'Tis the season of 'emergencies'

By Dilraj Sokhi-Watson

Dilraj Sokhi-Watson is the LI’s Policy and Partnerships Manager in Scotland.

The LI’s Policy and Partnerships Manager in Scotland reflects on current priorities in the run up to Parliamentary elections in May.

The title of this piece is more than a passing nod to Donovan’s 1966 cult classic ‘Season of the Witch’. For starters, not enough can be written about the year that was 2020. In March 2020, less than a year into the Scottish First Minister’s declaration of a ‘climate emergency’, (1) Scotland along with several countries, embarked on a long arduous journey of dealing with the mother of all emergencies: a global pandemic.

While COVID-19 and the ensuing response measures have resulted in the twin public health and economic crises, a number of other touchpoints have also come to light during this time: the fragility of our global public health system, the connections between biodiversity loss and increase in the risk of pandemics (2) and exacerbation of pre-existing inequalities (3) .

When we review the impact of the pandemic through the lens of inequalities, COVID-19 has not been the great leveller. In fact, if the pandemic has highlighted anything at all, it is that we are not in this together. There are multiple causes of inequalities and a combination of these have resulted in restricting positive, social, health and environmental outcomes for many during lockdown. Donovan’s words ‘When I look out my window, many sights to see, and when I look in my window so many different people to be’ may hold a different meaning, are however, still relevant in describing the unequal experience of the pandemic. For some, the experience of lockdown for something as basic as access to nature has been simply availed by looking out of one’s window or stepping out into a nearby green space, whereas for many it has been about being crammed with others in urban spaces, with no green space within reach. Limited access to good quality landscape has further led to poorer physical and mental health outcomes. In Scotland, health inequalities from the perspective of green spaces are caused by poor landscape quality and deprivation. One of the reasons for poor landscape quality is under investment. In the post COVID-19 era, to tackle persistent inequalities in our communities and augment positive outcomes for health, public parks, and greenspaces, the government should focus green infrastructure investment in those places which have the greatest need. Currently, through the Green Infrastructure Strategic Intervention (GISI) funding programme, for the period of 2016 to 2023, £40 million (a mix of European Regional Development Fund and match funding) has been committed to improve multifunctional green infrastructure on a major scale in Scotland’s urban spaces, while the GISI funds green infrastructure in deprived areas of Scotland to improve habitats and biodiversity, transforming derelict land, addressing flood risk and creating new community spaces. The Scottish Government has now officially published its finalised Infrastructure Investment Plan (IIP) (4) for the next five fiscal years. The inclusion of ‘natural infrastructure’ and ‘nature assets’ within the plan widens the scope of the definition and, by extension, the scope of the plan. However, investment decisions on infrastructure needs and priorities, including natural infrastructure, have not been made yet. This has been deferred until an assessment is done. As this has implications on the future of green infrastructure spend, it is a key area of interest for landscape practitioners in the coming parliamentary sessions.

In addition to the health, economic and climate emergencies, our natural environment is also in a state of crisis. In 2019, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) published a report (5) , which was the most comprehensive assessment of its kind. It found that nature is declining globally, at an ‘unprecedented rate’, with a million species threatened with extinction, and stated that we need to bring about a ‘transformative change’ to halt the global decline. In late 2019, the ‘State of Nature Scotland’ (6) report provided a health check on the status of Scotland’s wildlife. The key findings were that of the 8,431 species assessed, 15% are now at risk of extinction. Some of the notable pressures recorded on Scotland’s large scale green infrastructure and directly affecting habitat and wildlife wereland use change, climate change and urbanisation. Incidentally, earlier in the year, the Scottish Parliament passed the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019. The Planning Act was introduced to reform the planning system in Scotland. The planning system has an important role to play in safeguarding existing green infrastructure and ensuring new developments also deliver on, good quality green infrastructure. One of the key aspects of the Planning Act is that it strengthens commitment to existing strategies and targets on climate change in relation to the effect national developments have on the environment. While the Planning Act introduced biodiversity safeguards to the extent that positive effects are considered as an outcome for the National Planning Framework, it fell short in providing for developments accounting for net gain. Decisions on development, land use or land management should not negatively impact on land quality or biodiversity, as it may lead to net loss. In fact, change can be used to enhance landscape quality, offset adverse impacts and deliver biodiversity net gain. For Scotland, the next opportunity to deliver on green infrastructure objectives through planning is through the Fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4). The NPF4 will integrate Scottish Planning Policy, where for the first time spatial and thematic planning policies will be addressed in one place. The NPF4 will be put before the Parliament in September 2021 and is likely to be ratified in early 2025.

In addition to the NPF4, Scotland’s Land Use Strategy will be published in March 2021. It is an important mechanism that ensures that land is used sustainably, and that Scotland can respond to the climate and nature emergencies. The Committee on Climate Change suggests that, for Scotland to be able to meet the new emissions reduction targets of 75% by 2030, and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, significant land use change is required. For an effective response to the twin emergencies of climate and nature, land use change requires an integrated approach, with clear linkages of land use decisions and the consequent benefits and impacts. Scotland’s Land Use Strategy is a strategic framework that provides the opportunity to employ an integrated approach and sets out the government’s vision for achieving sustainable land use in Scotland.

So, what does the future look like in this season of emergencies? Well, the answer is we do not even know what the present looks like, let alone foretell what the future will be. The pandemic is still ravaging the health of the population and the economy, while the ways in which we work and live are continuing to evolve. As we respond to these changes, the roadmap to green recovery should consider opportunities such as investment, maintenance and renewal of green spaces, and reduction of environmental related health inequalities, securing positive effects for biodiversity and reaching Scotland’s net zero carbon reduction targets. Nature will not wait, and neither should we.

New public garden at The Palace of Holyroodhouse

Royal Collection Trust

© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2021

Royal Collection Trust

© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2021

Situated on Abbey Strand, the new public garden at The Palace of Holyroodhouse can be freely enjoyed year round by the people of Edinburgh and visitors to the Palace. It will also be used by school and community groups to explore how plants have historically been used to improve health and wellbeing. Both the garden and the adjacent Learning Centre were created as part of Future Programme, a major programme of investment at the Palace of Holyroodhouse by The Royal Collection Trust. The garden was designed by landscape architects J&L Gibbons under the direction of Future Programme’s Lead Designers, Burd Haward Architects, with specialist planting advice supplied by Catherine FitzGerald of Mark Lutyens Associates. Research undertaken by Royal Collection Trust and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh informed the design process. The new garden contains medicinal and culinary plants that would have grown in the Palace’s original 17th-century physic garden.

References

1 https://www.gov.scot/news/action-to-addressclimate-emergency/

2 https://ipbes.net/pandemics

3 https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/ documents/govscot/publications/research-andanalysis/2020/09/the-impacts-of-covid-19-onequality-in-scotland/documents/full-report/full-report/ govscot%3Adocument/Covid%2Band%2BInequalities %2BFinal%2BReport%2BFor%2BPublication %2B-%2BPDF.pdf

4https://www.gov.scot/publications/nationalmission-local-impact-infrastructure-investment-planscotland-2021-22-2025-26/

5 https://ipbes.net/global-assessment

6 https://www.nature.scot/state-nature-scotlandreport-2019