Infrastructure Strategy: strategic environmental assessment

4. What is the Scope of the SEA?

4.1. SEA Screening and Scoping Report

4.1.1. A Screening and Scoping Report was prepared for the SEA in December 2025. The first purpose of this report was to provide a screening opinion for the Infrastructure Strategy. The screening process considered whether the Infrastructure Strategy is a qualifying plan under the 2005 Act and assessed its potential to have significant environmental effects. The process concluded that, while the Infrastructure Strategy does not set the framework for future development consent, it establishes strategic priorities that may influence decisions across multiple sectors. It also identified that there is potential for significant environmental effects across relevant environmental topics. Therefore, the Infrastructure Strategy qualifies under Section 5(4) of the 2005 Act.

4.1.2. Reflecting the requirements of the 2005 Act, the second purpose of this report was to outline the ‘scope’ of the SEA through setting out the following information:

• A context review of the key environmental and sustainability objectives of national, regional, and local plans and strategies relevant to the Infrastructure Strategy;
• Baseline data against which the Infrastructure Strategy can be assessed;
• The key sustainability issues for the Infrastructure Strategy; and
• An ‘SEA Framework’ of objectives against which the Infrastructure Strategy can be assessed.

4.1.3. The Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 requires that: “Before deciding on the scope and level of detail of the information to be included in the environmental report to be prepared in accordance with section 14; the responsible authority shall send to each consultation authority such sufficient details of the qualifying plan or programme as will enable the consultation authority to form a view on those matters”. In Scotland, the consultation authorities are Historic Environment Scotland (HES), the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) and NatureScot.

4.1.4. These authorities were consulted on the scope of the SEA for the Infrastructure Strategy proposals through the release of an SEA Screening and Scoping Report (prepared by AECOM) in December 2025 (via the SEA Gateway).

4.1.5. The updated version of the Screening and Scoping Report, including the addition of recommendations from consultees, was finalised in January 2026.

4.2. Baseline Summary

4.2.1. Detailed information on the current and future baseline is provided in the updated Screening and Scoping Report (2026). A summary of the key issues is presented in the following sub‑sections.

Air Quality

• Transport-related emissions remain a major source of nitrogen oxides (NOₓ) and particulate matter (PM), particularly in urban areas, requiring continued investment in low-emission transport infrastructure and modal shift initiatives;
• Domestic and public sector combustion contributes significantly to PM2.5 and Benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), highlighting the need for cleaner heating systems and stricter controls on domestic burning practices;
• Industrial processes, including food and drink production, drive non-methane volatile organic compound (NMVOC) emissions, necessitating innovation in industrial infrastructure and cleaner production technologies;
• Air pollution continues to impact sensitive ecological sites, with exceedances of critical loads for acidity and nutrient nitrogen, requiring infrastructure planning that avoids further harm to Special Area of Conservation (SACs), Special Protection Areas (SPAs), and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs);
• Urban air quality hotspots persist despite improvements, meaning infrastructure projects in cities must integrate air quality mitigation measures (e.g., Low Emission Zone expansion, green infrastructure);
• Residual emissions from shipping and construction activities pose challenges for achieving net zero, requiring targeted interventions in energy and building sectors;
• Future infrastructure must support resilience to air quality risks, ensuring that investments in transport, energy, and heating align with Scottish Government Cleaner Air for Scotland 2 policy and Climate Change Plan objectives; and
• Monitoring and adaptive management remain important, as infrastructure delivery could influence pollutant trends, especially for NMVOCs and PM linked to industrial and domestic sources.

