55 energy-efficient projects currently in the works for the council buildings, including the potential installation of photovoltaic panels in schools and nurses. The new built homes programme is achieving a fantastic BEPC energy rating. The council recently increased its electric fleet to 26. The council is also launching three long-term strategies aimed at reducing climate change this year, including zero-waste resources strategy to reduce waste to landfill, low-carbon five supplementary guidance and the sustainable energy climate action plan for low-carbon and energy-efficient measures. With councils across the country taking equally promising measures to tackle climate change and our record record-breaking renewable electricity generation, Scotland is a world leader on reducing carbon footprint. I am glad that Scotland participates so through in the airfare to Verzein and stood alongside the rest of the world with knowledge that, by leading by example, we can pave the way for a greener society. However, let us also keep in mind that progress is never ending and that we must remain committed to continuing to tackle climate change by small changes in our own lives and via forthcoming legislation from the Parliament. In conclusion, I would like to once again thank Graham Day, as well as the World Life Fund, for the recognition of its importance display of global solidarity in tackling climate change. Symbols such as the darkness of earth hour are committed to preserving our planet and taking steps to protect its future. A commitment that affects our entire planet is not one that should be taken lightly. I am proud of the steps that Scotland has taken and continues to take for a greener Scotland and a greener earth. Alex Rowley, followed by Mark Ruskell. Presiding Officer, I believe that climate change is one of the biggest concerns that we face collectively as a society. Our planet is at a very real and serious risk of environmental disaster, unless we make greater change and make that greater change now. That is why I was pleased to sign Graham Day's motion on welcoming earth hour 2018. On Saturday, like millions of people across the globe, I switched my lights off. I have to say that I bought a few candles and it did take me back to the 1970s, when we had the minor strike. I also did not really need the candles because Mossmorran was flaring all weekend. If you live in communities around Mossmorran, then it is pretty lit up and goodness knows what was going up into the atmosphere from Mossmorran, but that is a discussion that we can have on another day. I was also welcoming the number of high-profile buildings in the region, the Mid-Scotland and Fife, including Dunfermline Abbey, Castle Campbell and many buildings in Perth, Dunkel, Cathedral, Skirland Castle. It was very successful. I always think to myself, as a dad and as a grandad, that most parents, grandparents and aunties uncles, we would walk to the end of the earth and back in order to protect our children, yet the greatest threat to future generations is climate change. That is why, while Graham Day points to the fact that people are becoming more aware and demanding more action, I think that we have a long way to go and we need to do more to engage and to involve people. Again, I would say to the cabinet secretary when looking at the climate change bill that is going to be coming forward, we need to start to look at how we are going to engage people more and ensure that the people of Scotland are able to take ownership and the actions that we need to take to be able to meet the 2050 targets that are ambitious but achievable. I notice that WWF Scotland says that we are making good progress and that emissions are now 41 per cent lower than they were in 1990. That, of course, is to be welcomed and that it is good. However, the do-point progress for cutting emissions has been slow in the number of areas that they talk about, such as agriculture, transport, the heating of homes and buildings. If we look at those areas, we have to understand, as the committee knows, that we discussed this yesterday in terms of agriculture. What are the issues that they are? We need to have a better understanding. In terms of transport, we know that the Government has set the target that, by 2032, there will be no further sales of petrol or diesel vehicles. We need to have that discussion in Scotland now. How are we going to actually get there and how are we going to reach that? It is a scandal that in 2018 we still have people living with fuel poverty in Scotland. We have people this winter that have been cold in their houses because, despite trying to heat their houses, the heat is going out, the doors out, the windows and it is poor heating in the first place. Those are real things that we can do and we can do now that we will have a massive advantage for some of the poorest and some of the most vulnerable in our communities. That is a serious issue. There is a lot that the Government is doing and all credit to them. There is a lot more that needs to be done and we need to get on. We are doing that job. I would say to the cabinet secretary that we have to look at how we engage the Holy Scotland in this process. Mark Ruskell, followed by Liam McArthur. Can I join members in thanking Graham Dave for bringing forward this debate tonight and also thank WWF for continuing to lead on this work in Scotland and around the world? Earth Hour is ultimately about creating a catalyst, embedding awareness of climate change into everyday lives and building that momentum for change. This year, WWF asked people to make a promise to the planet to do more to protect the environment. We have heard about some of those suggestions running a washing machine at 30 and getting a reusable coffee mug. Those actions, on their own, make tiny, tiny changes but, as daily reminders and signals to Government and industry, they can spur us on to deliver much deeper and more meaningful change. If we look at what has happened over the past 12 months, there has been a lot of action that has been catalyzed. Who would have thought that an hourly TV nature programme would have spawned a citizens movement against marine plastics, leading to Governments introducing deposit return schemes and planning for action against single-use plastic around Europe? Who would have thought just a few years ago that a ban on fracking in Scotland was achievable, given the huge vested interests that line up against communities across Scotland? The fracking ban has now drawn a line in the sand. It signals the prospect of an end to the fossil fuel age, which would have seemed perhaps hopelessly idealistic just a decade ago. The actions of those citizens movements have delivered change across Europe. We must now look to campaigns on fossil fuel divestment, for example, to deliver action that will have the farthest and most profound reach. Every one of us plans for our personal future through pensions funds, and those funds must take account of the future of our planet and the economy that it sustains. I will declare an interest here as a member of the Scottish Parliament pension scheme trust e-board and emphasise that, of course, the health and performance of investments is the primary concern of anyone involved in the governance of any pension fund, whether private or public sector, but operating under those responsibilities does not preclude considering the views of members and also being wise to the fact that investing in fossil fuel reserves, which we have no hope of burning, is inherently risky business. The growth of carbon bubbles should concern us as much as the growth of housing bubbles, and citizens and scheme members should be part of this divestment discussion. The theme of this year's Earth, Iron Scotland has been around the impacts of climate change on the natural world. If the planet temperature rises by two degrees, a quarter of priority species are at risk of extinction. As we head towards debating the next set of climate change targets, it is important to reflect on the impact of aiming higher or lower on the natural world. We have a moral duty to do everything that we can as early as we can, and, of course, we have yet to make the really tough transformative changes. I am sure that looking back at the debate on whether to make soil testing compulsory or not will seem infinitely trivial in the earth-hour debate of the tenth session of the Scottish Parliament, although, hopefully, Ross Greer or maybe Kate Forbes will reference this quote and reflect back on it. Who knows? Who knows? Maybe Mr Golden? He might still be here. Finally, Presiding Officer, investing in adaptation now is also critical. Coastal wetlands, for example, can lock up carbon, buffer sea level rises and create much-needed habitat at the same time. While the green budget deal has recently passed with the Scottish Government's accelerated action on marine protected areas, it is disappointing that we appear not to have seen any action from SNH and the Government in creating a national ecological network over the last year. It would be good given the theme of earth-hour this year around species protection to maybe get some comments from the Cabinet Secretary on what we can do to really buffer our environment against extremes of climate change. Presiding Officer, there is still much to do in our homes, communities, fields, forests, seas and parliaments, but I think that the dots are starting to join up faster than ever. The momentum for change is unstoppable. Liam McArthur, followed by Donald Cameron. