Parliament logo
Campaign and petition email responses | Defending woods and trees in Glasgow South

Campaign and petition email responses

Defending woods and trees in Glasgow South

Matters on the environment are the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament. In Holyrood, the SNP Scottish Government is leading the way in tackling the climate emergency. Scotland was the first country in the world to declare a climate emergency and has also declared a joint biodiversity and climate crisis, committing to tackle both threats simultaneously.

The Scottish Government is committed to protecting the environment in Scotland and abroad.

For example, the Scottish Government acknowledges the vital importance that peatland plays in Scotland’s ambition to become carbon neutral, and last year alone made £14 million in grant money available to help preserve and restore peat bogs.

This vital work will also help to re-establish important natural habitats for plants and animals, preserve the variety of Scotland’s natural beauty, restore soil, and mitigate the risk of floods.

Internationally, Scotland and the Scottish Government have been repeatedly.

The SNP have met with campaign groups fighting against the Retained EU law bill and the catastrophic impact it will have on our rights, the environment, and our economy.

The SNP are utterly opposed to this bill, which seeks to undemocratically wipe away the last vestiges of EU protections in UK law, despite Scotland opposing Brexit.

The SNP have called for an end to the 2023 sunset clause, and all through the Environment Acts passage fought to ensure that EU levels of environment protection were expanded on, not undermined.

The SNP have called for Investment Zones to mirror the requirement the Scottish Government placed on Greenports in Scotland, namely a commitment to net zero, environmental protections, and a living wage for all workers.

Agricultural subsidies are devolved, and the SNP have not broken support into different schemes. Instead, all subsidies in Scotland will have “green strings” by 2025, requiring farmers to operate in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way.

That said, the SNP have called on the UK Government to not abandon its own environmental protection subsidies such as the Environment Land Management Scheme, and for the Tories to promise they will not seek to undermine Scottish Subsidies.

The SNP have repeatedly called for the UK Government to take a more active role in climate diplomacy, and to use the opportunities it has to push a green, net zero agenda. While the UK Government continues to fail the environment at home however, its climate diplomacy abroad will always be held back.

As an independent county, and an environmental world leader, Scotland will have a uniquely strong position to act as a positive climate influencer worldwide.

Parliament logo

@StewartMcDonald on Twitter

Loading