Biodiversity, Flora and Fauna

• Major infrastructure projects such as those associated with transport corridors, energy transmission lines, and heat networks pose a risk of habitat loss and fragmentation, which could reduce ecological connectivity and impact species survival;
• There are significant opportunities to deliver Nature Networks through integrated design within infrastructure sectors, including transport, schools, health estates, and energy, supporting Scotland’s Biodiversity Strategy and NPF4 Policy 3;
• Infrastructure planning can contribute to Scotland’s 30x30 target by embedding green and blue infrastructure and enhancing connectivity around designated sites to help achieve 30% land and sea protection by 2030;
• Climate change pressures on habitats, including range shifts, storm damage, and hydrological changes, require infrastructure projects to incorporate nature-based solutions (NbS) for resilience, such as peatland restoration and coastal buffers;
• Invasive non-native species (INNS) risks may increase due to construction activities, soil movement, and transport corridors, highlighting the need for robust biosecurity measures in infrastructure delivery;
• There are additional opportunities to enhance biodiversity within peri‑urban and rural communities, where infrastructure projects can create or restore habitat mosaics, strengthen ecological connectivity and support local nature‑rich places;
• Infrastructure investment in schools, health facilities, and digital networks offers opportunities to enhance urban biodiversity through measures such as green roofs, street trees, and community growing spaces, improving ecological and social outcomes;
• Combined impacts of transport, energy, and building upgrades could intensify pressures on biodiversity unless mitigated through coordinated planning and ecological design across sectors; and
• Compliance with NPF4 Policy 3 requires major and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) developments to conserve, restore, and enhance biodiversity, creating obligations and opportunities for infrastructure projects to deliver measurable gains.

Climatic Factors

• More frequent extreme weather events such as flooding, heatwaves, and droughts pose risks to infrastructure networks, especially transport, energy, and digital systems;
• Climate impacts vary across Scotland: eastern areas are more likely to face summer water shortages, while western and coastal areas are more exposed to winter flooding and storm surges;
• Hotter summers increase the risk of overheating in schools, hospitals, and justice buildings, and raise cooling demands for energy and digital infrastructure, requiring designs that can cope with higher temperatures;
• Water supply pressures during dry periods put stress on Scottish Water systems, as demand rises and river flows fall; measures like demand management and drought planning are needed;
• Warmer water bodies can lead to harmful algal blooms, making water treatment more complex and costly; this calls for better catchment management and treatment technology;
• Peatland damage reduces carbon storage and water regulation, increasing flood and drought risks; restoring peatlands is vital for climate and infrastructure resilience;
• Flood risk is increasing due to heavier rainfall and rising sea levels, threatening critical infrastructure and urban drainage systems; integrated flood management and NbS will be important;
• Infrastructure sectors are interconnected, so failures in one (e.g., energy) can affect others (e.g., transport, digital); coordinated resilience planning is needed;
• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions across sectors like transport, energy, and buildings remains important to meet Scotland’s net zero target; and
• Wildfire and pests linked to hotter, drier conditions could harm natural infrastructure and forestry, affecting ecosystems and supply chains; proactive land management is required.

Cultural Heritage

• Infrastructure development, including transport, energy, and digital projects, has the potential to directly impact designated and undesignated heritage assets, requiring careful planning and mitigation measures;
• Heritage assets are increasingly vulnerable to climate change, with risks such as flooding, coastal erosion, and extreme weather events threatening archaeological sites, historic buildings, and cultural landscapes, particularly in coastal and low-lying areas;
• Retrofitting historic buildings to improve energy efficiency is important for achieving net zero targets, but this must be balanced with conservation principles to avoid adverse impacts on listed buildings and conservation areas;
• The majority of Scotland’s historic environment is undesignated (estimated at 90-95%), making these assets particularly susceptible to unmitigated impacts from infrastructure projects and land use changes;
• Marine infrastructure developments could affect Historic Marine Protected Areas and submerged archaeological landscapes, requiring robust assessment and protection;
• Expansion of infrastructure networks may lead to cumulative impacts on the setting and character of historic battlefields, gardens, and designed landscapes, diminishing their cultural significance;
• Limited funding and resources for heritage conservation mean that prioritisation will be necessary, and some assets may remain at risk as infrastructure investment accelerates;
• Infrastructure projects present opportunities to integrate heritage into placemaking and design, enhancing local identity and cultural continuity; failure to do so could erode the sense of place in communities;
• Advances in digital technology, such as remote sensing, 3D scanning, and predictive modelling, can support heritage protection during infrastructure planning.

