Written Submission on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill

This written evidence contributes to the the Scottish Parliament's reconsideration of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill. In 2021, the UK Supreme Court decided that elements of the Bill as originally passed fell beyond the Scottish Parliament's legislative competence (2021 UKSC 42). Submitted to Holyrood's Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee, this written evidence highlights some of the challenges for the coherent and accessible incorporation of children's rights into Scots law in the wake of the Supreme Court's judgment. Implications for the domestic incorporation of other international human rights regimes are also analysed

Impact of catchment-derived nutrients and sediments on marine water quality on the Great Barrier Reef: an application of the eReefs marine modelling system

Water quality of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is determined by a range of natural and anthropogenic drivers that are resolved in the eReefs coupled hydrodynamic - biogeochemical marine model forced by a process-based catchment model, GBR Dynamic SedNet. Model simulations presented here quantify the impact of anthropogenic catchment loads of sediments and nutrients on a range of marine water quality variables. Simulations of 2011–2018 show that reduction of anthropogenic catchment loads results in improved water quality, especially within river plumes. Within the 16 resolved river plumes, anthropogenic loads increased chlorophyll concentration by 0.10 (0.02–0.25) mg Chl m−3. Reductions of anthropogenic loads following proposed Reef 2050 Water Quality Improvement Plan targets reduced chlorophyll concentration in the plumes by 0.04 (0.01–0.10) mg Chl m−3. Our simulations demonstrate the impact of anthropogenic loads on GBR water quality and quantify the benefits of improved catchment management