February 25th, 2022 by phoebe1Calls for radical, transformative changes to Scotland’s economy in order to ensure wellbeing for all within our environmental limits have been backed by almost 40 leading economists and environment academics.
In advance of the publication by the Scottish Government of its new economic strategy on Tuesday 1 March, these experts have endorsed Ten Points for a Transformative Economic Strategy produced by the ‘Transform Our Economy’ alliance.
These ideas outline a new purpose at the heart of our economy: providing wellbeing for all within environmental limits. They will require the government to set the trajectory for the economy and present a credible plan for delivery using all the powers at their disposal.
The alliance, comprising Scottish Environment LINK’s Economics Group, Friends of the Earth Scotland and Wellbeing Economy Alliance Scotland, is also calling for much more extensive public debate about the direction of our economy and believes that participation from workers, affected communities and those who are in greatest need of economic transformation is badly needed to achieve the transformation required.
Matthew Crighton, Sustainable Economy Adviser at Friends of the Earth Scotland said,
“In the midst of climate and nature emergencies, with too many people trapped in poverty and businesses still reeling from the impact of the pandemic, there is no question that economic transformation is needed.
“In the face of these challenges, the Scottish Government must plot a new direction in building a truly sustainable and just economy that can meet people’s needs.
“Recent history has shown us there is a persistent gap between high-level aspirations and the actual performance of the government in effectively intervening in the economy in Scotland. The fear is that the new economic strategy won’t redesign the economy, but will instead continue to deliver inequality and environmental destruction.
“We look forward to a transformative economic agenda that can provide sufficient investment to deliver a just transition to zero carbon, integrate the protection of nature into economic decision making and ensure social equity and participation by currently marginalised groups.”
Professor Tim Jackson, Professor of Sustainable Development, University of Surrey and acclaimed author of Prosperity Without Growth said:
“With the forthcoming 10-year Strategy for Economic Transformation the Scottish Government has a unique opportunity to make Scotland a global example of an economy that is fit to address the challenges of the 21st century, delivering wellbeing for all within environmental limits.
To do that, the Strategy needs to put at its heart care for people and planet, it needs to build on meaningful participation of those at the sharp end of our economy, and it needs to put in place measures which will give priority to ensuring people’s wellbeing rather than the pursuit of GDP growth for its own sake.”
The ten points proposed by the ‘Transform our Economy’ group offer a robust framework for building such a strategy. The Scottish Government would be well advised to take note.”
Professor Jan Webb, Professor of Sociology of Organisations, University of Edinburgh, and one of the 38 signatories, said:
“Orthodox economic strategy aims to maximise GDP, and then to make some adjustments for fairness and environmental harms. A transformative strategy, fit for addressing climate emergency and major inequalities, has to direct all economic action to achieving a fair, and sustainable, society. This means all investment prioritises decent work, zero waste, biodiversity and climate protection. I hope the Scottish Government will respond promptly and constructively to the Transform Our Economy alliance.”