Landscape and Geodiversity

• Potential for large-scale energy infrastructure (onshore/offshore wind, grid upgrades) to alter Scotland’s most valued landscapes, including National Scenic Areas (NSAs), National Parks, and Wild Land Areas, affecting scenic quality and sense of remoteness;
• Expansion of transport networks and associated structures may fragment rural and peri-urban landscapes, erode local distinctiveness, and increase cumulative visual impacts;
• Urban development linked to housing, schools, and health facilities could reduce greenspace, impact green belts, and diminish townscape character, affecting amenity and access to nature;
• Digital infrastructure (masts, cabling, data centres) may introduce new vertical elements and built forms in sensitive rural and coastal settings, influencing visual amenity;
• Infrastructure projects risk physical disturbance to geological features, permanent sealing of exposures, and constraints on natural geomorphological processes, particularly at Geological Conservation Review (GCR) sites and Local Geodiversity Sites;
• Climate change is the most significant and certain driver of landscape and geodiversity change, with increased erosion, flooding, and landslides interacting with infrastructure needs for resilience and adaptation;
• Positive opportunities exist for nature restoration and sustainable land management (woodland expansion, peatland restoration) to enhance landscape quality and offset adverse effects of infrastructure development; and
• There is a need to ensure infrastructure planning considers effects on all landscapes, including everyday and degraded landscapes, while giving particular attention to areas of recognised sensitivity, in line with the European Landscape Convention.

Material Assets

• Major infrastructure projects will increase demand for aggregates and industrial minerals, requiring resource efficiency to avoid environmental impacts;
• The transition to net zero will drive demand for critical minerals for renewable energy and transport infrastructure, raising supply chain and sustainability challenges;
• Construction and demolition waste from infrastructure investment could rise significantly, creating a need for circular-economy measures to minimise disposal and maximise reuse;
• Compliance with NPF4 and the Circular Economy Act will require infrastructure projects to demonstrate waste minimisation and sustainable resource management; and
• Climate change and extreme weather may increase repair material demand, highlighting the need for resilient supply chains and efficient use of resources.

Population and Human Health

• Scotland’s ageing population will increase demand for healthcare infrastructure, accessible housing, and transport systems that support mobility and independence;
• Declining younger cohorts and workforce shortages may require infrastructure that enables remote working, digital connectivity, and skills development to sustain inclusive economic growth;
• Persistent health inequalities, often linked to deprivation, highlight the need for targeted investment in health facilities, schools, transport, and digital infrastructure in disadvantaged communities;
• Unequal access to green and blue spaces limits opportunities for physical activity and mental wellbeing; infrastructure planning should prioritise equitable provision of natural infrastructure and active travel routes;
• Climate change impacts (heat stress, flooding, disease patterns) pose risks to population health and wellbeing, requiring resilient infrastructure and NbS integrated into place-making;
• Rural areas face sharper population decline and ageing, increasing risks of isolation and service gaps; infrastructure must address connectivity, healthcare access, and transport resilience in these regions;
• Urban areas may experience concentrated deprivation and housing pressures; infrastructure investment should focus on affordable housing, community facilities, and safe public spaces to foster social inclusion;
• Digital infrastructure is important for reducing isolation, supporting remote work, and enabling access to services, particularly in rural and deprived areas;
• Crime and perceptions of safety influence community wellbeing; infrastructure design should incorporate safe, accessible public spaces and modern justice facilities to support resilient communities; and
• Migration and workforce dynamics will shape future infrastructure needs, requiring strategies that attract talent and support economic participation through transport and digital connectivity.

Land and Soil

• Infrastructure development may lead to the permanent loss of productive agricultural land, reducing Scotland’s capacity for food production and conflicting with sustainable land use objectives;
• Construction of transport, energy, and urban infrastructure can increase soil sealing and compaction, reducing infiltration, elevating flood risk, and degrading soil health;
• Disturbance of carbon-rich soils and peatlands during infrastructure projects risks releasing stored carbon, undermining Scotland’s net zero targets and climate resilience goals;
• Large-scale infrastructure works can exacerbate soil erosion and runoff, particularly in upland and arable areas, with negative impacts on water quality and ecosystem services;
• Redevelopment of brownfield and historic landfill sites poses contamination risks to soil and groundwater, requiring robust site investigation and remediation measures;
• Intensive land use and physical degradation associated with infrastructure delivery can reduce soil biodiversity and organic matter, weakening ecosystem functionality and resilience;
• Climate change will increase soil vulnerability to heavy rainfall, flooding, and drought, threatening soils’ ability to regulate water and store carbon, which is important for adaptation;
• Disposal of excavated soils to landfill during infrastructure projects removes a non-renewable resource and conflicts with circular-economy principles;
• There is a need to integrate soil-sensitive design and NbS into infrastructure planning to enhance resilience and deliver multifunctional benefits; and
• Cross-sector collaboration and improved monitoring frameworks are required to address soil health pressures and embed soil protection in infrastructure delivery.

