RSPB Scotland today heralded the inclusion of a Natural Environment Bill within the latest Programme for Government as a game-changing moment for nature and biodiversity.
Action to tackle the nature and climate crises has both cross-party support and is a key priority amongst members of the Scottish public. In support of this, the Scottish Government has outlined its ambition to halt biodiversity loss by 2030 and to reverse it by 2045. RSPB Scotland strongly supports this.
To achieve this, the Scottish Government has now committed to introducing a Natural Environment Bill this year. This Bill is required to set legally binding nature recovery targets and to create a framework for monitoring, enforcing, and reporting on targets.
The scale of the nature and climate crises require a shift in society’s interactions with nature. Scotland is one of the world’s most nature depleted countries, and nature losses continue apace – a bleak reality which has been acknowledged by the Scottish Government.
Only a significant increase in the scale and pace of nature restoration across the country can address this. Action to restore nature will also deliver multiple wider benefits for the people of Scotland, making our environment, economies, and communities more resilient over the long-term, improving natural flood defences, storing more carbon, delivering green jobs, and improving people’s health and wellbeing.
“The highly anticipated Natural Environment Bill, announced in the Programme for Government today, will allow the Scottish Government to set legally binding targets to halt and reverse nature’s decline. In doing so, this government can turbocharge efforts to address the nature crisis and to regenerate biodiversity. Establishing these targets will also help to mainstream the protection and enhancement of the natural environment, holding current and future governments to account to deliver for nature.
Recent cuts to nature funding make action to protect biodiversity in Scotland more crucial than ever. The latest State of Nature report revealed that 1 in 9 Scottish species now face the risk of extinction, and globally Scotland ranks in the bottom 25% of nations in terms of its biodiversity intactness. Our natural environment needs action starting now and lasting into the future, so this crucial piece of legislation is a significant milestone which represents the level of ambition required to turn things around.”
The Natural Environment Bill must also place into law Scotland’s target to effectively protect at least 30% of Scotland’s land and sea for nature by 2030, in line with the international target agreed by nearly 200 countries at the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in Montreal. Subnational governments like Scotland’s have an indispensable role to play in addressing the nature crisis, as underscored by the Edinburgh Declaration.
Beyond establishing legally binding targets for nature’s recovery, the Natural Environment Bill must also bring forward wider actions to support the recovery of species and habitats across the country. These include:
Reform to the management of deer for the benefit of nature and climate
Improvements to the Scotland’s network of protected areas and reform to the role of National Parks to allow them to lead nature’s recovery at scale
Action to tackle invasive non-native species
A framework for Nature Networks for habitat restoration and enhancement
Support for greater levels of new native woodland creation
Enhanced protections for marine species, habitats, and ecosystems
Strengthening of the ‘Biodiversity Duty’, linking it to nature restoration targets
Alignment with Biodiversity Enhancement requirements for new planning developments
Alignment with the new Agriculture and Rural Communities Act to support nature-friendly farming
Improved reporting and transparency on species licensing
A recent survey from Scottish Environment LINK found that eight in ten Scots are worried about harm to the natural environment in their area. The survey also revealed that two thirds of Scots have noticed the impacts of climate change around them, including warmer temperatures and extreme weather.
"The Scottish Government has just been elected President of Regions4, a global network of subnational governments which are committed to leadership on biodiversity and climate.
The new Natural Environment Bill can, if sufficiently ambitious, make great strides towards addressing the interlinked nature and climate crises and safeguarding the futures of generations to come. With just five years before the critical 2030 milestone, a Scottish Parliament election in less than two years, and the next UN Biodiversity Conference (COP16) in a matter of weeks, the Scottish Government must underpin its commitment to global leadership with genuine action to achieve this.”
RSPB Scotland urge the Scottish Government to publish details of the Natural Environment Bill as soon as possible.