The headings of the Ten Key Points are:
- The goal: wellbeing for all within environmental limits
- Setting specific economic objectives to care for people and the planet
- Using all the tools available to government to meet those objectives
- Policies must show how the objectives can be achieved
- Combat economic pressures which are helping cause the problems
- Public priorities must lead the direction of development of the economy
- Clear tests for all investment programmes
- Measure performance through metrics which matter
- An economic strategy for all sectors – economic transformation as a national mission
- An inclusive and participatory process
They have been endorsed by the following 38 leading academics:
Mike Danson, Professor Emeritus of Enterprise Policy, Heriot-Watt University
James Curran, Visiting Professor, Centre for Sustainable Development, University of Strathclyde
Victoria Chick, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University College London
Dan O’Neill, Associate Professor in Ecological Economics, University of Leeds
Julia Steinberger, Professor of Societal Challenges of Climate Change, University of Lausanne
Malcolm Sawyer, Emeritus Professor, Leeds University Business School
Molly Scott-Cato, Professor of Green Economics, Roehampton University
Prof Christine Cooper, Professor of Accounting, Edinburgh University
Laurie Macfarlane, Head of Patient Finance, Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, UCL
Camilla Toulmin, Professor in Practice at the Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University
Beth Stratford, Fellow New Economics Foundation and the Wellbeing Economy Alliance
Gregor Gall, Affiliate Research Associate at the University of Glasgow
Grace Blakeley, Author and journalist
Nancy Folbre, Professor Emerita of Economics, University of Massachusetts
Eurig Scandrett, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Queen Margaret University
Andrew Mearman, Associate Professor of Economics, Leeds University
John Barry, Professor, Queen’s University Belfast
Gary Dymski, Professor of Applied Economics, Leeds University
Yannis Dafermos, Senior Lecturer in Economics, SOAS
Mark Huxham, Professor, School of Applied Sciences, Napier University
Elizabeth Bomberg, Professor of Environmental Politics, University of Edinburgh
Dennis Mollison, Emeritus Professor of Applied Probability, Heriot-Watt
University
Karen Bell, Senior Lecturer in Urban Sustainable Development, Glasgow University
Elena Hofferberth, PhD student, Leeds University Business School
Tim Hayward, Professor of Environmental Political Theory, University of Edinburgh
Miriam Brett, Director of Research and Advocacy, Common Wealth
Andy Watterson, Professor, Public Health Researcher, Stirling University
Danny Wight, Professor, Institute of health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow
Claire Duncanson, Senior Lecturer in International Relations, University of Edinburgh
Donald McKenzie, Professor, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Edinburgh
Josh Ryan-Collins, Senior Research Fellow in Economics and Finance
Maria Nikolaidi, Associate Professor in Economics, Greenwich University
Contact details
Contact:
Matthew Crighton,
mcrighton@foe.scot
07851 348426
Editors’ Notes
(1) The Scottish Government’s announcement of its National Strategy for Economic Transformation can be found here.
(2) The statement with Ten Key Points for a Transformative Economic Strategy can be read here
(3) Concerns raised by the Transform Our Economy alliance about engagement in the process of preparing the strategy can be read in this blog
(4) Scottish Environment LINK is the forum for Scotland’s voluntary environment community, with over 35 member bodies representing a broad spectrum of environmental interests with the common goal of contributing to a more environmentally sustainable society www.scotlink.org
(5) The Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) Scotland is a collaboration of organisations, movements and individuals working to transform the economic system into one that delivers social justice on a healthy planet. Our Allies network includes businesses, national NGOs and grassroots movement. https://wellbeingeconomy.org/scotland
(6) Friends of the Earth Scotland is: Scotland’s leading environmental campaigning organisation; an independent Scottish charity with a network of thousands of supporters and active local groups across Scotland; part of the largest grassroots environmental network in the world, uniting over 2 million supporters, 73 national member groups, and 5,000 local activist groups foe.scot
Today’s publication of the 10-year National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) is a missed opportunity to futureproof our natural environment in the face of the climate and nature crisis, says Scottish Environment LINK. While the focus of the draft NPF4 on meeting Scotland’s net zero by 2045 target is hugely welcome, its ambition does not go far enough to set out how its policies will deliver the restoration of Scotland’s nature over the next decade.
The NPF4 is a great opportunity for the Scottish Government to show leadership by working with communities of interest and place to restore nature and limit the damage from climate change. LINK members have called for the NPF4 to include policies that support a national Nature Network, connecting fragmented habitats across Scotland to allow wildlife to thrive, as well as policies to ban the sale of peat compost and ensure protections for areas of wild land and greenbelts are strengthened.[1] However, the Framework set out today does not make clear how it will deliver the transformative change required at this critical juncture.
Clare Symonds, Convener of LINK’s Planning Group, responded:
“At a time of nature and climate emergency, today’s draft National Planning Framework lacks crucial detail on how nature-positive and low emissions developments will be supported by Scotland’s planning system. Scotland’s environmental charities have called for the NPF4 to deliver a transformation in how we develop our towns, cities and rural areas to adapt to the impacts of climate change and contribute to nature’s restoration in the years ahead. Considering the scale of the climate and biodiversity emergencies we face, this is a disappointingly unambitious document.”
