Environment strategy: initial monitoring framework

1. Introduction

The Environment Strategy creates an overarching framework for Scotland’s environmental strategies and plans, including the Climate Change Plan. 

In February 2020, we published the Environment Strategy’s vision^[1]. It sets out our long-term ambitions for Scotland’s natural environment and our role in tackling the global climate and nature crises. 

It describes how our action on the environment will transform our country for the better – improving the health and wellbeing of Scotland’s people, tackling inequalities and creating a stronger and more resilient economy. It explains how, by striving to live within the Earth’s sustainable limits, we will meet our responsibilities to people across the planet and to future generations. 

The summary of the vision is:

One Earth. One home. One shared future.

By 2045: By restoring nature and ending Scotland’s contribution to climate change, our country is transformed for the better - helping to secure the wellbeing of our people and planet for generations to come.

To achieve this vision, the Scottish Government and our partners will focus our collective efforts on delivering six shared outcomes, shown in Annex A. Three outcomes describe our goals for the environment, focusing on nature, climate and resource-use. Three outcomes describe wider ambitions for our economy, society and global citizenship.

Working towards our vision will help to deliver many of the National Outcomes in our National Performance Framework^[2] (NPF) and support our contribution to many of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals^{[3] [4]}. It will support our green economic recovery through new opportunities for jobs, business and trade. And it will play a key role in building a wellbeing economy for Scotland, designed to support the wellbeing of our people and planet. 

The ‘vision and outcomes’ publication explained that next steps for the Environment Strategy include developing:

• Outcome pathways, identifying strategic priorities and opportunities for achieving the Strategy’s outcomes, working across government.
• A Monitoring Framework to track and report progress towards achieving the outcomes, helping to inform improvements in our approach.