Environment strategy: behaviour changes needed to achieve Scotland's goals for biodiversity

Footnotes

1 For example, the COM-B and/or Behaviour Change Wheel frame policy around behaviour change in the ‘Reducing car use for a healthier, fairer and greener Scotland’ route map and the Scottish National Adaptation Plan 2024-29.

2 For more information on environmental impacts of Scotland’s domestic consumption of food and goods, and policy levers to mitigate these, see Lin et al. (2024) and Rivington et al. (2024). Further research by The James Hutton Institute addresses consumption and circular economy behaviours and interventions in the Scottish context (Colley et al., 2025; Hague et al., 2023).

3 It should also be noted, however, that health benefits may also depend on the type of plant-based protein substitutes selected. Recent concerns around health impacts of ultra-processed foods may be relevant, both in relation to highly processed meat products and to some meat substitutes.

4 Biodiversity net gain units are a metric used in the planning system in England. For more information see McVittie et al. (2023) which assesses its potential applicability for Scotland.

5 See Table 1 in section 1.3 for definitions of Capabilities, Opportunities and Motivations

6 The Scottish Government consulted on ending the sale of peat in 2023.

7 For example, recently published findings of the Scottish Climate Survey illustrate persistent misperceptions about the relative impact of different climate change mitigation behaviours.

8 Sustainable and regenerative farming - next steps: statement

9 The challenges of measuring suites of behaviours and psychometric methods to overcome these are discussed in more detail in Colley, Chen et al., (2025) regarding circular economy behaviours.

10 Capability beyond education and training; opportunity beyond environmental restructuring