Charles Nathan, Vice-Convener of the Planning Group, noted,
“We’ve consistently highlighted that action on climate must also include action on nature and so welcome the fact that Scottish Government has fully recognised in this draft both the scale of the nature crisis and most importantly that planning can play a huge part in bringing nature back into our lives. However, we have a task ahead of us now to strengthen the ‘teeth’ of the document so we don’t fall back into a ‘business as usual’ approach that is failing to protect the natural world that we are all dependent upon. We are hopeful that this can be avoided by changing the ‘shoulds’ to ‘musts’ and having an NPF4 that emboldens decision-makers to make net-zero and nature positive decisions.’
ENDS
Notes:
[1] See LINK’s priorities for NPF4: https://www.scotlink.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/NPF4_TopPriorities_V3.pdf
Scottish Environment LINK welcomes today’s announcement of increased government funding to restore and protect nature.
The Nature Restoration Fund will commit to at least £13.5 million annually to restore and protect Scotland’s nature – a vital step to fund the work needed to help restore Scotland’s habitats and species. From restoring Scotland’s wetlands, marine habitats and species and iconic habitats on land, including native woodlands and mountain areas, this commitment to a 5-year Nature Restoration Fund will help drive momentum towards halting the loss and restoring Scotland’s nature by 2030. This commitment to multi-annual public funding provides the leadership for other sectors to step up and help conserve Scotland’s national treasure: its nature.
Scottish Environment LINK Chief Officer, Deborah Long, said:
“Scotland is renowned for our nature on land and at sea. But the health of our species and habitats is declining. The Nature Restoration Fund is a hugely welcome and important weapon in our fight against nature loss and climate change. With global nature targets being agreed at the Biodiversity COP15 in Spring 2022, which will guide Scotland’s new Biodiversity Strategy, this fund provides the basis for significant progress towards the level of transformative action for Scotland’s species and habitats that is needed. By investing in multi-year, multi scale projects, focussed on the species and habitats that need most help, the future for Scotland’s nature, young people and communities across Scotland looks a lot more promising.”
Alistair Whyte, Director of Plantlife Scotland and convener of LINK’s Wildlife Group, said:
“Investing in Scotland’s wildlife is a win for species, habitats, and local communities. The Nature Restoration Fund announcement is a first step in the fight against biodiversity loss, helping to give Scotland’s wildlife a fighting chance for the future. Alongside the Nature Restoration Fund, we are eager to hear details on additional funding for significant ecosystem restoration in Scotland’s rainforest, as announced by the Scottish Government earlier this week. We then look forward to the construction of a wider programme of ecosystem restoration across the country, to help Scotland move up from its current place in the world’s lowest ranks of biodiversity intactness.”
Scottish Environment LINK welcomes today’s Programme for Government outlined by the First Minister (7 September). As we embark on the UN Decade for Ecosystem Restoration, the need to tackle the global climate and nature emergency is urgent. Two major UN reports (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC and Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services IPBES) have very clearly stated the need for immediate and effective action to limit global temperature rises to 1.5oC and to restore biodiversity. With the State of Nature report showing one in nine species in danger of extinction in the country and our biodiversity intactness index 28th from the bottom globally, Scotland clearly needs to act now.
This Parliamentary session is crucial. With only nine years of the decade that IPCC and IPBES say is left for us to act, this Programme for Government in 2021 is vital and must be transformational. That means we need to see immediate, determined and demonstrable action. The commitment to protect our land and marine environments for generations to come, reversing ecological decline and delivering nature-based solutions to climate change is central to this transformation.
We warmly welcome the commitment to nature targets: targets help guide action and enable everyone to play their part in nature restoration. The proposed Biodiversity Strategy and Natural Environment Bill must provide a direction of travel, led by government, to bring immediate progress towards those targets from 2021. In addition, the commitment to designate 10% of our seas as highly protected is very welcome and alongside commitment for nature networks on land and at sea, this could be transformational.