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I congratulate and thank Graham Day for securing the debate and pay tribute to WWF on the earth-hour initiative that has been running for 10 years. I have been a supporter from the get-go. I have even got a kilted panda to prove it. It did come at the cost of having to wear a dolphin mask. However, it is a campaign that has captured the public imagination, as others have said. It has demonstrated, as Mark Ruskell rightly pointed out, that small steps taken together have a cumulative effect. Probably more importantly, it sensitises the public to the broader messages and the need for wider action and reform, not just on earth-hour but year-round. The global impact is unquestionable. The motion refers to the part that was played by the Sydney Opera House, Eiffel Tower and Edinburgh Castle. If I could add to that, it is a magnificent cathedral in my constituency, as well as the architecturally less impressive but no less committed headquarters of Orkney Islands Council and NHS Orkney. On the promise to the planet, which is the message that is being reinforced through earth-hour this year, I can update the Parliament that on-going negotiations in the MacArthur household are reaching a delicate stage in the purchase of a hybrid vehicle and more of that perhaps in due course. However, I do believe that the campaign is going from strength to strength at a local, at a national and international level. As I said, it opens up opportunities to debate more substantive issues. I want to focus just on a couple in the two or three minutes available to me. There is a biodiversity and energy efficiency as a species champion for the Primula Scotica, since you asked it, Presiding Officer. I am very conscious of the threat posed by the loss of biodiversity. The link briefing pointed to the State of Nature report from 2016, which suggests that one in 10 Scottish species is at risk of extinction. It includes plant, butterflies, birds including puffins and kittywakes. Scotland ranks in the bottom fifth of all 218 countries that are analysed as part of the biodiversity intactness index. Leaving aside the very justifiable concerns that we all have about the clumsy title for an index, that finding should act as a stark reminder of the work that is needed to restore and protect habitats as a means of safeguarding that biodiversity. Turning now to energy efficiency, earth power again should act as a reminder that here too, while we have made considerable progress, there is an awful lot still to do. Last week, on the eve of earth power, I took part in visits in my Orney constituency, organised by the existing Homes Alliance. Colleagues, I am sure, will be aware that Orney has the very dubious honour of being a part of the country with the highest level of fuel poverty anywhere. Friday's visits to an elderly couple who have benefited from measures taken under the warm home scheme and also a local contractor, R.S. Merriman, delivering high-quality work under the scheme underscored for me the social, economic and environmental imperatives of the approach that we take here. To secure that win-win situation, we need, I believe, a warm homes bill that remains ambitious in genuine eradication of fuel poverty, that properly recognises the rural and island dimension to fuel poverty and how we tackle it, and translates the status of energy efficiency as a national planning framework priority into action and the budget to back it. However, for now, I congratulate Graham Day again on not least on his negotiating skills with the Tory chief whip, and I also congratulate WWF on keeping the issue of climate change to the fore, not just for an hour, not just for a day, but year-round. The last of the open debate contributions is from Donald Cameron. I, too, would like to thank Graham Day for bringing this important debate to Parliament today. On last Saturday, thousands of people in Scotland added their voices to millions across the world by switching off for Earth Hour in demonstration of solidarity to fight climate change. I attempted my own candlelit supper, although with young children involved it was not the most peaceful of moments. Earth Hour is not just about raising awareness, but also stimulating action and indeed enthusing people. WWF research shows that, in previous years, 85 per cent of adults who took part have said that Earth Hour had inspired them to do more to protect the planet. In a recent report at WWF, they have highlighted the grave problems that are facing wildlife, for example, across the globe as a result of rising temperatures, which lead to habitat loss and drought, among other devastating effects. At this point, I should mention that I am the species champion of the Merlin bird. The RSPB has said that one of the main reasons for the decline of the Merlin bird is, in fact, habitat loss. Despite the Paris Agreement, which, of course, as we know, aims to limit the average global temperature at 1.5 degrees, current national climate pledges would still result in a 3.2 degrees rise in temperature. If we just carried on with a status quo, business as usual would lead to a 4.5 degrees rise. That would lead to a staggering loss of almost 50 per cent of the species found in priority places across the planet, and that is simply unacceptable. Although Scotland does not fall under one of WWF's priority places, we all acknowledge that we have an important crucial role to play in environmental and wildlife restoration, given the fragility of our planet. As we know, Scotland is home to various carbon stores such as CLOX, which were recently highlighted in a report by St Andrew's university, as one carbon store requiring greater attention. Peatland restoration is also important, as it is estimated by SNH, that our peat bogs hold 1.6 billion tonnes of carbon and that degraded peatland emits substantial amounts of carbon dioxide. Nationally, we must ensure that we take steps to conserve Scotland's biodiversity and natural areas, because, as SNH has stated, healthy ecosystems help to increase the resilience of Scotland's communities to the impacts of climate change. Through managing our many varied ecosystems, such as coastal habitats, we can help to address the effects of rising sea level and increased storm surges. On a more local level, I am extremely proud to say that many communities across the Highlands and Islands made their voices heard on Saturday by taking part and switching off for Earth Hour. I hope that you will permit me a few mentions. From the Western Isles, where lights at the Lewis War Memorial were temporarily switched off, to the Highlands, where lights at Inverness Castle, Eiland Donan and Urquhart Castle—to name but a few—were all drawn into darkness for an hour. I also mentioned Kinlock-Leven library, which held a polar bear lantern craft making event in honour of Earth Hour. As we know, Highland Council, which has been mentioned by Graham Day, was awarded a 2018 super-local authority badge for its substantial contribution towards Earth Hour. It is not just local authorities in my region who have contributed, but many constituents have made pledges of support. I also mentioned the six-year-old schoolboy Felix Hughes from Oban, who campaigned to find a way to recycle the thousand single-use plastic straws that he estimates are thrown away daily at his school. I applaud WWF Scotland for its efforts in promoting Earth Hour and encouraging more of us to get involved and make changes in our everyday lives. We must be bold as a nation in our fight to prevent damaging climate change, and I am particularly encouraged by the fact that this issue is one that brings everyone across this Parliament together. I now call Roseanne Cunningham to respond to the debate for around seven minutes, please, cabinet secretary. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I am delighted that we again have the opportunity to debate support for climate action in Parliament today. I am impressed by the level of participation in Earth Hour around the world and within Scotland, where 177 Scottish landmarks and monuments went dark. We have had an unusual tour of constituencies in this debate, and I would just like to add to that, given that in this year of young people, it is also good to know that many schools signed up. In my constituency, Morrison's academy in Creeff and Ochl Tire School, Ochl Tire Arder, were among the over 1,000 Scottish schools taking part. This is a tenth year of Scottish Government support for Earth Hour. We joined Saturday's switch-off with St Andrew's House, Victoria Key, Atlantic Key and Softenhouse, all going dark. And, likely, in MacArthur, I also lent my support to Earth Hour going dark and joining in on Twitter with Ayla the Kiltwearing Panda for past the panda, which I understand is the hashtag being used. This year, Earth Hour grew to include a hashtag promise for the planet, pledges by members of the public to make a lifestyle change as part of living more sustainably. One of the most popular pledges was using a reusable coffee cup. Thank goodness, it is something that I myself do, and I urge other members to do the same if they are not already doing it. I also wonder whether the two hashtags are beginning to flag up an Earth Hour fringe developing, and it will be interesting to see if that increases again next year. Maurice Golden talked about plastics, ringpoles and deposit return, which was an interesting choice. I am not going to enter into the gold debate, because, although as interesting it was, it is perhaps beyond for tonight's debate. On plastics, I reassure him that issues of production, design and manufacture are very much in our minds and will be represented at the June summit in Oben. With regard to ringpoles, I have to also advise him that I have a rather expensive designer belt made from ringpoles, which can be bought in a rather flashy shop in London, a shop that makes belts and handbags that have become quite sought-after accessories, so all is not lost for ringpoles. On deposit return, Maurice Golden mentioned that I am proud that Scotland was the first part of the UK to commit to introducing a deposit return scheme. I am pleased to learn that the UK Government will now follow our lead. We have ambitious plans and we wish to work closely with the UK Government to ensure that communities north and south of the border reap the environmental benefits that a deposit return scheme can deliver. I am currently appointing an expert panel to advise on environmental charges and other measures to prevent wasteful behaviours, which will begin its work with consideration of disposable cups and plastic straws, and there will perhaps be more about that in other chamber interventions. Graham Day rightly flagged up that public pressure is now driving change, so who knows where that will take us, because it means that behaviour change is happening. That is an interesting development, and it is perhaps five years ago something that we would not necessarily have foreseen taking place. Members, including David Torrance and Alec Rowley and others, spoke about climate change.  This month, we awarded the 1,000th climate challenge fund project. Next month, officials will hold a climate conversation with our youth Parliament, and the coming months we will see the introduction of our new climate change bill, the establishment of a just transition commission to advise ministers on the transition to a low-carbon economy, and the start of the process to develop the second Scottish climate change adaptation programme, which will no doubt be of interest to Mark Ruskell, given his focus on adaptation. Since 2008, the Scottish Government has, through our successful climate challenge fund, funded projects to the value of more than £101 million, directly helping communities to tackle climate change. Earlier this month, members may have noticed that the First Minister visited Welshot primary school in Glasgow to celebrate that 1,000th climate challenge fund award, which was made to Bike for Good, which is part of the switch to active travel. Influencing our everyday actions is key to delivering our climate change ambitions. Individuals and households can make a difference, as is shown by the earth, our pledges, but is also shown by the reaction to blue planet, and the change that is coming about through the political pressure being exerted by ordinary people. The Scottish Government is encouraging the public to do more through our greener together campaigns, including our current saving the world campaign, which you may have seen on social media, television and in cinemas. Alex Rowley might be interested in knowing that, as part of an on-going engagement with the public, we initiated a series of climate conversations across Scotland, starting in summer 2016, to take the temperature of public views on climate change and actions that might be needed to tackle it. By participating in climate conversations, people who do not usually talk about climate change are able to engage in the issues in a way that matters to them. Those conversations are continuing across Scotland, and the findings that are feeding into the development and communication of climate change policies, I am sure that officials would be happy to share details with members if they are interested. Scotland was at the forefront of the industrial revolution and therefore has a responsibility to deal with climate change. That is why we already have the most stringent climate change legislation in the world, why we include emissions from sources that other countries exclude, and why we hold ourselves to account against annual targets. No other country does that. The new climate change bill will increase the ambition of our long-term targets. In doing so, we will become one of the first countries to put in place legislation to play our part in meeting the goals of the Paris agreement. I want to say something in the last few seconds about climate justice. We have been championing climate justice since 2012, when we launched the world-leading climate justice fund and it was a world first. A total of £21 million has been made available up to 2021 to support some of the world's most vulnerable people in becoming more resilient to climate change. Last year, we launched the climate justice innovation fund as part of the wider climate justice fund, so I am pleased to announce that the second round of the innovation fund has been opened today. I look forward to funding another round of innovative and exciting climate justice projects. It is good to see the enthusiasm that EarthR has generated. I look forward to working with everyone across the chamber as we make the transition to an environmentally and socially sustainable low-carbon economy in Scotland. Our plans are ambitious and everyone's support will be crucial. That concludes the debate. The meeting is closed.


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We'll have these all go the same way unless there's a majority We'll go one two left three four middle and five six right on diro here. So one two three four five six Unless there's a majority That's a two I rolled a two So so go left side unless there's a majority. I'm gonna check it here This one's the Royals is Arthur C. White Sox. I don't know why it's not White Sox is Colby C and Blue Jays Alvin s this one does go left So goes Royals trios go Yeah Lisak Haas Herrera Santian Andre Jackson orange to 25 dance be swanson braves Extra parallel there nice dance beat geo Rachele and Adam Wayne, right? Yeah. Have you one of the biggest chasers and Products for sure pretty sought after in finest this week For you for kitty Double bath Red Sox car Nick Ahmed got Bart junk done and noob bar Amber J Rodan Dominic Smith and Joey Gallo Glad finances releasing like during baseball season this year Connor Wong Victor Reyes gold to 50 Jamer Kendalario Yo tigers d-backs team card Dylan Moore Alejandro Kirk Brewer's team card in Hoy Park rookie Kyle Lewis Chris flexing Jean Segura Alex Wood Donaldson sends Attella Dean Kramer Ryan Zimmerman Giovanni Moran We've got Blue Jays Royals and Angels. I believe that's gonna go to the left still with the dice roll Make sure there's no Jordy here so angels Arthur C Royals Where's Royals at? Royals Arthur C. I think actually this one is gonna have a majority Yeah, Toronto's Alvin, right? Where's the Blue Jays at Toronto? Yeah, Alvin Kansas City is Arthur C and the angels all the Arthur C so this thing goes Arthur C Angels and Royals are by majority on that one and redembers Bowman really close guys. Bowman is at four to go now Balbec Orange Yankees team card Got judge and Stanton on at the 25 nice one Yanks. He's Severino Fulton Avich Meryl Kelly Brandon Rogers curses to keep hands be swanson Mike Yastremsky Chris Paddock gold rookie Marlins to 50 Nick Fortes Mariners team card Jared Durand Jose Trevino Kikuchi and a Cedric Muldins Jock Peterson as an Atlanta brave Cal Quantrill Jacob Stallings and Trent Grisham Boba Schetts Gold to 50 is a Kyle Seager Mariners in Ray McCullers and Cole. That's Ray as an as a blue J though Check again here. So it's gonna go blue Jays unless someone has the other two Houston is Lee Yankees is Robert G so this is gonna go left at the blue Jays Christian Arroyo Brasso Kevin Smith Danny Jansen Albert Pujols as a Dodger Curtis Terry Cardinals team card God Mark Kanna John Carlos Stanton Personals are full tonight. Keep in mind everybody that they are full 7 p.m. Eastern start time on channel 2 tomorrow with Kyle personals all night tomorrow Yeah Interesting got sliced