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Eco-activism helps make Scotland a better place, says Roseanna Cunningham

In the last month alone, Scotland has introduced proposals for a depositreturn scheme for drinks containers, hosted its first marine litter summit, banned microbeads in rinse-off cosmetics and published annual statistics showing we have nearly halved greenhouse gas emissions since 1990.

For a country our size, this is a tremendous feat and one that I’m immensely proud of. But my ambition now is to see us build on this progress so we can establish Scotland as a country that is leading global action to address environmental challenges. This progress could not have been achieved without the hard work of organisations campaigning for our environment – and the individuals who give up their time for beach cleans, tree plantings, volunteering st home and aborad and even canvassing for petition signatures for the issues that are important to them.

These community champions hold the Scottish Government to account and have been an important part of our work cutting carbon emissions, taking action on single-use plastics and empowering communities to take on land ownership. However, I am aware that the value we see in citizens championing environmental rights is not evident everywhere and, in some parts of the world, people are persecuted for claiming rights that we take for granted.

That is why I want to go one step further than saying thank you by pledging my support for the UN Environmental Rights Initiative. Launched earlier this year, it is taking a stand against threats, intimidation, harassment and murder of environmental defenders and is working with people and governments to protect people’s environmental rights.

A staggering 197 people were murdered around the world defending their environment and land last year. Between 1993 and 2006, 48 countries introduced laws that restricted funding for environmental organisations. The Scottish Government steadfastly supports the ethos of the UN’S initiative and joins its calls on other governments to tackle apparent human rights abuse. Over the summer, we will do what we can to raise awareness of these issues.

This summer is also a time for us to draw up plans to build on our environmental leadership. We have a moral obligation to cut greenhouse gas emissions, tackle air pollution, protect and enhance biodiversity, restore ecosystems and work to reduce our international ecological footprint.

In Scotland, we have a fantastic network of environmental charities, organisations and volunteers that are helping us make Scotland cleaner and greener. I would encourage them and all those with an interest in shaping our future environmental policies to contribute to our Environment Strategy discussion paper. This will help us come up with a statement of ambition for all those working to protect our environment and set the contribution we will make to global issues. This new Environment Strategy will bring together our existing strategies and plans, helping co-ordinate and prioritise our action and resources so we can be even more effective in delivering Scotland’s worldleading environment and climate change goals.

No-one can be certain on how future technologies, trends or even Brexit will affect our environment, but we should be ambitious about what we can achieve over the short term, while maintaining our focus on the long-term vision and global ambitions for the environment. l Roseanna Cunningham MSP is the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Climate Change