The Trust has welcomed the findings of the Independent Advisory Group on Economic Recovery, published today by the Scottish Government.
Our Chief Executive Jo Pike said: “The advisory group has created an ambitious set of recommendations for Scotland’s recovery that highlights opportunities to restore our natural environment and increase human wellbeing. Scotland’s economic priorities must go hand in hand with tackling the twin crises facing our climate and biodiversity. The report is an important recognition of this.
“Scotland’s economic priorities must go hand in hand with tackling the twin crises facing our climate and biodiversity.”
Jo Pike, Chief Executive
“There is welcome acknowledgement of the need for greater integration of natural capital approaches into more coherent policy making, which can help improve resilience to external shocks, as well as generating opportunities for an inclusive and sustainable economic recovery. We also welcome the group’s recommendation that the financial services sector and the Scottish Government should develop and promote nature-based investments to protect and enhance Scotland’s natural capital.
“Last month, we published a ‘Route Map to £1 Billion’ in partnership with SEPA, showing how we can begin to bridge the dramatic gap in funding needed to protect and restore vulnerable ecosystems while creating new green jobs, a healthier environment and greater resilience for our businesses and communities.
“The scale of what is required should not be underestimated. Achieving the advisory group’s goal ‘that each generation should leave its successor a set of natural assets at least as good as those that they inherited’ needs sustained investment and concerted effort across all sectors to reverse long-term declines.
“Transforming the way land is used in Scotland requires a radically different system of supporting farmers, so that public money is used to deliver public goods and agriculture builds natural capital. Similarly, we will have to ensure that Scotland’s forestry strategy not only supports ambitious national targets for increasing woodland cover, but encourages much higher proportions of native broadleaved woodland.
“We encourage the Scottish Government to act on the findings of this report to ensure that Scotland’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic is truly green and transformative, and that both people and wildlife benefit from a healthier and more resilient natural environment.”