in half dude. What got the old slice Aroni Boom Mercedes purple Ryan Mountcastle Orioles nice card 10 of 10 Nice card Baltimore and you got Josh reddick there Josh Harrison Mechia Jack Mayfield and Kyle Tucker Zach Pop David Peralta Jorge Mateo AJ Pollock Rowanzee Contreras Luis Castillo Hassan Kim and Josh Hader Coonya La Stella Orange to 25 Chad cool pirates That's so cool JT Blue Baker Mazzica Red Sox Boston Bashers Paki Norton and Rhymel Tapia Gary Sanchez Matt Barnes Anthony Bender and front Val Reyes or the big rookies ad Come on big rookies Evan Longoria gold behind it DJ. Lemay Hugh Yankees Yankees having a good break here as the 50 Ian Anderson Freddie Peralta Turner Crawford Laundicea and Sonny Gray Pirates Alzalai Andrew Miller Chris Sale McCutcheon for the Phillies gold Patrick Corbin Nationals out of 50 Astros seam card Chris Bubech Mitch Keller, I'll see it as Escobar Jake McCarthy and Chris Bryant Woodruff You've got a another one of these unless there's a majority. It's gonna go left to the Yankees Yankees was Robert G. Mariners is Is Guidesy blue jays was Alvin that's gonna go left to the Yankees Hunter Green rookie and Machado Perez Luke Weaver Miguel Rojas and Nikki Lopez Got Lewis Brinson cold Tucker Jeremy Pena. There we go Stroze and in Paven Smith Miguel Carrera gold Giants team card out of 50 Yas and Crawford there colas Vari and Garrett Cole box six Michael Panetta Orange to 25 Cedric Mullins color match Orioles Orioles doing well got a Cardinals card there and Byron Buxton Zach Louther Marlins team card Bruce Zimmerman and Taylor Weidner Will Smith Luis Petino gold the 50 Stephen Brault Pirates Carlos Correa as an astro Bonn Soto with the Nats been in Tendi with the Royals Adrian Houser and Ty France What I'm six happy fourth man six Cronoworth Collins Reds and Castro No kind of food on one of the fourth of July some Taco Bell Glenn Otto Toronto talents Ricky Matt Brash Shane Bieber Yo six are going to the national nice, dude Castro Corbin McCann and Aaron Hicks Shane Bos Martin Perez Giants card and Eloy Jimenez A massive chimichang with all the topic did you do? Oh chimichang sounds fire Oh Um as far as I know I think this is final. Who knows who knows it's um rich Sarah Rocco Uh jasmine who is our operations manager Halle our marketing manager and Uh social media that that sort of thing Lane Sean and I Think that's it Think that's it. That's how I heard that's it Dodger's team card purple rookie to ten Mike Bowman Orioles Dane Dunning and Trevor Larnack here. We're talking about burritos earlier. So does it smell like burrito in here? Or at least that's what I thought Mitch Hannigar, it turns out it was just a ghost all along this one goes astros by majority and it's left anyway So astros on that one Miles straw Taylor Trammell the tramel I think it's tramel Six if you're there you you have you better come over Zach Eflin Ryan Weathers David Bodie and Chas McCormick Gotta go to the uh Gotta go to the bar Aaron Ashby That's why Sean wants to go Turner Soto and Harper Um I'm gonna check majority here Dodgers is Robert G Sort of go Dodgers. I don't know the person that someone has had the other two. It's a combined Uh nationals as Ryan Kay Phillies is Peter. I'm so goes left Dodgers Fort as in Cabrera. Uh, that's that's a great question. Shane. It's a fantastic question Kyle Seeger. I wish I knew the answer to that truthfully Wheeler Scherzer and Burns here Um Dodgers and Phillies is different person. So brewers So if they're different then I guess the brewers have to have the Dodgers Brewers Alexander P that's going to go left for the Phillies orange mount castle at 25 Orioles Orioles again, man ice card yourado para Yeah, most the breaking is going to be done back here It's a lot of it most of it's going to count towards whatever promo that we run Uh, Tyler McGill Bailey Ober Hernandez and Clayton Kershaw So we'll have like a promo like we did last year for sure, but most of the breakers are going to take place here There's just so much easier in so many ways The logistics of breaking the national or not fun are not fun. Got Lizardo Caprillion Gold Alex Bragman to 50 going to the Astros And a Willie Calhoun Brett Gardner Shohei Otani Morton and Teosca Hernandez Gotta have uh Layed out on the town and I guess we gotta have I don't know when that's gonna happen though Because most of the nights that we're gonna be free are like Like Tuesday Tuesday maybe another night. I don't know.  Yeah We're trying to squeeze in trade night. We got to leave the show immediately Get to the hotel and change go to this thing. That's what's gonna happen Happens it happens all the time got Manoa Hans Krause Logan Allen and Jose Barrios Nobody's fault. Not mad anybody. That's just that's just literally how it goes Which is like I'll tell you guys if I know But like you don't find out until like sunday before you're like, oh already packed Yeah, so I hope I got what I need. That's huge. There's the funny. We're buying stuff up there Gold rookie to 50 Tyler McGill for the Met. At least we're driving. Yes. Thank god Yeah, oh, oh, yeah, we will auto Lopez mark lancin. So if it stinks, we just dip. Yeah, all right. I'm headed.  Penini's blockchain. Ah, that's interesting God, how far is tautis and um tautis left and then Or tis tautis right and flat left one two three left four five six right on this one That's a six. This goes right. Yvonne Castillo, Jorge Lopez and Brandon belt Yeah, Kunia is on track to be MVP Adam Fraser, Spencer Torkelson crochet and Corey seager Yeah, he's uh He's on like a record pace for Like home runs and steals combined sort of thing Kyle Muller Michael Chavis gold to 50. Jose Urena for the tigers And Kyle Gibson Hey, he's Aguilar Mike Soroka. Tommy Edmund and dead larry Yachty Molina Sean uh Gunther Raphael Ortega raised team card Well, we need a we need a monster parallel We need the monster parallel Ernie Clements, Chris Archer, Brad Miller, Michael Braley Bowman's down to one and there's two and 13 on the On the chronicles of select later. And that's it for tight guys. Purcells are full Austin Warren rookie Ready uh orange rookie Steven writings at 25 Yankees Goodrum Good rum that's his last name. I could go for some good rum Tasty My's Taiwan Walker, Jelton Simmons and Kelnick Which all gotta do is come down for Sean's birthday in august. That's what everyone's gotta do 50 Ustakis, G-Man Choi, Miguel Sineau and rookie Ryan Feltner. Just be prepared for mayhem NLE division smiles one two three left marlins four five six right Mets So one left marlins A's rogers and wheeler Horner, Wendell, Ohern and Bruhan Kyle Hendricks, Kento Mayeda, gold rookie to 50, Orioles, Mike Bowman another Orioles parallel, Kevin Bijio Hey, there's a red. That's what I'm talking about Behind the Padres card is red Sean Murphy. A's five of five Congrats Oakland Guys been great this year Not for the A's We'll get that one bagged for you You help pose our rookie rangers Harrison Bader Jose Ciri, Zerpa, Eliezer Hernandez and Elias Diaz The late in sports cards hotdog eating competition got canceled. I guess I told uh told Jake to Cook up 200 hot dogs. Hey listen Yeah, we need the buns too Jake. Come on man Steven Biscotti, Clint Fraser, Peyton Henry and Matt Veerling Walsh, Patrick Sandoval, Yosemite Grondahl and Austin Meadows Tim Lissacombe Oh, we're talking about the giant. They are the freak Tristan McKenzie Moving on Dodger's card Kendall Graven and Eddie Rosario. Did anyone like Tusa Young? This guy was crazy good Cueto, Cindergarde, Brett Phillips and Gavin Sheetz Did you did you actually watch it Vaughan? It's Zach Short, Jake Cousins, Orange. I think we already have this one. This one is gonna go, um To the Blue Jays here Ray McCullers and Cole to 25 Because I believe I'm gonna double check on this one for who's parallel Uh, Yankees is Robert G. Astros The Astros on here either there are leapy. Yeah, so he goes Blue Jays on the left Fonsa Rivas Lester Royals card Jose Barrero, Vlad Jr Brandon Nemo, Golda 50, Cesar Hernandez, White Sox Mike Minor, Sixto Sanchez Eli Morgan, Tony Kemp, Liam Hendricks and Brandon Marsh Angel's rookie. All right, not the best case Let's see what we did here though. Thanks everybody for joining Golda 50, Cesar Hernandez, Mike Ballman, Jose Urena, Tyler McGill, Alex Bregman, Stephen Brault Giant's team card, Patrick Corbin, DJ LaMahue, Kyle Seeger, Nick Fortes, Jamer Ken Delario, Aaron Hicks And Hanser Alberto, Oranger 25. This one went Blue Jays on the left Stephen Ridings, Ryan Mountcastle, Cedric Mullins, Chad Cool Yankees team card Danesby Swanson, Purple to 10, rookie Mike Bowman and a Mountcastle Orioles did very well And a red to 10, Sean Murphy, A's There we go five out of five A's Sean Murphy On to 2020 Bowman. Thanks everybody


What do you get when you cross a duck with a speedboat? Depends. What is the duck's name? That isn't even. Is it a new text speech engine? That runs locally, speaks a dozen languages, and sounds just like a hug. Can I change my answer? I can't remember what I was saying. What year is it?