Today’s commitments, welcome as they are, must be fully resourced and we look forward to the Government’s budget for the detail on that. The scale and urgency of today’s situation cannot be underestimated. It needs adequate multi annual funding at scale: this is too big a task for government alone but by committing to multi-year funding at an adequate level, government shows the necessary leadership and enables others to come alongside. We welcome the commitment to £500 million for nature restoration. This is roughly half of what we estimate will be required from Government over the course of this Parliament to meet the scale of the challenge ahead. Where this is matched by £1 billion from philanthropic sources and another from green financing, and where agricultural support delivers for nature and climate, while continuing to produce food, Scotland has a chance to begin to see the level of action needed.
For this transformation to take place at all, legislation is also required. The commitment to the Good Food Nation Bill this year is welcome. While it offers the opportunity for Scotland to become a leader on nature and climate friendly food production, increasing access to all to high quality, low food miles and healthy food, it must deliver demonstrable progress. With other key pieces of legislation, including for example Natural Environment, Circular Economy, deer and grouse moor management, planned for later in the Parliamentary term, we will be calling for speedier non legislative action. The 2022 grouse and muirburn season, for example, should not open without licencing in place if we are serious about halting the loss of biodiversity in our uplands.
A Circular Economy bill is key to transforming the way we run our businesses and generating our livelihoods way into the future and needs to bring early determined action with demonstrable progress to targets being met. Given the direction of travel could be set immediately, we look forward to updates on a bottle deposit scheme and a ban on non-essential single use plastics, which can already be implemented without new legislation.
We are assessing this Programme for Government against our 5 tests for a green recovery and will report the results on that shortly. The announced Covid Recovery Bill offers the opportunity for Government to apply its own tests to assess how green Scotland’s recovery is and we look forward to seeing the Scottish Government take up this opportunity.
END.
Notes:
Programme for Government 2021-22 (2021)
Biodiversity and climate change workshop report (2021): IPBS and IPCC
State of Nature Scotland (2019):
RSPB Biodiversity Intactness Index summary (2021)
£1 billion for nature conservation route map (2020) Scottish Wildlife Trust and Scottish Environment Protection Agency.
Scottish Environment LINK welcomes indication that the draft SNP-Green Cooperation Agreement, announced today (20 August), includes proposals to progress a number of key environmental policies. This could signal a step forward in delivering on Scotland’s ambition to tackle the nature and climate crises hand in hand.
In particular, positive progress has been made to introduce legally binding nature recovery targets to halt the decline in Scotland’s biodiversity by 2030 and restore Scotland’s nature, a central ask of LINK’s Fight for Scotland’s Nature campaign.
The draft Agreement also includes commitments to embed nature networks in national planning policy to enable key habitats and wildlife to flourish, support for regenerative agriculture and greater protections for Scotland’s marine habitats. Measures to reduce packaging waste in a Circular Economy Bill will also be important to delivering positive outcomes for Scotland’s nature and climate. The Agreement includes a guarantee of multi-year funding through the newly established Nature Restoration Fund.
Deborah Long, Chief Officer of Scottish Environment LINK said:
“The actions we take in the next five years will be vital for restoring Scotland’s nature and delivering a green recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. The draft agreement published today includes several environmental policy commitments that should deliver progress and we look forward to working with government to roll out delivery in the event the cooperation agreement is confirmed.
“We welcome the inclusion of targets to restore Scotland’s nature in the draft Agreement though, with 1 in 9 species in Scotland at risk of national extinction, it is concerning this legislation will be in the latter half of the parliamentary session. Scotland must also take a holistic approach to tackling nature’s decline, which is why it is positive to see commitments on delivering nature networks, sustainable agriculture and highly protected marine areas.
“Of course, these issues are important to parties across the Scottish Parliament, and we look forward to working with government and all opposition parties to take forward action to ensure Scotland’s nature flourishes.”
