Infrastructure Strategy: strategic environmental assessment

3. The Infrastructure Strategy

3.1. Introduction

3.1.1. The Scottish Government has identified tackling the climate emergency as a national priority, emphasising the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, build resilience to future climate impacts, and restore Scotland’s natural environment. This commitment is embedded within Scotland’s wider policy framework for sustainable development and inclusive growth.

3.1.2. The emerging Infrastructure Strategy, expected to be finalised in 2026, will set out Scotland’s infrastructure priorities for the period 2027-2037, providing a 10-year framework to guide infrastructure planning, investment, and delivery across the country. The Infrastructure Strategy will not include specific projects or proposals, as these are addressed separately in the Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline. Instead, it will focus on high-level priorities and principles, providing the strategic context for future Spending Reviews and Budget decisions.

3.1.3. The Infrastructure Strategy builds on the work of the Infrastructure Commission for Scotland (ICfS) and the current Infrastructure Investment Plan (2021-2026). It reaffirms the Commission’s recommendations by maintaining their core themes (net zero, inclusive growth, and resilient places) and applying them through a place-based, outcome-focused lens. The Infrastructure Strategy also draws insights from the 2024-2025 Horizon Scanning Project (which anticipates future trends and disruptions) and evidence from Scottish Futures Trust’s emerging 30-year Needs Assessment (which assesses long-term economic, social, and natural infrastructure needs). This Needs Assessment has been published alongside the Draft Strategy for consultation.

3.1.4. The Infrastructure Strategy provides the strategic context for future Spending Reviews and Budget decisions. It is underpinned by robust governance principles and a common investment hierarchy, which prioritises making best use of existing assets before considering new infrastructure. This approach ensures continuity and stability in investment choices, enabling decisions that deliver long-term public value across sectors and regions.

3.2. Proposed Outcomes and Enablers for the Infrastructure Strategy

3.2.1. The Infrastructure Strategy is structured around three core outcomes:

• Enabling net zero and environmental sustainability: supporting Scotland’s statutory climate targets and embedding resilience into infrastructure planning;
• Driving inclusive economic growth: using infrastructure as a catalyst for productivity, innovation, and regional equity; and
• Building resilient and sustainable places: ensuring infrastructure supports strong, connected communities and adapts to future challenges.

3.2.2. To deliver these outcomes, the Infrastructure Strategy identifies three key enablers:

• Public assets: ensuring Scotland’s infrastructure estate is well managed, maintained, and aligned with modern service delivery models;
• Place-making: embedding local priorities and spatial planning into infrastructure decisions, in line with the Place Principle and National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4); and
• Private investment: creating the conditions to attract and unlock private capital to complement public funding and accelerate delivery.

3.2.3. Through its high-level priorities and guiding principles, the Infrastructure Strategy will emphasise a system-wide approach, ensuring decisions are grounded in long-term evidence and cross-sectoral needs rather than short-term political cycles. It will recognise the importance of spatial equity, community empowerment, and regional collaboration in shaping infrastructure that delivers for all of Scotland’s people and places.

3.3. Purpose of the Environmental Report

3.3.1. In line with the 2005 Act, a report (known as the Environmental Report) must be published for consultation alongside the draft Infrastructure Strategy.

3.3.2. Its purpose is to identify, describe and evaluate the likely significant effects on the environment of implementing:

• the Infrastructure Strategy; and
• reasonable alternatives for the Infrastructure Strategy.

3.3.3. The report must then be considered, alongside consultation responses, when finalising the Infrastructure Strategy.

3.3.4. The Environmental Report is the second document to be produced as part of the SEA process for the Infrastructure Strategy. The first document was the Screening and Scoping Report prepared by AECOM in December 2025, which included a screening opinion, along with information about the baseline and the ‘framework’ against which the proposals have been assessed.