Water

• Increasing climate-related risks (flooding, drought, and wetland degradation) threaten water infrastructure resilience and Scotland’s ability to meet net zero and adaptation goals;
• Diffuse agricultural pollution and land use pressures continue to impact water quality, requiring integrated planning and sustainable land management measures;
• Aging wastewater infrastructure and combined sewer overflows pose risks to public health and environmental quality, highlighting the need for investment in treatment upgrades and NbS;
• Reservoir maintenance and potential new developments for water supply or energy storage raise concerns about ecological connectivity and flood risk management;
• Large-scale hydrogen production and pump storage schemes may increase water abstraction pressures, necessitating sustainable resource allocation and catchment-level planning;
• Persistent pollutants (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances [PFAS], pharmaceuticals, microplastics) and emerging contaminants present growing challenges for water treatment and monitoring, with implications for public health and biodiversity;
• INNS, exacerbated by climate change and water transfers, threaten ecosystem integrity and require coordinated prevention and management strategies;
• Population growth and urban expansion will increase demand on water infrastructure, requiring upgrades and integration of NbS to maintain service resilience; and
• Opportunities exist to align infrastructure investment with EU directives and nature restoration goals, promoting river connectivity, advanced treatment technologies, and polluter-pays principles to support environmental sustainability.

4.3. Issues / Topics Scoped into the SEA

4.3.1. Scoping identified a range of environmental topics that should be a particular focus of the SEA. In terms of the SEA ‘issues’ suggested by Schedule 3 of the 2005 Act, the following were scoped in through the scoping process:

• Air quality;
• Biodiversity, flora and fauna;
• Climatic factors;
• Cultural heritage;
• Landscape and geodiversity;
• Material assets;
• Population and human health;
• Land and soil; and
• Water.

4.4. SEA Framework

4.4.1. The key environmental issues relating to the proposals have been translated into an ‘SEA Framework’. The SEA Framework provides a way in which the likely significant environmental effects of the Infrastructure Strategy proposals and alternatives can be identified and subsequently analysed based on a structured and consistent approach.

4.4.2. As discussed above, the SEA Framework and the assessment findings in this Environmental Report have been streamlined and presented under nine SEA topics. In this respect the accompanying objectives for each topic have been refined as appropriate in recognition of the high-level nature of the proposals at this stage.

4.4.3. The updated SEA Framework (including amendments following statutory consultation) is presented below by SEA topic.

• Air Quality: Reduce air pollutant emissions from infrastructure sectors to improve air quality, protect health, and support Scotland’s transition to net zero.
• Biodiversity, Flora and Fauna: Protect and enhance biodiversity, habitats, and species by avoiding loss, damage and fragmentation and integrating Nature Networks and green and blue infrastructure into infrastructure planning and delivery.
• Climatic Factors : Support Scotland’s transition to net zero and improve infrastructure resilience by limiting greenhouse gas emissions and adapting assets to withstand flooding, heatwaves, droughts, and other climate-related risks.
• Cultural Heritage : Protect and enhance Scotland’s historic environment, ensuring that infrastructure development avoids adverse impacts on designated and undesignated heritage assets, their setting, and cultural landscapes.
• Landscape and Geodiversity : Protect and enhance Scotland’s landscape character, visual amenity, and geodiversity, ensuring infrastructure provision respects the distinctiveness of all landscapes.
• Material Assets: Promote sustainable use of material assets by reducing resource consumption, safeguarding mineral resources, and minimising waste through circular economy principles in infrastructure planning.
• Population and Human Health: Promote equitable access to health services, housing, transport, digital connectivity, and green/blue spaces to improve physical and mental wellbeing, reduce health inequalities, and build resilient, inclusive communities.
• Soil: Protect and enhance soil health and carbon-rich soils, minimising land take, sealing, and degradation from infrastructure development.
• Water: Protect and enhance Scotland’s water environment by facilitating sustainable water resource management, reducing pollution, and integrating nature-based solutions into infrastructure planning.