We are delighted to announce that Scottish Environment LINK has relaunched Species Champions as the Nature Champions initiative. The Nature Champions initiative has been developed by LINK to encourage Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) to champion endangered or iconic species and priority habitats, raising awareness and promoting action to restore and safeguard Scotland’s environment. With 1 in 9 species at risk of national extinction, political support for restoring and protecting our natural environment has never been more critical.
Nature Champions has been developed in order to refresh the award-winning project, Species Champions. Since its launch in 2013, the Species Champion initiative has gone from strength to strength: at the start of the parliamentary session in 2016, 56 MSPs were signed up to the scheme; at the end of the session, there were 105 MSP champions, representing 80% of the Chamber. It has inspired similar programmes in Wales, Northern Ireland and England as well as Scottish local authorities.
MSPs have the opportunity to champion priority habitats such as Caledonian pinewoods to threatened species such as the bog sun-jumper spider. Champions have the opportunity to meet and learn about their species and habitats on site visits, participate in conservation work and stand up for nature in parliament. The Nature Champions initiative puts the spotlight on our amazing species and habitats by encouraging MSPs to work together with environmental organisations and other MSPs, for the benefit of Scotland’s natural environment.
Emma Harper MSP, Nature Champion for natterjack toad, said;
I look forward to continue to promote the natterjack Toad as a Nature Champion and in May I highlighted this special, rare species on Endangered Species Day by raising a motion in parliament to garner political support for its protection.
I am proud to represent the South Scotland region which is home to the natterjack Toad – Dumfries & Galloway – the only place in Scotland where you will find this species. During the last parliamentary session, I took an active role in promoting the region’s biodiversity and unique environment, supporting the Galloway & Southern Ayrshire Biosphere and hosting the Nature of Scotland Awards at the Scottish Parliament as well as inviting and hosting many ministers to visit the region.
The population in the Solway Firth has seen an impressive increase in numbers of natterjack Toads thanks to the fantastic habitat management put in place at RSPB Mersehead.
2021 is the year of important global moments for the environment. The UN will decide on a new 10-year framework for biodiversity under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at its 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) in the autumn. However, a new international deal for nature must be matched by domestic ambition to bend the curve of biodiversity loss and deliver commitments made under the CBD. If Scotland is to maintain its international reputation for nature and landscape, we need to step up action to protect and maintain our rich variety of habitats and the iconic and endangered species that depend upon them. This initiative provides a clear and accessible way for MSPs to do their bit for Scotland’s nature and future generations.
The need to have informed, passionate and supportive MSPs in parliament ensuring our wildlife and environment has a voice has never been more critical. An increasingly knowledgeable, interested, and pro-environment group of MSPs will have a demonstrable impact on issues right across the environmental agenda.
Are you an MSP who wants to get involved and become a Nature Champion? Contact LINK’s Nature Advocacy Officer at juliet@scotlink.org for more details.
Find out more here.
Scottish Environment LINK welcomes the appointment of the First Minister’s new cabinet today. At the start of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, the cabinet must focus on addressing the nature and climate emergency and meeting international targets. Government action over the next five years will be essential if Scotland is to achieve its ambitious 2030 climate target and to put in place robust measures to reverse declines in nature.
With crucial international climate talks taking place at COP26 in Glasgow and biodiversity talks at COP15 in China, at a time when 1 in 9 species is at risk of extinction in Scotland, the new Scottish Government must place tackling the nature and climate emergency top of its priorities for government.This includes embedding action to reverse declines in nature and reduce carbon emissions across all ministerial portfolios. It must also include rebalancing our unsustainable consumption of natural resources, which jeopardises our food security and weakens the basis of our economy. LINK members welcome the creation of the posts of Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Climate and Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands. These two posts will need to work closely together to drive coordination across government to meet climate and nature targets. LINK also believes that the appointment of a Minister for Nature will be needed to help support these two critical portfolios.
