First Minister Jack McConnell made a major speech on the Executive's environmental policy at a conference in Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh, on February 18, 2002.
This is the full text of what he had to say.
Today I will set out why Sustainable Development matters to me. Why the environment is central to my political priorities and most of all why sustainable development matters to the people of Scotland.
For too long, the environment was too far down the list of political priorities. That, in Scotland, is no longer the case. The Partnership Agreement which established our coalition government in 1999 committed us to integrating "the principle of environmentally and socially sustainable development into all government policies", and steady progress has followed.
But now it is time to step up the action. or nearly three years the concepts of social justice have been at the heart of our policy agenda and our spending priorities. And that must remain. I want the lasting impact of the Scottish Parliament to be fewer opportunity gaps between those with the most and those who have the least.
But I am also clear that this gap between the haves and the have-nots is not just an economic issue. For quality of life, closing the gap demands environmental justice too. That is why I said on 22 November - the day of my election in parliament - that environment and social justice would be the themes driving our policies and priorities, and one of my first decisions as Scotlands new First Minister was to take a leading role within our devolved government for environmental change.
I believe that good government can affect real change and greater determination from all Scottish Ministers will see real improvement on Scotland's environmental record. Today I welcome this opportunity to set out some early action that will be taken across the Executive. Action on recycling, action on renewable energy, action on local concerns and most of all action to make the spending decisions across all the devolved budgets more sustainable.
We increasingly know of the damage, not just in Scotland but elsewhere, that is being inflicted on our world every moment of every day. As the years go on the implications of this damage become clearer and clearer. The world's climate is changing, and is changing too fast for comfort.
We are living lifestyles and building economies which waste the world's limited resources. The more we use, the less we replace. Unless we change these habits in our lifetimes, there will be insufficient natural resources to meet the needs of the poor in our generation; and we will leave a shocking legacy for our children and our children's children.
We must take responsibility for the world that we live in. If previous generations had known what we know now, then perhaps the decisions taken by them would have been different. We live with the consequences of those economic and political decisions, made with little thought for the long term, or for their impact on the environment.
We know that this damage to our environment hits the poorest hardest. Traffic fumes, pollution, and poor quality housing all affect the most vulnerable in our society: the old, the very young and those who have least.
Today's generation of decision makers - politicians, business owners and local leaders in communities right across Scotland - are uniquely placed in time. We know we must deal with the legacy of historically un-sustainable development. There are wrongs still to be righted. But more important than ever we must learn from our past mistakes and as our society develops - economically and socially - it must develop in a way that meets the needs of the present without compromising the resources of future generations.
The environmental agenda is wide and government at all levels is already working to protect our natural heritage, improve water supplies and improve access to the countryside. But today I want to concentrate on the impact of a poor environment on people and the injustices that still exist in Scotland.
It has traditionally been the view amongst many - including some in my own Party - that campaigning for the environment was a marginal issue. That the environment was a concern for the middle classes. That it was about green fields, hills and glens, birds and flowers in woods and on the seashore. While I do not dismiss the relative importance of that side of Scotland, I do want to challenge that viewpoint.
Too often the environment is dismissed as the concern of those who are not confronted with bread and butter issues. But the reality is that the people who have the most urgent environmental concerns in Scotland are those who daily cope with the consequences of a poor quality of life, and live in a rotten environment - close to industrial pollution, plagued by vehicle emissions, streets filled by litter and walls covered in graffiti. This is true for Scotland and also true elsewhere in the world. These are circumstances which would not be acceptable to better off communities in our society, and those who have to endure such environments in which to bring up a family, or grow old themselves are being denied environmental justice.
Although there has been far too little research in this country into the social effects of environmental degradation, we do know that:
In the late 20th century the big political challenge - and the greatest success I believe - for democrats on the left of centre was to develop combined objectives of economic prosperity and social justice. I believe the biggest challenge for the early 21st century is to combine economic progress with social and environmental justice.
We must challenge the assertion that there is always a conflict between economic progress and environmental protection. Technological change and increasing productivity should reduce the negative environmental impact from production. And there are, for example, jobs to be created from our massive potential within renewable energy, tourism and other areas.
Scotland's industrial base is the core of our social and labour history - but it has left a legacy of contaminated land, run-down towns and social problems of its own.
Industries which discharge to the environment cohabit with communities, and they are interdependent on each other - for workers and for work.
Improving relations between a community and industry should be encouraged. Industries should strive to be good neighbours, aiming to distinguish themselves by an engagement with local communities to address their concerns and promote better mutual understanding.
A thorough and honest appraisal of environmental performance can be the spur to further improvements - and I want to see more Scottish Businesses publish Corporate Responsibility Reports.
Openness and accountability to stakeholders, not just shareholders, would be improved by environmental reporting and a concerted effort to reduce emissions and resource use. And I have been pleased to note the success which Scottish Power's environment report has had in business awards in recent years amongst a number of other major initiatives by Scottish companies.
