Draft Environment Strategy

Environment strategy: transformative changes for sustainability

This is an independent report by Professor Valerie Nelson on behalf of the Scottish Government to inform the development of the forthcoming Scottish Government Environment Strategy.

Biodiversity strategy to 2045: tackling the nature emergency - draft

This draft biodiversity strategy sets out our clear ambition for Scotland to be Nature Positive by 2030, and to have restored and regenerated biodiversity across the country by 2045.

Tackling the Nature Emergency - strategic framework for biodiversity: consultation

A consultation on Scotland’s Strategic Framework for Biodiversity, including the first 5-year Delivery Plan for the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy, and elements of the proposed Natural Environment Bill.

Scottish Biodiversity Strategy to 2045

This is the final updated version of our biodiversity strategy which sets out our clear ambition for Scotland to be Nature Positive by 2030, and to have restored and regenerated biodiversity across the country by 2045.

Biodiversity: delivery plan 2024 to 2030

The first in a series of rolling Delivery Plans which form part of our Strategic Framework for Biodiversity, in conjunction with the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy. It includes actions needed to ensure we are on track to achieving the vision and outcomes in the Strategy.

Measuring biodiversity: research into approaches

This report considers methodologies for measuring biodiversity at site-level for use in Scotland.

Offering experience, intelligence, and wisdom for climate action

A Necessary Response: The Climate Action Handbook for Urbanists is an impassioned and technically useful guide to taking action at the community level.

IPBES Transformative Change Assessment : Full report

Thematic assessment of the underlying causes of biodiversity loss, determinants of transformative change and options for achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is composed of 1) a Summary for Policymakers (SPM), and 2) a set of five Chapters. All products of the assessment are available on Zenodo. Find all the links on the side bar "has part"

Scotland's Climate Assembly - process, impact and assembly member experience: research report

Mixed methods research into Scotland’s Climate Assembly, including process, impact and Assembly member experience.

Political Scenarios for Climate Disaster - Dissent Magazine

In the Global North we often act as if our future will be a warmer version of today: liberal capitalism, plus flood insurance, minus coral reefs. That future is a fantasy.

What’s happened to the UK’s climate consensus?

Opposition, apathy and the voters in-between

Green economic planning for rapid decarbonisation

Sustainable futures require deep social and economic transformations to address climate change adequately. The current landscape of intergovernmental and market-based coordination is not delivering...

Reflect nature’s ‘true value’ in economic policies and decisions, UN chief urges

Nations must start weighing up the cost of economic profit against damage to the environment if they are to have a chance at a sustainable future, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday.

Toward a New Global Security Paradigm. Task Force 06: Strengthening Multilateralism and Global Governance

Amidst increasing global connectivity and accelerating global change, the global security framework has become insufficient, contributing to a crippling dysfunctionality in international cooperation. The current security framework, focused almost exclusively on a narrow notion of military security, is insufficient to address escalating ‘threats without enemy,’ such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, which increasingly endanger the lives and dignity of all populations. This policy brief recommends a global social-ecological security framework, rooted in the science informed understanding of social and biophysical realities, to address the evolving needs and challenges of the 21st century. Our recommendations to operationalise this paradigm include: a reinvigorated commitment to multilateralism and peace as a pre-requisite; public participation in shaping the new inclusive international governance framework; development aid and green finance as key levers; a focus on building resilience (especially food security); and, strengthening anticipation of and response to interconnected global shocks. We propose a G20-initiated formation of a high-level working group to catalyse the creation of this new framework. Such a process must involve relevant stakeholders, leveraging new possibilities afforded by technological tools (such as AI). Implementing this ambitious agenda will be challenging, but continuing on a business as- usual trajectory is a ‘lose-lose’ spiral likely to trigger social and ecological crises. Bold leadership from the G20 is needed more than ever to reinvent multilateralism and thus ensure sustainable well-being for all.

IPBES Transformative Change Assessment: Summary for Policymakers

Summary for Policymakers of the Thematic Assessment Report on the Underlying Causes of Biodiversity Loss and the Determinants of Transformative Change and Options for Achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. The IPBES Transformative Change Assessment was initiated following a decision from the IPBES Plenary at its eigth session (IPBES-8, June 2021), and has been approved by the IPBES Plenary at its eleventh session (IPBES-11, Windhoek, 2024). It is composed of a Summary for Policymakers and five Chapters. IPBES is an independent intergovernmental body established by Governments in 2012, IPBES provides policymakers with objective scientific assessments about the state of knowledge regarding the planet’s biodiversity, ecosystems and the contributions they make to people, as well as options and actions to protect and sustainably use these vital natural assets.