The new Cabinet Secretaries Michael Matheson and Mairi Gougeon will be crucial to efforts to deliver nature restoration to meet expected international biodiversity targets, with both the EU Commission and UK Government expected to set their own nature recovery targets later this year. Mr Matheson and Ms Gougeon will also have a leading role in delivering nature-based solutions to climate change, including restoring Scotland’s peatlands, driving an expansion of native woodland and creating a Scottish Nature Network. They will also need to put Scotland’s agricultural sector on track to meet net zero climate targets, reducing emissions that have remained static since 2008, and to reverse the continuing decline of biodiversity through support for nature-friendly farming.
The appointment of the new Scottish cabinet team is a welcome step to giving the nature and climate emergency the priority needed to drive ambitious changes over the next five years.
NOTES
[1] Details of cabinet appointments are available here: https://www.gov.scot/news/new-cabinet-appointed-1/
This statement has been prepared by LINK’s Deer Group.
We welcome the Scottish Government response to the independent Deer Working Group report. We support all 99 recommendations set out in this document. We encourage the development of a new Deer Act in the next session of the Scottish Parliament to implement about half of recommendations, and the remainder can be implemented now by NatureScot and other stakeholders.
In the absence of natural predators, deer populations have to be managed in a humane way and by humans to control their numbers and reduce public impacts. The population of deer in Scotland is now estimated to be over one million animals and still increasing. This process is about reducing deer populations to sustainable levels and not eliminating deer, which we also value as an important part of the natural heritage.
We will simply not meet Scottish Government priorities of restoring peatlands, and increasing woodland cover through tree planting and natural woodland regeneration, unless deer populations are better managed and reduced to sustainable levels (research advises less than 5 animals per sq km). These habitats are our vital carbon stores important for addressing both climate and nature emergencies. Human impacts from high deer populations such as road traffic accidents and the prevalence of Lyme disease are also increasing and must be addressed.
The current largely voluntary approach to deer management is not working. We need effective and modern systems to manage deer populations in the public interest, focussed on addressing deer impacts, and covering the whole of Scotland.
We need more deer managers not less. Enhanced deer management will create jobs in rural communities.
The urgency of the direction of travel needed is now self-evident. There have been decades of public tensions around deer management in Scotland, and the changes required will be challenging. They will need public investment in both NatureScot support systems and in deer stalking effort. Bringing people together to make these changes happen in ways that respect all aspects of this long running issue will be an important part of the transition now needed.
LINK Deer Group
March 2021
Photo credit: Sandra Graham
Joint press release by ERCS, Friends of the Earth Scotland & Scottish Environment LINK
Environmental groups have welcomed the recommendation to include the human right to a healthy environment in Scots law [1]. The Scottish Government’s National Taskforce for Human Rights Leadership published detailed proposals for a new human rights law today and recommend that the new law is brought forward by the new Parliament.
Emilia Hanna, Advocacy Officer for the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland, said:
“Everyone in Scotland deserves to live in a safe, clean, and healthy environment, so it is very welcome news that the Scottish Government’s advisers have recommended that this fundamental human right is enshrined in our laws. We call on the new Scottish Parliament to table the Human Rights law this year and are confident that all parties can come together to support this. A human right to a healthy environment is a positive way to tackle the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the climate crisis.”
Mary Church, Head of Campaigns, Friends of the Earth Scotland, said:
“The global repercussions and unequal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic underscore the fact that the right to a healthy and safe environment is essential to all other human rights. As we face the unprecedented challenges of climate and nature emergency against a backdrop of growing inequality it is more important than ever that our response is underpinned by robust protection of human rights. The Taskforce’s recommendations are both timely and welcome and we urge Parties to work together to bring forward this vital legislation in the first weeks of the new parliamentary session.”
Dr. Deborah Long, Chief Officer of Scottish Environment LINK, said:
“The National Taskforce’s recommendation is a very welcome and important step forward. However, we have a lot to do if both the substantial and procedural elements of our human right to a healthy environment are to be effective and fulfilled in Scotland. In delivering on this right, the Scottish Government needs to take significant and direction changing steps on protecting and restoring Scotland’s nature to fulfil this generation’s and protect future generation’s right to a healthy environment by tackling the global nature and climate crises.”
