must do it

The campaign is extremely pleased that almost all of our challenges to the political parties made before the May 2003 Scottish Parliament elections are now commitments in the new government coalition partnership agreement. This is a great success for you if you are one of the thousands of Scottish supporters of environmental action who took part in the campaign.

The next step is to keep the pressure up on these issues, because as is often the case in politics, words are one thing, committed action is another. As part of this, we have produced a review of the Executive’s progress, Second Term, One Year On - Government Progress on the Environment in Scotland,

For information on how the partnership agreement relates to campaign challenges, read our Review of the Partnership Agreement (Word file). Now you can check out what organisations involved in the campaign think needs to happen to deliver the government's commitments to the environment through 'everyone's watching' (pdf file).

To register your support for the campaign and to receive details of future activity, please let us know via our feedback form.

Thanks again for your support.

More information on the must do it campaign

everyone’s first campaign was themed ‘Must do it’. In the run up to the election in May 2003 we wanted all political parties and potential MSPs to make a commitment to the environment. Our belief is that politicians are not taking the environment seriously as a central political concern – lots of good words but not enough action – and that the state of the nation’s health, quality of life and economy are dependent on a healthy environment.

An opinion poll for the campaign by NFO System 3 has confirmed public demand for action and serves as a wake up call for Scottish politics:

86% believe the environment is an important political issue,
over half may decide their vote on environmental issues,
only a quarter rate the Scottish Parliament’s performance on the environment as good in the first four years. (Only 2% say very good.)

We created a set of basic steps demanded of politicians drawn from our ‘Manifesto for a sustainable Scotland’ They are not outrageous or unrealistic – just straightforward steps that could make a difference to everyone’s lives: clean air, healthy seas, safe food, less landfill, protection for wildlife and wild places, reduction in climate changing gases

Basic steps politicians can take to improve the environment:

Clean air		Safe food
ACT NOW: Reduce road traffic levels 10% by 2010. Tackle air pollution and climate change by redirecting at least two thirds of the £900 million planned for road-building to public transport, walking and cycling. Why? Air pollution, mainly from vehicle exhausts, kills more people in Scotland than die in road accidents. Too much traffic divides communities and degrades the environment, in rural as well as urban areas. Less traffic would mean fewer air pollution deaths, less congestion, less climate change, less social exclusion and less wildlife kill.		ACT NOW: Treble investment in environmentally friendly agriculture, pay organic farmers beyond the current five year support limit and introduce a new payment scheme for conversion to organic fruit and vegetables. Why? Requiring farmers to safeguard the environment and develop sustainable, healthier production methods in return for public money will deliver benefits for rural communities, wildlife, landscapes, animal welfare and reduce pollution. It will create more jobs compared to conventional farming.
Air briefing >>		Food briefing >>

Healthy seas		Less landfill
ACT NOW: Appoint a Minister for the Seas, overhaul Scotland’s outdated legislation to manage our seas and coasts better and introduce ‘regeneration areas’ to restore fish stocks and wildlife. Why? Healthy and well managed seas and coasts would sustain employment in fishing communities, generate jobs in tourism and provide protection for Scotland’s internationally important marine wildlife.		ACT NOW: Reduce waste by providing doorstep recycling for every household and by introducing a plastic bag charge. Set a 1% per year reduction target for total waste produced by 2010. Why? Many of us would recycle more of our household waste if it were collected from our homes. Recycling creates up to ten times more jobs than dumping or burning. Scots use 200 plastic bags per person each year – most of which end up in landfill. Scotland's total waste production is rising 2% per year.
Seas briefing >>		Waste briefing >>

Protection for wildlife and wild places		Reduction in climate changing gases
ACT NOW: Stronger protection, and increased funding, to care properly for Scotland’s precious wildlife and wild places. Allocate more resources for the police to deal with wildlife criminals. Commit more resources to encourage enjoyment of the countryside, including a Scotland-wide path network. Why? Scotland’s countryside and wildlife is special and vital to the health and wealth of the nation, but is threatened by illegal damage and poor management. Now that everyone’s right to responsible access to land and water is secured following the historic laws on land reform, the next step is to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to exercise that right. A majority of our most precious wildlife habitats remain without protection.		ACT NOW: Tackle climate change by improving domestic energy efficiency by 20% by 2010 and a further 20% by 2020. Introduce energy auditing for all homes. Why? The world’s climate is changing. We are already seeing dramatic changes in our weather as shown by recent and frequent floods. The impacts of global climate change would be reduced and thousands of jobs created if government invested more in energy efficiency measures such as home insulation and home energy auditing.
Nature briefing >>		Climate briefing >>

An overview of the party manifestos for 2003

Assessment of political party manifesto commitments (pdf document)