ABSTRACT
The devolution settlement has equipped the Scottish Parliament with powers over a wide ranging portfolio of environmental responsibilities including environmental protection; road building; public transport subsidy; renewable energy; and indeed for sustainable development. It will be argued that there are indications that the use of fiscal measures to guide economic activity towards a more sustainable trajectory may remove initiative from the Scottish parliament; and that the overarching need to maintain a conformity of policy north and south of the Border is making for homogeneity notwithstanding the existence of a coalition government in Scotland. The perception of external drivers may encourage a backlash from within the Parliament and more widely, against such policies. However even where powers are available to the Parliament there are indications that there is a lack of enthusiasm for environmental initiatives and there is not yet a political culture which appreciates the scale of the challenge which sustainable development presents, and which has been devolved to Scotland.
