Sustainability
The Scottish Parliament is committed to reducing its carbon footprint and using fewer resources.
Find out about our Sustainable Development Scrutiny
Sustainable travel plan
The Scottish Parliament sustainable travel plan:
- shows how we can reduce our carbon footprint from our travel activities
- outlines active travel options
- includes ways to make car journeys more sustainable
- complements sustainable working practices
Read the Sustainable Travel Plan (460KB, pdf) posted 21 August 2023
Annual sustainable development report
The Parliament’s sustainability performance from 2021 to 2022 is set out in this report.
Sustainable development report (6MB, pdf) posted 11 April 2023
Biodiversity
How the Parliament’s local ecosystem is supported and protected is set out in the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) biodiversity statement.
Biodiversity is the range of living things and systems on Earth. It includes:
- animal and plant species
- genes
- ecosystems
- landscapes
The more plant, insect and animal species there are in one area, the greater the biodiversity and the healthier the ecosystem.
Biodiversity Statement 2021 (2MB, pdf) posted 01 April 2022
Aithris Bith-iomadachd Pàrlamaid na h-Alba 2021 (2MB, pdf) posted 01 April 2022
BSL: watch Biodiversity Statement 2021
Reducing our carbon footprint
We plan to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by 66% in 2026. We will achieve this by reducing our gas and electricity usage and cutting down on business travel. These emissions will also decrease through grid decarbonisation as the UK power grid moves to more sustainable energy sources.
Our targets are set out in the latest Carbon Management Plan.
Carbon Management Plan 2021 to 2026 (480KB, pdf) posted 19 November 2021
Energy performance certificate
The Parliament updated its energy performance certificate on 16 August 2019. The Parliament’s EPC rating is C.
An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) measures a building's carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon dioxide emissions are rated on a scale of A to G, with A being the least polluting.
Energy Performance Certificate (118KB, pdf) posted 05 July 2020
Environmental management system
The Scottish Parliament has adopted an environmental policy. To ensure this is properly followed, it uses an internationally recognised environmental management system (EMS).
"ISO 14001:2015" sets the standards that organisations should follow to help them
- reduce waste
- improve resource efficiency
- cut waste management costs
The Parliament building and the surrounding grounds received its ISO 14001:2015 certificate from the International Organisation for Standardisation in September 2017.
ISO 14001:2015 certificate (856KB, pdf) posted 20 July 2023