Bill to create legally-binding biodiversity targets backed by Holyrood committee

Plans to introduce legally-binding targets to improve biodiversity in Scotland have been backed by a Holyrood committee.

The Rural Affairs and Islands Committee said the Government’s Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill would help encourage the action needed to tackle the “nature emergency”.

The MSPs warned that any target must be accompanied by meaningful action and reinforced by “sufficient” public resources.

In their report, they call for a clear timetable for introducing the statutory targets and for clarity on how the Scottish Government would respond to instances where they are not achieved or are significantly off-track.

Earlier in the year the Scottish Government scrapped some of its legally-binding targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions following repeated failures to curb them in line with their goals.

The Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill would place a new duty on ministers to set the first legally-binding biodiversity targets in Scotland.

The rural affairs committee said the proposals recognised that previous non-statutory approaches had failed to halt nature decline.

Tory MSP Finlay Carson, who convenes the committee, said: “The rate of nature loss in Scotland over recent decades is deeply concerning and it’s clear that the current approach being taken to halt or reverse biodiversity declines has failed.

“Following our detailed scrutiny of this Bill, we support the introduction of statutory targets as a means of galvanising action on the societal-wide changes needed to improve biodiversity and tackle the nature emergency.

“But we are also clear that statutory targets will not have the success we want to see unless they are underpinned by action and investment, via both finance and expertise, to make sure their aspirations are delivered.”

MSPs were divided over a part of the Bill that would hand a “broad scope of powers” to ministers to amend environmental impact assessment legislation and the habitats regulations.

There was broad agreement among MSPs on the powers that would let ministers modernise how national parks are managed as well as plans to give NatureScot powers to address issues caused by the wild deer population.

The committee said it was clear this should not be done at the expense of voluntary deer management and called on the Scottish Government to make sure it “does not erode the trust and consensus that has been carefully built within the deer management sector in recent years”.

The committee also called for the Scottish Government to continue to support the wild venison sector.

Mr Carson said: “Notwithstanding the recommendations in our report about how some of the Bill’s provisions could be strengthened and improved, we support the general principles of this Bill.

“Having sought to hear from a diverse range of stakeholders throughout our inquiry, I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to consider and support our scrutiny.”

The Scottish Government has been approached for comment.