Certain scholars have argued that the Celtic Druids of the West and the Hindu Brahmins of the East were survivors of an ancient Indo-European priesthood. Who were the Druids? Put simply, the Druids were a privileged class that played a religious, legal, ceremonial and educational role in ancient Celtic civilization. They were also philosophers and were said to have ancient knowledge about the natural world and the gods. The earliest record of the Druids comes from the 3rd century BC, but they are thought to be much older than this. In relation to the word Druid, it may come from an old Celtic word meaning noor of the oak tree. To become a Druid, it was not uncommon to spend 20 years in training, with Julius Caesar writing in his time that the Druids were often educated in Britain. The Druids enjoyed many advantages in Celtic society, including being exempt from military service and not paying taxes like other citizens did. Furthermore, the Druids tightly guarded the secrets of their order, preferring to speak and memorise their knowledge rather than write it down. On occasion when they did have to write, however, they apparently used the Greek alphabet. Famously, the Druids were known to practise animal and human sacrifice. The potential remains of a Druid sacrifice were uncovered in Cheshire, England in 1984, called the Lindo Man. Additionally, the Druids organised and officiated many Celtic seasonal festivals, which were usually inspired by important dates in the lunar solar calendar, where the Druids connected to India. Certain scholars have argued that the Celtic Druids of the West and the Hindu Brahmins of the East were survivors of an ancient Indo-European priesthood. One scholar who argued that the Druids and the Brahmins were connected was Thomas Morris, an Oriental scholar and historian. In an 1801 volume of his book, Indian Antiquities, he argues that a group of Brahmins once settled in the high northern latitudes of the Caucasus region, then mingled with the Scythians of Central Asia, before migrating west to eventually reach Gaul in the British Isles, connecting with the Celtic Druids. Amongst other similarities, Morris writes that the Druids, like the Brahmins, constituted the first order of nobility, were the hereditary counsellors of the king and the sole educators of the youth. Whether the Druids and the Brahmins were ever connected is difficult to say, but it's still an interesting thought and they do share some similarities. The fall of the Druids. Ancient Druidism declined in influence due to various factors, including the decline in power of Celtic civilization as a whole. The Romans suppressed the Druids, for instance, beginning with the reign of Augustus in 27 BC, as Rome feared the level of power they had in Celtic society. In 60 AD, the Druids joined a rebellion against the Roman forces on the island of Monet, modern-day Anglesey, in Wales. However, the rebellion was suppressed by the Romans. Ancient Druidism continued up until around the 8th century AD, when it was gradually replaced by Christianity. Druidism did have a later revival, yet how connected this practice was to the ancient ways is debated. Pliny the Elder, the Roman author and philosopher, said that the Druids valued mistletoe as they believed it could cure infertility and serve as an antidote to poisons. Unfortunately, due to the Druids' dislike of writing, much of their traditions and knowledge has been lost, and most of what is left is from biased Roman sources.


Hello, everyone. It's great to be here today at the University of Ottawa Medical School. I was speaking earlier with some future health professionals. This afternoon, I worked with all 13 of Canada's premiers to tackle one of the most important issues facing Canadians, strengthening publicly funded universal health care across this country. For generations, public health care has been a core part of what it means to be Canadian. It's built on a promise that no matter where you live or what you earn, you will always be able to get the medical care you need. But right now, our health care system isn't living up to that promise. The waiting delays to emergencies have become dangerously long. Our hospitals and clinics reduce their opening hours because of the labor shortage. There are millions of Canadians, 100 medical families or nurses, who must be alone in the health care system. People are waiting too long for essential surgeries, and we're seeing a growing need for mental health care, especially among young people. Canadians deserve better. Our country is a global leader in the field of health research. It's in Canada that open-minded operations have come to an end, that insulins have been elaborated, and that discoveries have been carried out in the fight against cancer. Health care is a global calibre, but we need a system that works well so that everyone can access their care. The pandemic reminded each and every one of us just how important our health is. It also put enormous pressure on our health care systems and on our health care workers. And it made us take a hard look at the long-standing issues facing our health care. As leaders, we've come together to deliver tangible actions and outcomes today, while building a more modern system to ensure results for all Canadians for the future. The provincial and territorial governments deliver health care with support from federal funding, which ensures that our collective commitment to the Canada Health Act is upheld. In fact, it's written right into the Canada Health Act that as governments, we need to protect, promote, and restore the physical and mental well-being of residents of Canada and facilitate reasonable access to health services without financial or other barriers. To help ensure that, we're announcing that the federal government will be providing $198 billion in additional federal health funding over the next decade. This includes planned increases to the Canada Health Transfer and new funding of $48 billion over the next 10 years. Obviously, this is a major federal investment in health care, but we all know that money alone is not the answer. Each province and territory is facing different challenges. That's why we're focused on negotiating 13 distinct bilateral agreements that will respond to various fluctuations across the country. This will make sure that real improvements are made and accounted for, particularly in four priority areas. Primary care, health care workers, mental health, and health information and data. First, primary care, making sure Canadians have access to family doctors and nurse practitioners. It's about having someone you trust who knows you, your kids, your parents, your grandparents, and who will make sure that everyone gets the right care and finds the right specialists. A family health team is there to be your entry point into the healthcare system, so it doesn't have to be the emergency room. The nurses, the nurses, the nurses, the nurses, the nurses, and all the health staff have given everything for Canadians over the past few years. They were the heroes of the pandemic, and today they are still under a lot of pressure. When they don't have what they need to do their job, it's everyone who suffers, including patients, waiting for an appointment or an operation on waiting lists that extend. We need a robust public health system, with the necessary resources, where the workload is sustainable. A system where workers have the support to stay in place without getting into trouble. We all learned very well that working conditions dictate the health conditions that Canadians receive. Third, we need to make sure that Canadians can get the mental health care they need. One in three Canadians are struggling. The good news is that more and more people are bravely putting their hands up and asking for help. But we need a system that can respond and help people when and where they need it. And that includes helping those living with substance use and addictions challenges. It's to put in place a 21st century health system that is connected and in which we all have an electronic access to medical information. A system where these data can be communicated to our health care providers, whether they be our pharmacist or our specialist, to receive appropriate and quality care. Each of the 13 bilateral agreements will be focused on delivering results for Canadians. To make sure that you're getting your hip replacement faster, so you can have your quality of life back sooner. Bilateral agreements will be tailored and flexible to the needs of each province and territory, but one thing will be consistent. Each will need to provide transparent information so that your health care system is accountable and you can be sure that real improvements are being made. What gets measured gets done. No matter your income or where you live, you deserve access to the best possible care from coast to coast to coast whether you live somewhere remote, rural or urban. Indigenous peoples have their own unique health needs.  Every Indigenous person deserves equal quality and equal access to health care free from racism and discrimination. So as part of the bilateral agreements, we will work with Indigenous leadership to address these issues and make sure there are measurable results. And we are providing $2 billion over 10 years to an Indigenous Health Equity Fund to support First Nation, Inuit and Metis partners in closing health care gaps. Health care has always been a priority for our government. Since 2015, we have made major historic investments to support Indigenous health. In 2017, we signed health accords with all provinces and territories to improve mental health and addictions care as well as home and community care for all Canadians. During the pandemic, we invested billions of dollars so that our system resists this unprecedented public health crisis by providing, for example, free tests and vaccines. We have all witnessed tragedies in our long-term care centers, and this government has acted by providing important funding and by pushing for national health care to protect our Indigenous people. Last year, we launched the Canadian Health Care Fund, which sends money directly to families who need it so that almost 200,000 children of under 12 years of age can receive health care. And we are going forward so that Indigenous people, under 18 years of age, and Indigenous people can have support for their health care before the end of this year. Our government believes that taking care of Canadians is a fundamental responsibility. On this subject, I would like to take a moment to thank our health workers for their heroic contribution. The last few years have not been easy, but you continue to be there, to make additional hours, to take good care of us and people we love. Our government wants to relieve