Draft Environment Strategy consultation: statement

Summary of the views expressed in response to the consultation on the draft Environment Strategy

The consultation produced a wide range of thoughtful and diverse responses, reflecting both the complexity and breadth of the draft Strategy. Several key themes emerged, highlighting areas of consensus, challenge, and opportunity. These insights reveal stakeholders’ priorities and concerns, and identify where the draft Strategy and related impact assessments can be refined to strengthen delivery and secure broad support.

The consultation responses revealed strong support for the Strategy’s overall ambition but highlighted the need for clearer definitions, stronger commitments to action on climate change and nature loss, and more practical, well-governed delivery pathways. Respondents emphasised the importance of societal and economic change, including better infrastructure, education and fair access to sustainable choices, alongside investment in skills and community led action. Strengthening resilience through nature-based solutions and support for vulnerable groups was seen as essential, and some respondents offered detailed suggestions for improving impact assessments. Across all themes, people called for fairness, coherent policymaking, robust evidence, and meaningful use of local knowledge to ensure the Strategy is effective and inclusive.

The responses included:

• Strong support for the ambition and direction set out in the draft Strategy. Its aim in providing a framework for environmental policies, and seeking to integrate environmental policies with other policy areas was welcomed, as was the focus on the overseas impact of consumption in Scotland. The emphasis on restoring nature, addressing climate change, improving public health and ensuring a fair transition was also broadly welcomed.
• Appeals to identify a clearer and more explicit set of actions for delivering the Strategy’s ambitions.
• Calls for the Strategy to play a more active role as a holistic framework for environment and climate policies, taking account of synergies and trade-offs.
• Further calls for the Strategy to provide more clarity on how the Scottish Government will support businesses and the public in undertaking the behaviour changes necessary to achieve the Strategy’s objectives.
• Suggestions that the draft Strategy did not include a clear and practical pathway to delivery, undermining its ability to drive change. There were recommendations that the Strategy should clarify arrangements for delivery, governance and accountability, designed to support a stronger cross-government approach.

The Scottish Government commissioned consultants The Lines Between and Miller Research to conduct an analysis of the responses to the consultation. This is available as a separate document online.