Amid a nature and climate crisis, and with 76% of Scots becoming more aware of nature’s importance during lockdown [2], environmental organisations stress the paramount importance of introducing a human right to a healthy environment.
LINK members believe the introduction of a human right to a healthy environment offers new opportunities to support citizens demanding improvements to their local environment and urging politicians to take action on the climate and nature crisis.
—————————————————————————————————————
[1] National Taskforce for Human Rights Leadership Report was published on 12 March 2021: https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/independent-report/2021/03/national-taskforce-human-rights-leadership-report/documents/national-taskforce-human-rights-leadership-report/national-taskforce-human-rights-leadership-report/govscot%3Adocument/national-taskforce-human-rights-leadership-report.pdf.
[2] Scottish Environment LINK Poll, Aug 2020: ‘Most people living in Scotland want a green recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic’ https://www.scotlink.org/most-people-living-in-scotland-want-a-green-recovery-from-the-covid-19-pandemic/.
[3] Link to Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland’s Blog on why we need a Human Right to a Healthy Environment, Feb 2021: https://www.ercs.scot/campaigns/why-scotland-needs-a-human-right-to-a-healthy-environment/.
[4] Link to Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland & Scottish Environment LINK Briefing on a Human Right to a Healthy Environment, Feb 2021: https://www.ercs.scot/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/HumanRightHealthEnvironment_BriefingSummaryforMSPs_Feb21.pdf.
[5] The Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland (ERCS) exists to assist members of the public and civil society to understand and exercise their rights in environmental law and to protect the environment: www.ercs.scot.
[6] Friends of the Earth Scotland is:
* Scotland’s leading environmental campaigning organisation
* An independent Scottish charity with a network of thousands of supporters and active local groups across Scotland
* Part of the largest grassroots environmental network in the world, uniting over 2 million supporters, 75 national member groups, and 5,000 local activist groups.: www.foe.scot.
[7] Scottish Environment LINK is the forum for Scotland’s voluntary environment community, with 40 member bodies representing a broad spectrum of environmental interests with the common goal of contributing to a more environmentally sustainable society: https://www.scotlink.org/.
Scottish Environment LINK welcomes additional funding for nature announced as part of today’s (8 March) Scottish budget deal. An additional £10m funding for biodiversity towards a new scheme supporting a wide range of projects to restore Scotland’s nature, protect our wildlife and address the causes of the nature and climate emergency is welcome. We hope this is the start of an ongoing and longer-term commitment to funding work to restore nature in Scotland.
The budget deal, agreed between the Scottish Government and Scottish Green MSPs, also secures an additional £5 million of funding to support farmers and land managers to adopt nature and climate-friendly farming practices.
Deborah Long, Chief Officer of Scottish Environment LINK, said: “At a time when Scotland needs to kickstart a green recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, today’s announcement of additional funding to support nature in the next 12 months is very welcome. The funding will support additional projects to restore Scotland’s nature and landscapes and Scotland’s environmental charities are ready to play their part to reverse the nature and climate emergency while creating opportunities for skills training and employment. The increase in funding for nature-friendly farming is welcome at a time when we know emissions from agriculture and the negative impact on biodiversity needs to reduce. However in order to fully address the impacts of nature loss and climate change a substantially revised funding settlement with climate and nature at its heart is needed for farming in future years.”
Notes
Details of the budget deal are available at: https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/correspondence/2021/03/correspondence-between-scottish-government-and-scottish-greens-on-support-for-budget-2020-21/documents/scottish-government-letter-outlining-details-of-the-agreement-with-the-scottish-greens-to-support-the-scottish-budget-2021-22/scottish-government-letter-outlining-details-of-the-agreement-with-the-scottish-greens-to-support-the-scottish-budget-2021-22/govscot%3Adocument/Letter%2Bfrom%2BCabinet%2BSecretary%2Bfor%2BFinance.pdf