The nature of environmental problems has changed over the years and we are less challenged by the direct emissions of pollutants from individual factories than we were at the height of our industrial heyday. Legislation effectively protects people from the most serious pollution, whether it has its origins in industry or from other dispersed sources.
But still the cumulative experience of communities growing up in the shadow of old traditional industry impacts on life chances and future opportunities.
SEPA is quite rightly tough on those few who persistently offend. But communities do not always believe the system is on their side and I would like to see more openness in dealing with complaints. I was at Greengairs landfill site this morning and the most telling comment made to me was that when people contact one public agency, local authority or central government they find they are passed on to another body to deal with the complaint and get passed from pillar to post. We need to ensure that people who want to raise issues know who is dealing with it and organisations work together to deal with genuine concerns.
It will only be possible to accurately assess the effectiveness of current powers when communities can fully understand the impact and activities of SEPA, local authorities and others, or the reasons why no action seems possible or appropriate.
Of course, sustainable development and environment protection is the responsibility of every one of us - business, workers, communities and government. This is why Ross Finnie has established the Sustainable Development Forum - to bring together all stakeholders to work out action on the environment. And we will ensure the Forum receives the information and the support it needs and deserves to deliver meaningful dialogue.
Whilst the concept of sustainable development is written into the founding values of the Scottish Parliament, too often it remains an add on to policy rather than the basis upon which we build. Too often, new policies are constructed and the consideration of their contribution towards a sustainable future is tacked on at the end.
We are lucky in Scotland; we live in a beautiful country with some of the most amazing natural heritage in Europe. But our great natural heritage is under threat - climate change alone means that habitats will change, we will lose species; coastlines will erode and our towns and cities will suffer from flooding.
We may not have the problems of overcrowding and congestion suffered worst by many others in the world. But that should not mean that we rest on our laurels. Instead we should see this as an opportunity but also an obligation. An obligation to make sure we do more than our fair share to protect future generations here and elsewhere.
I have taken the chair of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Sustainable Development because I want to back up Ross Finnie's work on sustainable development and see other Ministers involved too.
The environmental movement has been waiting for us to publish sustainable development indicators - to provide a basis on which Scotland's progress can be judged. I put on record today my commitment to publish these indicators soon - but I also want to assure you that the first indicators we publish will not be the end of the story. The more information we have the better informed our decisions will be. These indicators will be a first step in demonstrating Scotland's record on sustainability and not a last step.
But we will move on swiftly from this and consider the next steps for sustainability across the Executive and elsewhere. I believe a government with a wide, strong and deep commitment to the environment is not accomplished by putting it in the title of one department. Environmental problems affect urban and rural Scotland. And every part and layer of government can affect the environment. And every department, every agency, every public, private and voluntary body can help change.
Protecting and improving Scotland's environment is not just the job of our Environment Minister - it the job of everyone.
In Education - young people learning the value of Scotland's green spaces but most importantly for the future equipping themselves with the skills and the confidence to get out there and argue for their quality of life when it is under threat.
In Transport - where some of the toughest sustainability issues are faced, we are putting sustained investment into public transport - and we recognised that cycling and walking as a mode of travel. Most car journeys are short and there are alternatives, but we must make them better. We will not stop building or maintaining roads but we must tackle the forecasted growth in road traffic and worsening congestion this will bring.
So our transport policy will focus on tackling congestion in metropolitan areas. Eight out of 10 of the priority transport projects are targeted at improving public transport and providing public transport alternatives for motorists where these do not already exist.
Improvements in public transport, which we are pursuing, will be of benefit to all, but of most benefit to those families which cannot afford a car. It is sometimes forgotten in our modern society, that in constituencies like mine 50 per cent of the population don't have access to a private car. Public transport matters - it is a necessity. The substantial investment we have made through the Public Transport Fund and Rural Transport Fund has turned round the slump in bus passengers and for the first time in decades the numbers of bus passengers has increased in successive years. In doing so, we help tackle climate change and air pollution.
Health - A healthy environment contributes to our well being, and we are committed to improving our national health: Scotland's record and the inequalities that still exist in health are intolerable. We must direct our resources to treating preventable illnesses. If we improve life circumstances, improve our air quality and water quality, if we reduce noise pollution and ensure healthy living, then our health service itself becomes more sustainable and the quality of life in Scotland is enjoyed for longer. And, improvements in housing quality will reduce the number of households that are blighted by respiratory or other illnesses related to cold and dampness.
Housing and regeneration - we are committed to improving the quality of our housing stock to reduce the domestic use of energy. Our commitment to regenerating deprived communities must also take account of the need to address environmental deficits and we will work with our partners and communities themselves to this end. We are working with social landlords to promote a sustainable development policy in housing investment, which will assess projects against criteria which include the use of brownfield sites, space and water heating costs and carbon dioxide emissions.
We have set ourselves the challenging target of ending fuel poverty by 2016 - and we are working with the advice of Friends of the Earth, Age Concern, Shelter and Energy Action Scotland to that end. This has the triple affect of reducing debt; improving health; and curbing climate change emissions. By 2003/04 we will have raised the Scottish Executive's annual expenditure on home energy efficiency to almost £50 million to significantly reducing the number of people living in fuel poverty.
