The Scottish Government has introduced a new Natural Environment Bill, which aims to impose a duty upon Scottish Ministers to set legally binding targets for biodiversity and nature restoration.
Forming part of the country’s wider Biodiversity Strategy to 2045, the bill seeks to create a framework for Scottish Ministers to set biodiversity targets through secondary legislation. Ministers will be legally obliged to set, report on and review biodiversity and nature recovery targets across three mandatory areas: species abundance, habitat restoration and ecosystem health. The bill also gives Ministers the authority to introduce additional regulations to ensure that these targets are achieved.
With a view to supporting biodiversity targets once implemented, the bill grants Scottish Ministers the authority to amend Environmental Impact Assessment and Habitats Regulations, a power that was lost by the Scottish government after the UK’s EU Exit. Additionally, it revises the aims of Scotland’s National Parks, placing the support of biodiversity and nature recovery at the centre of their mission, and introduces new provisions for the management of wild deer.
While the Natural Environment Bill’s recognition of the need for biodiversity targets and creation of the relevant framework for their development is a positive step, it notably lacks legally binding, time-bound biodiversity and nature recovery targets. If the bill becomes law, the Scottish Government will need to act swiftly to create and implement the necessary targets and measures, or it would risk falling short of the ambitious goal that it set out in its Biodiversity Strategy: to halt biodiversity loss by 2030.
The EU’s Nature Restoration Law (NRL), by contrast, is an ambitious piece of legislation even after having been watered down as a result of the strong opposition that it faced from conservative groups in the European Parliament. The NRL outlines binding targets, including for restoration measures to cover 20% of both land and sea areas by 2030, and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050, as well as the restoration of 30% of degraded habitats by 2030. If the Scottish Natural Environment Bill becomes law in its current form, it would leave Scotland lagging behind the EU in its protection of biodiversity and commitment to nature recovery.