The Scottish Government manages our marine environment with the guiding principle that our natural environment, its wildlife and the diversity of the industries which depend on it, must be safeguarded for future generations.
Under the SNP, Scotland is helping to lead the way in action on plastics and on deposit return. The SNP have banned personal hygiene products containing plastic microbeads and plastic stemmed cotton buds.
Scotland leads the way on deposit return and was the first part of the UK to commit to a deposit return scheme for drinks containers. Last year saw Scotland’s International Marine Conference 2019 to discuss improving our marine environment and protecting our wildlife, focusing on marine plastics.
In Scotland, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), in conjunction with the Scottish Government implements the EU Water Framework Directive aimed at ensuring the protection, improvement and sustainable use of rivers, lochs, transitional waters, coastal waters and groundwater.
As the UK leaves the EU, the SNP will press the UK Government to ensure there is no backsliding on these environmental protections and to make strong representation at international level to ensure a global effort to protect the oceans.