The Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform was a cabinet post in the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

. The Cabinet Secretary was supported by the Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment, who also reported to the Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy.

Overview

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform: *

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

and environmental protection * biodiversity * environmental and

climate justice Climate justice is a type of environmental justice that focuses on the unequal impacts of climate change on marginalized or otherwise vulnerable populations. Climate justice seeks to achieve an equitable distribution of both the burdens of clima ...

* flood prevention and

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of Wind wave, waves, Ocean current, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts ...

* land use and land reform * animal welfare * wildlife crime * water quality

Public bodies

The following public bodies report to the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform: *

Cairngorms National Park Authority Cairngorms National Park () is a national park in northeast Scotland, established in 2003. It was the second of National parks of Scotland, two national parks established by the Scottish Parliament, after Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National ...

Crown Estate Scotland Crown Estate Scotland () is the self-financing public corporation of the Scottish Government responsible for the management of land and property in Scotland owned by the monarch 'in right of the Crown'. It was separated from the Crown Estate o ...

* Drinking Water Quality Regulator *

Forestry and Land Scotland Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) () is an executive agency responsible for managing and promoting Scotland's national forest estate: land, predominantly covered in forest, owned by the Scottish Government on behalf of the nation. It was formed o ...

* Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority *

NatureScot NatureScot () is an Scottish public bodies#Executive NDPBs, executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for Scotland’s natural heritage, especially its nature, natural, genetics, genetic and scenic diversity. ...

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

Scottish Canals Scottish Canals () is the Scottish Government body responsible for managing the country's inland waterways. Formerly a division of British Waterways, it became a stand-alone corporation on 2 July 2012, then an executive non-departmental public ...

Scottish Environment Protection Agency The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA; ) is Scotland's Environmental regulation, environmental regulator and national flood forecasting, flood warning and strategic flood risk management authority.Scottish Forestry Scottish Forestry () is the public body responsible for forestry regulation, policy and support to private landowners in Scotland. It was formed on 1 April 2019, to take over some of the responsibilities of Forestry Commission Scotland, which wa ...

Scottish Land Commission The Scottish Land Commission () was established by the Scottish Government following the passage of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 by the Scottish Parliament; the Commission also incorporates the work of the Tenant Farming Commissioner. The ...

Scottish Water Scottish Water is a statutory corporation that provides water and sewerage services across Scotland. It is accountable to the public through the Scottish Government. Operations Scottish Water provides drinking water to 2.46 million households a ...

Water Industry Commission for Scotland The Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS) () is the economic regulator of the water and sewerage industry in Scotland. Established in 2005, it is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government with statutory respons ...

History

In the first

Dewar Government Donald Dewar formed the Dewar government on 17 May 1999 following his appointment as the inaugural First Minister of Scotland. The first devolved executive of Scotland, it consisted of Scottish Labour and the Scottish Liberal Democrats, who fo ...

, the environment brief was the responsibility of the Minister for Transport and Environment and the Deputy Minister for Fisheries and Land Reform, changing to the Minister of the Environment, Sport and Culture and the Deputy Minister for Rural Development from 2000 to 2001. From 2001 and 2007, environment was combined with the rural affairs brief for the Minister for the Environment and Rural Development, with the associated deputy post of Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development. The Salmond government, elected following the

2007 Scottish Parliament election The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999. 2007 Scottish local elections, ...

, created the

junior minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry (government department), ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is desi ...

ial post of the Minister for Environment who assisted the

Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and Environment The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands (), commonly referred to as the Rural Affairs Secretary (), is a position in the Scottish Government Cabinet. The incumbent Cabinet Secretary is Mairi Gougeon, who was appointed i ...

, in the

Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department The Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD) was a civil service department of the Scottish Executive. SEERAD was responsible for the following areas in Scotland: agriculture, rural development, food, the environment ...

. A junior minister did not attend the Scottish Cabinet unless his/her Cabinet Secretary was absent. The Minister for Environment and Climate Change and Land Reform took the lead role in environment and natural heritage,

crofting Crofting (Scottish Gaelic: ') is a form of land tenure and small-scale food production peculiar to the Scottish Highlands, the islands of Scotland, and formerly on the Isle of Man. Within the 19th-century townships, individual crofts were est ...

, forestry, aquaculture, sport fishing, land reform, access, water quality regulation,

sustainable development Sustainable development is an approach to growth and Human development (economics), human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General ...

and climate change. In 2010, Climate Change was added to the Environment portfolio becoming Minister for Environment and Climate Change. Land reform was added to the title in November 2014 after

Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2014 to 2023. She has served as a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) sin ...

's first reshuffle on her appointment to First Minister of Scotland. The Ministerial post was abolished in May 2016 at the beginning of the

second Sturgeon government Nicola Sturgeon formed the second Sturgeon government following her Scottish National Party's victory in the 2016 Scottish Parliament election. Sturgeon was nominated by a vote of the 5th Scottish Parliament for appointment to the post of first ...

. The duties of the junior Ministerial post were upgraded to full Cabinet Secretary status at that point as the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform.

List of office holders

The final Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform was

Roseanna Cunningham Roseanna Cunningham (born 27 July 1951) is a retired Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who served as Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform from 2016 to 2021. She was previously Cabinet Secretary for Fair Wor ...

References

External links

Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform
on the Scottish Government website {{Sustainable development in Scotland Environment Environment of Scotland Climate change in Scotland Land reform in Scotland