Fight For Scotland's Nature
As members of Scottish Environmental LINK we are proud to support the campaign to Fight For Scotland’s Nature. Three months from today, the EU’s world-renowned environmental protections will no longer apply to Scotland. That means we have just three months left to make Scotland’s new nature laws as strong as they can be.
Scotland’s amazing natural environment, so essential to our wellbeing and our future, is under threat. With 1 in 9 species at risk of extinction in Scotland, the Fight for Scotland’s Nature campaign has been calling since 2018 for Scotland to retain and build upon crucial EU protections.
Following pressure from thousands of us who wrote to the First Minister last year, the Scottish government’s EU Continuity Bill includes plans to embed key European environmental principles in Scots law and to set up a new environment watchdog.
But the bill must do more to protect Scotland’s nature. We need a watchdog with the power and independence to enforce environmental protections in the way the EU has done. The ability to take action on specific complaints is a key strength of the EU system, but it’s missing from the proposed Scottish watchdog. The bill must be amended to include this power – and to make the watchdog truly independent of government.