LINK believes that the EU budget must be adapted to tackle emerging policy challenges, many of which have arisen due a failure in applying the principles of sustainable development in a coherent and effective way. The major of impacts of the failure of the sustainability agenda are anthropogenic climate change, degradation of terrestrial and marine ecosystems and, linked to these, the continuing loss of biodiversity. These now seriously threaten not just our environment, but our economy and ultimately societal stability.
The future EU budget should therefore be targeted at policies which will move the EU and Scotland rapidly towards a sustainable economy; where environmental limits are not exceeded; where there are sustainable patterns of production and consumption; and where ecosystems are in a state of recovery rather than degradation.
See also our original evidence to the inquiry from December 2008