the pressure exerted on the staff in all provinces and all territories by facilitating the mobility of the workforce across the country. We'll be asking provinces and territories to recognize credentials Canada-wide so that our well-trained health care professionals can work wherever there is need. And to improve how we recognize foreign credentials so that skilled people who come to Canada can more easily contribute and reduce pressure on overworked staff. Personal support workers take close care of people and deserve to be fairly paid. That's why today we're investing $1.7 billion towards the goal of $25 an hour for their important work. But most importantly, in order to support Canadian health care workers, we're taking steps to keep our public system strong. This is a big country built on big, progressive ideas. And few are more central to who we are as Canadians than the promise of universal, publicly funded health care. We all pay our fair share, knowing that, unlike a lot of places, we don't have to make the choice between paying the mortgage or getting a much-needed surgery. And we like to know that our neighbour doesn't have to make that choice either, no matter their circumstances. So when it comes to health care, we need to make sure to look out for everyone and leave out no one. We're taking action today so Canadians can continue to have trust in our public system. We know that cuts and austerity won't make us stronger and won't help Canadians thrive. We're investing in the well-being of Canadians and in a strong social safety net, not only because it's the right thing to do, but because it's the smart thing to do. Canadians deserve to know that every new dollar being announced today is exactly that, a new dollar that will go towards the improvements in health care that Canadians need. Because when people are healthy, when people don't have to go into unnecessary debt, when people can get timely access to health care before complications arise, all of it makes our economy stronger. Now is the time to step up, to meet this moment, to do what it takes to reinforce the defining Canadian institution that is universal public health care. I have high expectations, but also reasonable expectations, that in the coming weeks, not months, we will conclude bilateral agreements, begin flowing more money, and Canadians will start seeing real results. Let's get this done. Let's give Canadians the health care that they expect and that they deserve.


In the previous lecture we looked at the intrinsic model of stochastic control and there we showed that one can model a stochastic control problem without actually bringing in the concept of a state of a system. And as I mentioned that the this sort of model is very amenable to describing information structures. So in this model if you recall we had what is called the environmental noise. It is comprised of all the sources of noise whose distributions we cannot affect. So this includes the initial state, the measurement noise, system noise and so on. The information that we get at any time that we have at any time is written as a function of the action that are being chosen in the past and the environmental noise. So this function is determines all the information that we have at that agent I has at a time P. Then the agent I is action UIT is chosen as a function of this information. Notice that we can there are two different ways of modeling. One was to think of this as an observation equation in which case the information has to be carefully described by writing out what is the what exactly what part of the observations are actually available as information at any given point of time or you can think you can club together all those observations and write them out as one information equation. So it can also be considered as I said the information equation. The cost of the problem is also written without any state any reference to a state. So it is a function of only the actions that the agents take and the environmental noise that is present in the problem and the actions have to be chosen as a function of the information. So the action UIT which is the action of agent I at time t is a function of yIT. So the problem then is to find these functions gamma 1 to gamma n each gamma i is itself comprised of t functions gamma it running where t runs from 1 to t which is the time horizon of the problem. In order to minimize this cost j of gamma 1 to gamma n where j of gamma 1 to gamma n is the expected cost here. So this was the intrinsic form of our stochastic control problem. Now what I mentioned to you also was that these collection of these functions here describes the information structure of the problem. So the information structure is essentially is this collection of functions. So we can now talk of what it means for what various types of functions function classes or types of functions lead to various types of information structures. So the simplest of these is what is called a static information structure. So a static information structure and that leads to this particular problem the problem that emerges from there is often called a static team. Now one uses the word team to describe this problem because there are really n agents with a common goal. Now a team formally is comprised of exactly this it comprises of n agents with a common goal but with possibly different information. So they have to take a joint decide a joint set of actions or joint policies in order to minimize the total cost. But then they each have different pieces of information on which their policies are based and their actions have to therefore be chosen as a function of their local piece of information or local data or whatever. So the intrinsic model that I mentioned about of stochastic control is also often called a team model. It is used as the term often that is often used is that of that this is a description of a team problem. So what the problem that I will now describe is commonly known by in that sort of balance it is what is called a static team. So a static team involves essentially this. So y i t in a static team the information structure is as follows. So y i t which is the information of player i at time t is a function eta i t of psi alone. So the information that the agent i has at time t is a function of only the environmental variables. So what this means is at every time t every agent only gets some information about the noise in the system. It does not know anything about the actions of the other agents. So what this also means is that the actions of other agents cannot possibly affect the information of any other agent. So information of any agent is a function of only the noise or environmental noise remember of this in the system. It is not affected by the actions of other agents. So what this so how do we sort of visualize this kind of a system this kind of a setting the way to visualize this is to think that basically there is there are various sources of noise in that affect a system that is measurement noise as system noise there is probably the an environmental noise which is itself distributed and known only partially to different agents different agents. And what this function eta i t is capturing is what piece of that long environmental noise vector is actually known to agent i. So for example psi could be a vector which describes the weather conditions across in different locations on the earth. So it is some kind of meteorological information that is encoded in psi. So it is therefore a long vector which has components describing the velocity of wind velocity maybe the humidity, temperature, air pressure etc at each location and what is known at to agent i is only his own location is what is known only at his location. So then the function eta i t would then be essentially picking out the relevant components of that long vector and producing that as the information of agent i at time t. So this sort of model actually can be used say for example if you want to model a collection of distributed wind generators suppose there are wind generators located at different locations. So here is suppose one wind generator here is another wind generator at another location and these wind generators have to produce their outputs let us call these u i t and u j t the outputs of these two wind generator and they are produced as a function of the weather conditions at their respective locations. The weather conditions are this the information that is available to these agents. So they have to produce their outputs as a function of this as a function of this and now there could be a global goal such as for example they have to track a demand signal for instance so the they want to together make sure that they are not too far from from the prospective demand at that time. The demand itself could be time varying so they want to minimize the how far is their total generation from the demand so they want to minimize something like this. So then in this case the environmental variable psi would comprise of the as I mentioned the meteorological conditions meteorological conditions at all locations at all times. So these are the meteorological conditions at all locations and at all times and also in addition to this it also comprises of this the stochastic or uncertain demand that we want to follow. So demand at all times all of this can be clubbed together into the vector psi and the but only relevant only specific components of that psi are known to individual generators. So the so when UIT is being chosen only as a function of the weather conditions at location at the location of generator I at time t. So this is one sort of description one kind of motivation or application for this particular setting but this is also the reason this is studied is not only because this is most applicable but because this sort of setting has in it an underlying simplicity because there is really no effect of the actions of another agent on the information of any other agent. So there is no scope for agents to signal through actions or for there to be a dual effect or any of that. So thanks to this what happens is the actions of the actions that any agent is choosing can be understood more succinctly or more easily and the only effect at play then is the issue of decentralization. So the fact that multiple agents have different information is the issue at hand rather than there how they affect each other's information. So thanks to this this becomes an extremely useful first problem to study. So the where the information is only a function of the environmental random variable. So when one in addition to this one can also make the following reduction here notice that since y i t is a function of psi we instead of thinking of this problem as having n agents acting at n separate agents acting at time t at