Support the campaign calls
Thank you to everyone who added their name to the petition calling for all Scottish Parties to include tackling sewage in their manifestos.
It worked! The SNP, Scottish Labour, Scottish Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Greens all made commitments.
Now, we need to turn these words into action. Can you write a postcard and meet your local MSP?
Sewage spills are polluting our rivers and coasts. To protect nature and our right to a healthy environment, the Scottish Government must tackle the reckless use of sewer overflows.
Sewer overflows were designed to prevent flooding during extreme rainfall by discharging sewage into watercourses. But they are being used for routine pollution. Over 30 billion litres of sewage was discharged from sewer overflows last year.
Safe water is part of our human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, a right that is recognised in 165 out of 193 UN Member States.
Scotland’s water industry is publicly owned by us – and sewage pollution does not serve the public good. Communities across Scotland are struggling to have their local waters cleaned up.
To tackle water pollution, we need a national conversation on how to make transformational change. Let’s start by dealing with sewage. We call on all Scottish parties to enshrine our right to a healthy environment and:
1. Make pollution visible
Introduce 100% monitoring of all sewer overflows so that we know how often our waterways are being polluted.
2. Stop routine pollution
Match the new EU standards for surface water quality and wastewater treatment to safeguard human and environmental health.
3. Hold polluters to account
Review the resources and enforcement of our current regulations to give public bodies the tools to protect our waterways.
4. Build in resilience
Set interim targets for 2030 to invest in blue-green infrastructure to reduce sewage spills.
Support the campaign calls
Organisations in Scotland can support the four calls and join the campaign by filling in this form.
Supporting civil society organisations
Supporting businesses
