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Cleaner Air for Scotland 2 - Towards a Better Place for Everyone is Scotland's second air quality strategy, setting out how the Scottish Government and its partner organisations propose to further reduce air pollution to protect human health and fulfil Scotland’s legal responsibilities over the period 2021-2026. CAFS2 was published in July 2021, accompanied by a Delivery Plan, and replaces Cleaner Air for Scotland – The Road to a Healthier Future (CAFS) which was published in 2015. CAFS2 aims to achieve the ambitious vision for Scotland "to have the best air quality in Europe".

The CAFS2 key partner organisations are:

  • Scottish Government
  • Transport Scotland
  • Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
  • Public Health Scotland
  • Local authorities

Engagement and support from a wide range of stakeholders including representatives from the transport and planning sectors and NGOs is also vital to achieving the aims of CAFS2.

Progress is supported by the CAFS2 Delivery Group, which is directly accountable to a Ministerial Group, and actions are managed by specific sub-groups and policy leads across partner organisations tasked with delivering actions across the 10 overarching policy themes set out in CAFS2.

Working Group Meetings

Domestic Emissions Working Group (DEWG)

Agriculture and Environment Working Group (AEWG)

Placemaking Working Group (PWG)

Health Working Group (HWG)

Public Engagement (PEWG)

Ministerial Group Meetings

Delivery Group Meetings

Cleaner Air for Scotland Strategy progress reports

Progress with implementing the CAFS actions was summarised  in a series of annual reports:

National Modelling Framework (NMF)

The National Modelling Framework (NMF) provides a two-tiered standardised approach to modelling air quality in Scotland. This framework is supporting the development and introduction of Low Emission Zones (LEZs).

Detailed models for the first four cities covering Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee have provided evidence for taking direct actions at the city scale to reduce street-level emissions. A regional model will provide a tool for screening and assessing the potential air quality impacts associated with large-scale planned developments across local authority areas.

National Low Emission Framework (NLEF)

The National Low Emission Framework (NLEF) was developed to assist in the appraisal of air quality improvement options related to transport. Together with the National Modelling Framework, it provides guidance on the consistent assessment of LEZs requirements across Scotland. In 2019, all local authorities with Air Quality Management Areas other than the four cities were required to complete the NLEF appraisal process.  The appraisals can be found in the relevant 2020 annual progress reports. The NLEF can be found at https://www.gov.scot/publications/national-low-emission-framework/.

Low Emission Zones

In September 2017, the Scottish Government in its Programme for Government, committed to the introduction of Low Emission Zones (LEZs) into Scotland’s four biggest cities (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee) by 2020 and into all other Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) by 2023 where the NLEF appraisal advocates such mitigation.  This timetable has since been extended due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first LEZ came into force in Glasgow in December 2018. Further information can be found on the Low Emission Zones website: Low Emission Zones Scotland | Transport Scotland.

Cleaner Air For Scotland Review

In November 2018 the Scottish Government commissioned an independent review of CAFS to help inform the development of CAFS2.  A workshop was held in January 2019 as part of the review process, and the workshop presentations can be found below:

Presentations from the CAFS workshop that was held on the 10th January are provide below:

The review concluded in August 2019 with publication of a report setting out the review conclusions and recommendations.  The recommendations formed the basis of a draft CAFS2 which was consulted on between October 2020 and January 2021 before being finalised.  The consultation paper can be found at: Cleaner Air for Scotland 2 - a consultation on a draft new air quality strategy for Scotland - Scottish Government - Citizen Space.

Further Information

For further information on CAFS2 implementation please contact air.quality@gov.scot