t different times. So that means n agents acting at t times instead of this one can think of one can think instead equivalently of n times t agents not n agents acting at t times but rather n times t separate agents. See remember all of these agents are part of a team. So as I had mentioned in one of my earlier lectures that one can either think of agents acting at different times as the same agent acting across at different time instance or one can think of it as if there is there are actually different agents but acting with different pieces of information. So one can equivalently have n times t different agents separate agents n times t separate agents. So as a result of this because and this is happening because there are actually the actions of the agents is not affecting the information of other agents we can really freely redefine what the what various agents what really we mean by an agent in the system. So thanks to this now what we find is that time is actually irrelevant time is irrelevant time in this problem becomes irrelevant. So in that is the reason why this problem is called a static team problem. So one can effectively just get rid of the index of time here and think of the problem in the following way that there is an agent i who receives information y i which is a functions i i sorry eta i of psi this here is our description of the information in a static team problem. So that the time axis has been removed one can one then has the the cost the cost remember is a function of u 1 to u n and also psi and each of these are chosen as a function of their respective information. So this here is gamma 1 of gamma 1 of y 1 all the way till gamma n of y n comma psi right and we so therefore the problem then is to minimize j of gamma 1 to gamma n in which is simply the expectation of l of gamma 1 of y 1 till gamma n of y n of psi. So we want to minimize this over gamma 1 to gamma n. So this is the description of a static team problem. So as I mentioned earlier so static in a static team problem there is no dual effect there is no dual effect in a static team problem. So the policy of any policy of any agent does not affect the information of any other agent. So the information of of an agent is a function of only the noise in the system. So it cannot be affected by the actions or the policies of any other agent right. Now this kind of requirement where the act the information is a function of only the noise this seems like a rather strong requirement because it seems to suggest that you know there is really no way agents can influence each other and therefore this problem might actually be reduced to something trivial. So the there are two the remarks I want to make about this. First is that it is not true that this problem is trivial it actually needs some work this problem as well and we will see an example to see with to get clarity on what how the form of this problem is and how does one actually go about solving such problems. So that is that is point one it is not at all true that this problem is trivial. Second is actually although there are although it is true here that the that we have sort of not allowed the influence of other agents to come up in this in this description there are actually a good number of problems with in the especially in the linear quadratic domain whose where the information where where we have actually classical information structures but those problems because of the linearity of the dynamics and so on can also can eventually be reduced to problems that that have a static information structure. So the structure of those problems is such that you can in fact by once the information structure is classical you can actually do a bit of elimination and manipulation and eventually write out information purely as a function of the noise in the system. Now you might recall that we had done something similar when we were trying to compute the optimal policy of a linear quadratic problem and linear quadratic problem with imperfect state information that there we there if you remember we wrote out the innovation or we wrote out that the error in the state estimate is in fact a function of only the noise in the system and there the argument was that one could back substitute the state equation and eventually get it to be a function of just the initial state and all the noise in the system. This this kind of argument is precisely what is needed in order to reduce the a problem with classical information structure and linear dynamics to a problem with static information structure. So the second lesson then is the first lesson is that the static information structure problems are not not necessarily easy and second is the static information structure problems actually generalize a lot of problems where which we have already studied which is of the where the dynamics are linear. So a problem where so this is this motivates why we should be looking at static information problems with static information structure more closely. If it does not have static information structure is it is said to have a dynamic information structure. So what is the negation of the information structure being static it is so in a static information structure the actions of any agent cannot affect the information of any other agent then in a dynamic information structure it just means that there are there is at least one pair of agents such that the action of one agent affects the other the information of the other agent. So in an information structure is not static is is called dynamic. The stochastic control problems with dynamic information structure are are called is are called dynamic team problems. So the resulting problems are called dynamic team problems. Now the if even though we have that that dynamic we if you look at dynamic team problems does not mean that the problem is necessarily hard of course all your all the stochastic control problems with with with classical information structure that we have studied they are also in general dynamic team problems of course some of them as I said can be reduced to static team problems but not all of them. So though they are in general dynamic team problems. So dynamic team problems may or may not be easy. So so the of course when they have classical information structure and they are enough when the cost is in in in the form that we have looked at where there is a stage wise separation and so on in that sort of form those problems tend to be easy. So this is something to keep in mind. So for the rest of this course we really would not have much time to go into the various intricacies of dynamic dynamic information structures because the the number of information structures in those problems in those problems is extremely vast and it will take an entirely separate course to to understand exactly what the you know what sort of information structures play out in various problems there. So what we will do now is in the in the rest of this course is is look at static team problems more deeply and do one example of a static team problems with static team problem but with various static information structures so that we understand exactly what the nature of this nature of these sort of problems is. One final historical remark I should make about static team problems is that static team problems were actually first studied by Marshak and Radner I believe this is the correct spelling Marshak and Radner. They were concerned about the this was in the 1950s I believe and they were concerned about the theory of organizations. So there for them the n agents were actually n individuals who are who are together forming an organization and the cost function of the organization was maybe the organization's profit or something like that but then because these were these were n different individuals they each had different different pieces of information about the about the underlying state of the world. So they may have different projections of where how a certain event would play out they may have certain projection different projections about say what the what a competitor is doing or what the what a certain you know maybe there is a strike in the factory and how this strike might play out or something like that. So they may each they effectively are n different individuals or n different age what we call agents and they each view the world differently but they all have a common goal and moreover they are in a static situation meaning that they their actions do not affect the information of other agents they just have to together choose a pair of a or a tuple of actions so as to minimize minimize the cost for the problem. So that is that is their their study of a static team. So what we what we see as I think as a result of this is that stochastic control problems are not really the are not limited to the control systems problems in the standard sense. So they are not necessarily about industrial control systems with physical systems and and so on they they can they are also just as equally applicable to situations where we to social situations to organizational situations to to situations of communication and so on. So any of these any of these settings whenever they which involves either multiple agents or decentralization or some kind of distributed observations they are essentially stochastic control problems. So one must not make the mistake of thinking of stochastic control in a very narrow way. So this is also the reason why at the start of the course I I promise that this this course is not really a conventional course in control or conventional course in stochastic control. It is really a course in which in which I try to view build a view where so that stochastic control, economics, communication, theory of teams, theory of organization all of these can be thought of in one kind of common framework. The the the the the dynamic in the the information structures framework that we have developed in the in the previous lecture and this one is in fact one such framework. It actually allows us to think of various types of settings including organizational organization behavior ranging from organizational behavior till to you know communication stochastic control etc all of these in in one sort of one sort of light and learn from the insights that we have developed in across these various various disciplines. So this is this is this I think is is the is the main takeaway from this course. So as we go further we will see more of more manifestations of this. First we will be doing static teams and doing a deep dive in static teams and understanding the role of information information in static teams and then from there we will go again to to a specific type of dynamic team which is the one that comes up in communication. So this this is the schedule for the rest of the course.


