Imagine a world of flower rich meadows, woodlands reverberating with birdsong, seas teeming with life, healthy affordable and locally produced food, a thriving high quality Scottish timber trade and sustainable fishing. Bits of that world exist in Scotland but not for everyone and under current trajectories, they may not exist for future generations either.

A just transition to a better future is about more than low carbon. A just transition is just as much about high nature.

These are global issues and we will not solve them alone. We live on a biologically interconnected planet. Oceans and weather systems link our continents and act as feedback loops. Warmer seas generate faster winds. Polar melting impacts ocean circulation and sea level rise and feeds into wave height and damage during storm events. These changes are now baked into our global systems and even if we stopped all emissions tomorrow, change is now inevitable. But, if natural systems are healthy, they help reduce and mitigate these impacts and they help us adapt to the future.

Unfortunately however, the pressures on natural systems across the world are increasing. We are losing species and habitats and our biodiversity is less intact and therefore less resilient. When biodiversity and ecosystems are less resilient to climate change, biodiversity loss is amplified.

Without international........

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