Shaping and influencing policy: Q3 23/24
19 December 2023
It continues to be a busy time for #TeamKSB and with a number of government consultations opening and closing over the course of Q3.
Strategic engagement and working collaboratively
It was a privilege to attend the Thriving Nature, Thriving Communities parliamentary reception which was organised by NatureScot in collaboration with the National Lottery Heritage Fund Scotland. The event was a fantastic opportunity to hear from host Alasdair Allan MSP and Gillian Martin MSP.
We were delighted to attend the Cross-Party Group on Circular Economy in October where we provided secretariat support. During this we heard from the Chair of the Scottish Environmental Services Association who discussed what the waste sector is doing to meet net zero.
Alongside Hubbub UK we hosted an event to discuss and share innovative ways to tackle Scotland's litter emergency and the pleasure of being joined by Lorna Slater, Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity as she shared what the government is doing to curb the problem of litter.
Developing and engaging with policy
Our work to advocate and inspire policy change across our four key strategic objectives continues across our network. During the course of Q3 we endorsed Scottish Environment LINK’s response to the Human Rights (Scotland) Bill and we expect to the Bill to be introduced at some point in the 2023/24 parliamentary year. Additionally, we provided a response to The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations consultation that closed in October.
We attended the Climate Conversation roundtable in November which was hosted by First Minister Humza Yousaf and Màiri McAllan, Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition. Here we were afforded the opportunity to hear the commitments to both domestic and international climate action.
Our work has continued throughout this period on key issues such as providing consultation responses on the ban on wet wipes containing plastic and the ban on single-use vapes.
Demonstrating expertise and credibility
We have published two major reports - the Scottish Litter Survey and How clean are our streets? - which highlighted the state of the litter emergency across Scotland as well as the public perception of litter. These reports also gathered public opinion on issues such as single-use vapes, Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) litter.
As part of our Climate Action Schools programme we delivered a Q&A session with the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition, allowing school pupils to hear more about Scotland’s work towards net zero and ask questions about the government’s work.