Hi everyone, Joe for jazby's casewrakes.com coming out to a 2022 gold rush football autograph 16 by 20 photos That's a it's a great size for framing. I think really really pop on your wall at your office living room bedroom man cave woman cave Bar if you work in a bar Whatever should be pretty cool one spot gets you four random players So there's 80 players on that list big. Thanks to these 20 right here these 20 spots. Let's multiply it by four There's one already. There's two There's three and there's four so you can see the last spot mojo star next to sieven's name one two three and Four times right there. There's the list of players And let's roll it and randomize it three and a two five times for names and teams one two three four and fifth and final time Got Ryan down to Adam three and a two five times for the players one two three Four and fifth and final time after five we've got Ron Jorsky Ron Jorsky Jaws down to say Juan Barclay All right, so I'm going to show you the list as is and then I'm going to I'm going to then alphabetize by Your first name so you can see all your all your players collect it together. So there's the first Part of the list right here. There's all the way to 80 right there So you can see Adam with with say Juan Barclay right there. So let's Sort by your first names I call him a so you can see Adam with say Juan again right here. So Adam. Here's your block of players Damian Daniel Joe P Karen Ryan H The big block of T players right here Rex Steven K Steven flat Tim and last but not least Zach with Gronk Stabak AB and Calvin Ridley All right, I'm going to pause the video when we come back We're gonna see if there's any trades and players and then we'll have the break stick around BRB All right, welcome back everybody. There was a deal done two players for one Steven K is now out of the Dawkins Ray Lewis spot and it's gonna get Doug Flutey We'll put T next to there for trade and Joe P is out of the Doug Flutey spot gets a couple players in return Brian Dawkins and Ray Lewis There you go gang trade windows now close I'm also gonna alphabetize by first name now or by player name now. It's gonna be easier for me to Dig up. So there's Joe P once again with Brian Dawkins. There's even K with Doug Flutey. There's the trade All right, let's flip back over here. Let's pop open this fresh case. All right, so if you can see on my My face camera right here. We've got one two three four five six seven eight nine ten, right? We'll go use the dice So we'll go one two three for the boxes with the blue X's on them and four five six for the boxes without the blue X on them Three one two three boxes with the blue X's Steven punk you think my raiders are gonna upset the bangles this would be nice but Yeah, I think I think the the bangles have a pretty good offense That's gonna be pretty hard to stop the raiders secondary isn't that Isn't that scary Raiders can get a decent pass rush going that might that might help but we saw what Justin Herbert and Mike Williams did in the fourth quarter In that last game, so All right, I'm gonna switch these back over here. We'll play a little who am I so put your thinking caps on Just to show you here's Here they all are Any given Sunday for sure, but there they are. Good luck everybody. Wow. This is a cool photo. Is he in the snow? Think he's in the snow We're gonna talk about that game a lot Right, it's one of the one of the greatest Raiders charters game one of the greatest wins ever All over suggesting road dogs on wild card weekend. All right, I'm okay with that. All right. Who am I? I'm a retired quarterback Played for one two three four teams my entire career. I Was an NFL comeback player of the year a four-time pro bowler. I Was a big East offensive player of the year and a big East rookie of the year I have 22,646 2464 passing yards 133 touchdowns to 88 interceptions 6109 rushing yards for 36 rushing touchdowns NFL record career yards per carry 7.0 and career rushing yards should give it away career rushing yards by a quarterback 6109 who am I Alex Smith and Doug Flutie combined may not have 6,000 6,000 career rushing yards There you go. Kevin Mark's got it Darren's got it to Michael Vic So that will go to That'll go to Joe P. There you go, Joe This is a cool photo Looks like he's in the snow, which is a which is a really cool shot. And then you got the The authenticity sticker right there as well. There's the JSA card on the back. It's a cool picture, right? Yeah. All right, Joe P. Congrats One T two L's two eyes. All right next one. This must be You don't put the player name on here, but I'm pretty sure it's this player right here, that's how he does Yeah, all right, who am I Another quarterback Was a former second overall pick in the late 90s played for three teams my entire career six-time pro bowler Part of this team's Hall of Fame my number retired by this team the team that drafted me and part of this team 75th anniversary team a three-time Big East offensive player of the year Career 234 touchdowns career 37,276 passing yards and 3459 rushing yards 29 rushing touchdowns and There is a case to be made that he should be in the hall. I mean, I think he's made a case for himself To be in the Hall of Fame I'm the fourth quarterback in NFL history to amass more than 30,000 passing yards 200 touchdown passes 3,000 rushing yards and 20 rushing yards rushing touchdowns in my career The first three quarterbacks to accomplish this were Fran Tarkington, John, Eloy and Steve Young And I think they're all Hall of Famers, right? Yep. Dear Darren Porter's got it and Ryan Donovan McNabb And that's for you Ryan Harold. There's his autograph right there. It's a good shot of Donovan McNabb How he autographs, I guess that's how he that's how he autographs it doesn't really look like his name All right, anyway, who am I? Another another retired player here running back this time born in San Diego, California 6-2 2-10 Went to Lincoln High School in San Diego 10th overall pick in the early 80s played for two teams in my entire career a Super Bowl champion a Super Bowl MVP an NFL most valuable player NFL offensive player of the year NFL offense rookie of the year NFL comeback player of the year 16 pro bowler two-time NFL rushing touchdowns leader and NFL rushing yards leader and was a NFL scoring yards leader Was a national champion won the Heisman Trophy Pro football Hall of Famer College football Hall of Famer And went to USC from 78 to 81 There you go. I think Mark's got it And then Oliver then Steven and Kevin. Yeah, Marcus Allen a little Super Bowl stamp right there Yeah, let's forget that his his autograph looks so it doesn't look like it should be Marcus Allen, but there it is It's a hologram stickers there the Beckett sticker in the back Should have stayed a raider the entire time um Marcus Allen Steven flat with Marcus Allen Two more to go. All right. We got a active quarterback this time Active quarterback 33 years old 5 11 215 pounds Played for one team my entire career a Super Bowl champ a Walter Peyton NFL man of the year eight-time pro bowler Uh, I've been a NFL passer rating leader a passing touchdown leader and a bart star award winner. I've got a career Um, 37,059 passing yards 292 touchdowns to 87 interceptions 4,689 rushing yards and 23 rushing touchdowns Third round pick Went to NC state for a little bit and then Wisconsin for the career. Yeah, I think everyone's got it I think Stephen K got it first Russell Wilson and that is for Stephen K Happier days for uh in this picture here. There's the authenticity card here Mill Creek sports Some corresponding stickers there for the photo There's this familiar autograph right there in the middle of silver ink and uh happier times Did you realize that the confetti is the uh The confetti is the trophy. I don't know when they started doing that but There you go. Very cool shot the fifth and final one the second half is in the store ladies and gentlemen second half is in the store If you want to run this back jasky's case breaks.com All right, who am I another retired player here? Is this who I think is this this person Yeah, it is All right, who am I Former uh running back my career between 1976 1982 in the nfl late first round pick out of Ohio state um Did I win the heisman trophy twice? I think I did in 1974 to 1975 In the nfl only ended up with 2,800 rushing yards. I don't know what happened in the nfl It just didn't work out. I guess I guess I guess he really didn't do much in the nfl, but he crushed it in in college Yeah, archie griffin went to the bangles in 1976, but didn't really pan out But okay considered one of the greatest college football players of all time And this is how you want to remember archie griffin all over got it and then ryan That's what he does wins heismans Nice gold ink autograph right there. There's a lot of reflection on the big photograph top loader, but there's a good look at it And there you go gang. That's the break archie griffin that belongs to That's going to go to tim with archie griffin and there you have it ladies and gentlemen. That was a pretty fun break We've got the second half in the store. I'm down to run it. So we'll see you next time for the next one Jaspy's case breaks.com. Bye. Bye