Everyone has the right to a healthy environment, but our environmental policies do not benefit everyone equally.
Last September, we were commissioned by NPC’s Everyone’s Environment project to co-produce recommendations for making environmental policy more inclusive and responsive to the needs of marginalised groups in Scotland.
This blog shares the project’s resources in the hope they can be used more widely to advocate for greener and healthier outcomes for everyone.
Policy priorities from deliberation groups
Last summer, NPC reached out to Scottish NGOs and carried out deliberation groups with Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people, Disabled people, young people and older people to identify their priorities for environmental policy.
Members of the deliberation groups agreed five priority areas for action to increase accessibility and equity:
- Access to quality green and blue spaces
- Access to accessible, affordable and clean transport
- Fair access to renewables
- High-quality housing
- Accessible green jobs and skills
Participants also wanted to see more active involvement in policy design and implementation, a rights-based/fairness approach, accessible information and greater action at the devolved level in the delivery of policies.
ERCS’s task was to identify policy options that met these priorities.
Scoping policy gaps and proposals
We began by reviewing current Scottish Government policy papers to understand where the gaps were in the five policy areas. We also scoped policy proposals from Scottish charities and think tanks and looked for relevant findings from academic papers.
Identifying recommendations
The policy reviews informed a workshop with human rights and environmental organisations, who represent and work directly with diverse communities and equality groups in Scotland. Together, we identified proposals to address the policy gaps. These included:
- Inclusion Scotland’s demand to involve Disabled people in transport infrastructure design
- The Poverty Alliance’s proposal to establish a Minimum Income Guarantee to tackle fuel poverty
- stronger enforcement mechanisms to ensure landlords carry out repairs and energy-efficiency measures, as advocated by the tenants’ union Living Rent.
Calling for action
Everyone’s Environment underscores the need for greater action on the social outcomes of environmental policies – and how the voices of marginalised groups and communities must be centred in this process. We were grateful to collaborate with the organisations and individuals who lent their expertise to this process.
In April 2025, along with 12 organisations, we wrote to the First Minister and Scottish Party leaders with our recommendations, calling on them to embed a human rights-based approach in all environmental policy. The Scottish Government’s response repeated their commitment to a future Scottish Human Rights Bill, including the right to a healthy environment.
This is reassuring, but more is needed. Our recommendations provide some signposts to addressing the intersection of poor environmental quality and poverty which contributes to health inequalities and systemic discrimination. This is just the beginning to ensure that everyone can enjoy their economic, social, and cultural rights and protect our right to a healthy environment.
Julia Leino, ERCS Policy & Communications Officer, June 2025
