Draft marine and coastal restoration plan: strategic environmental assessment environmental report

5 Consideration of duties under Section 14 of the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021

5.1.1 Consideration has been given to the duty on Scottish Ministers under Section 14 of the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021 (“the 2021 Act”)^[96], to have due regard to the guiding principles on the environment in making policies (including proposals for legislation) and to record how due regard has been given to the principles in preparing the Environmental Report. The guiding principles on the environment are set out in Section 13 of the 2021 Act and include:

a) the principle that protecting the environment should be integrated into the making of policies;

b) the precautionary principle as it relates to the environment;

c) the principle that preventative action should be taken to avert environmental damage;

d) the principle that environmental damage should as a priority be rectified at source; and

e) the principle that the polluter should pay.

5.1.2 Scottish Government draft statutory guidance^[97] provides background to the principles, which is summarised below:

• Integration requirement: In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection shall constitute an integral part of the development process and cannot be considered in isolation from it;
• The precautionary principle: where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation;
• Preventative action: the prevention principle is intended to prevent, rather than react to, environmental damage from unregulated activities;
• Rectification at source: prioritises how environmental damage or harm should be addressed at its source, rather than in the wider environment, and by the polluter, rather than wider society; and
• The polluter should pay: those who cause pollution to bear the financial responsibility of any damage or remedial action required.

5.1.3 The potential environmental effects of the Plan identified in this Environmental Report are considered at a high level against each of the guiding principles as follows.

Protecting the environment should be integrated into the making of policies

5.1.4 This SEA has been undertaken at an early stage in the plan or policy preparation process, ensuring that decision-making is informed by relevant environmental information. Environmental considerations have therefore been integrated into the policy development.

The precautionary principle as it relates to the environment

5.1.5 Due to its dynamic nature, a degree of uncertainty will always exist when seeking to understand environmental effects in the marine environment. This SEA draws on the best available evidence to understand the likely positive, neutral, and negative effects of the Marine and Coastal Restoration Plan. A lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing the implementation of the Plan.

Preventative action should be taken to avert environmental damage

5.1.6 The Marine and Coastal Restoration Plan will provide a framework to encourage active restoration to reverse existing environmental damage and will promote progress towards Scottish biodiversity and climate change targets.

Environmental damage should as a priority be rectified at source

5.1.7 The Marine and Coastal Restoration Plan helps to restore and improve degraded and lost habitats and species, reversing this damage through active restoration. Should active restoration also require pressure management, this will prevent potential environmental damage.

The polluter should pay

5.1.8 The Marine and Coastal Restoration Plan will help to restore and improve degraded and lost habitats and species, reversing this damage through active restoration. The Plan will help to leverage investment into the marine environment across a range of stakeholders and delivery partners.