Recent assessments under our Air Quality Strategy have identified hotspots in our major cities where councils will now have to introduce measures to reduce unacceptably high levels of pollution. And the tougher standards on particulates - we will introduce - will help reduce the incidence of asthma in children and bronchial attacks in our society.
Finally, new environmental rights from the Freedom of Information Act, will ensure people can learn about the environment in which they live. Information is empowering and can help local people take control of their own circumstances. And our justice system must give confidence to people that the weight of the law is on their side. Polluters who defy legal standards should be held to account. These are just some examples. The environment is a core priority running through all these areas of work.
I want action across the whole of the Executive and throughout those public services and budgets which are devolved to the Parliament in Edinburgh. And the first task will be to design this years Spending Review so it contributes to Sustainable Development.
Jim Wallace and I have agreed that SR2002 will genuinely consider the environmental impact resulting from the spending decisions that are taken, department by department, before the final allocations.
Spending departments within the Executive and those partners and agencies we fund, will need to demonstrate what contribution their proposals will make towards the achievement of sustainable development objectives and in particular how they would:
I am not making any new spending commitments here today; what I am doing is making a firm new commitment on our spending.
I want to see the very significant sums we are spending on government programmes contribute to achieving sustainable development. For example, within the significant investment due to take place as a result of housing stock transfer and other improvements, it would be a tragedy to miss the opportunity to ensure homes in Scotland are more efficient, less wasteful and more environmentally friendly in the widest sense.
Sustainable development should be mainstream and not confined to small pilot schemes and pockets of project funding. And this policy will see that start to happen.
In relation to waste, it would be an obvious point to make that Scotland's recycling record is appalling. At the beginning of the 1990's, I led a council where we made the protection of the environment a priority. At the time I thought we were starting something that would take off and become a successful, mainstream industry with wide popular support. But I look around and discover we are producing more waste, we're recycling less and we're putting almost everything into ugly landfill scars.
While Denmark, Finland, Germany, the USA and Norway re-cycle over a quarter of their household waste, and Switzerland over half, Scotland barely manages to recycle one twentieth. I cannot and will not accept that this is the best we can do. I believe we can do better than this.
Local waste strategies mean that councils must consider the best environmental way to deal with waste and our National Waste Strategy must establish a long-term approach for moving away from our chronic over-dependence on landfill.
And our proposed new laws for Local Government will create the conditions for mandatory targets for reduction, recycling and composting of municipal waste.
But I want to take the lead on recycling and see our rate of progress on this increase. It is now time to bring all this to bear throughout government. The public sector in Scotland has a purchasing power of around £5 billion per year - I believe we should use this as a tool to support where possible indigenous recycling industries.
The Executive own offices are making progress and we have set ourselves targets to increase the amount of office waste recovered to 50% by March 2002, and to reduce the volume of our waste going to landfill by 25% by 2004. But I want to see all public bodies setting targets for recycling, waste minimisation and resource consumption and we will set out just how and when we expect that to happen in the very near future.
A more sustainable use of energy means that in the first instance we must reduce the amount we consume by being more efficient.But we know that the generation of electricity can be achieved in degrees of sustainability.
Scotland has an enormous resource of renewable sources. And I am pleased to see last week's PIU Energy Report confirm the potential for renewable energy sources meeting our future electricity needs.
In Scotland we already expect to exceed our initial target of generating 18% by 2010 of electricity from renewables. Today I want to signal our intention to increase that target. This will be a major contribution to reducing our carbon dioxide emissions. We must set ourselves a challenge which reflects our opportunity and our obligation to future generations, so we will consult on a target to work towards 30% of our electricity coming from renewable sources by 2020.
Finally, Scotland is not isolated from the rest of the world. The consequences of September 11 all ensure that keeping an eye on the world stage is vital in so many areas. The world is coming together in the late summer in Johannesburg for the most important international conference on Sustainable Development for a decade.
I want to put on record my intention that Scotland should be represented at that conference, at the highest level. Scotland should be present at this gathering which will not only take stock of progress since Rio but I will also shape our efforts to implement sustainable development.
I think we will find that we share with much of the rest of the world an appetite for and a commitment to social and environmental justice and sustainable development.
I wanted this opportunity today to give Scotland's environment a greater profile. No longer can the environment be thought of as a luxury consideration. I want environmental justice so that all our people can live in decent surroundings and can access our countryside.
Bringing about real change and truly developing Scotland in a more sustainable way means building sustainable development in everything that we do. In this government's core priority areas of health, education, crime, transport and jobs we must meet the needs of our current generations without compromising the needs of future generations.
The environment isn't just another public service to be added onto our core public service areas. Protecting the environment will in itself make our public services and our communities stronger over the long term.
Just as economic prosperity and social justice must go hand in hand. For the long term in Scotland, economic progress and environmental justice must go hand in hand too. That is our challenge for the 21st century and this government will take the lead.