Environment and land use

What has the Scottish Parliament done?

Here are a few examples of what has been done in this area:

Legislation

• Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016

This act aims to modernise and improve specific aspects of land ownership and rights over land. The act provides for the creation of a Scottish Land Commission to review the impacts and effectiveness of land law or policy, and provides for a right of access to information about those in control of land for interested parties.

Summary (11KB pdf)

• Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009

The act contains provisions for setting targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and to introduce a framework for advice and reporting on climate change. It also allows for climate change duties to be placed on local authorities.

Summary (94KB pdf)

• The Single Use Carrier Bags Charge (Scotland) Regulations 2014 were made under the powers in this act. These introduced a charge for carrier bags with the aim of reducing their use to protect the environment, with funds generated from the charge being donated to charity, including environmental causes.

Committee inquiries

• Wildlife Crime Inquiry (2014)

The committee raised concerns over the quality of wildlife crime data and the low number of criminal proceedings in relation to the number of incidents reported to the police, and emphasised the need for the location of wildlife crimes to be effectively and consistently mapped. 

What is the Scottish Parliament doing?

Here is an example of what is currently being done in this area:

• The Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protection and Powers) (Scotland) Bill

The Bill provides further protections to animals and wildlife in Scotland.  It amends the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006, several pieces of wildlife legislation and the Animal Health Act 1981 to address concerns about current penalties, enforcement powers and the way this legislation operates in practice. 

Follow the work of the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee on its webpage.