Organisers and participants are urging the Scottish government to bring the bill back and to MSPs to pledge their commitment to the bill, prioritising it in their election manifestos. 

Pete Ritchie, executive director at Nourish Scotland, said: “Scotland’s shown international leadership on human rights for the last 20 years, including on the right to food. That’s why shelving of the Human Rights Bill is such a backward step. We call on government to #BringBackTheBill.”

Benj Brown, policy and advocacy officer at the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland, added: “We have been dismayed to see the Scottish government abandon the human rights agenda it once championed, including its commitment to incorporate the right to a healthy environment.

“People living in areas of high disadvantage, children, older people, disabled people, and people with health conditions are often disproportionately affected by environmental problems whilst being least responsible for causing them. They also have fewer resources to challenge these environmental burdens, which contributes to systemic discrimination.

“Nearly a decade of work has already gone into developing the Human Rights Bill, with input from legal experts, human rights campaigners, and people with lived experience of poverty and discrimination. To restore trust, all parties must commit to introducing a comprehensive Human Rights Bill that enshrines our legal right to a healthy environment.”

Emma Hutton, CEO at JustRight Scotland, commented: “Kicking the Human Rights Bill into the long grass was hugely disappointing.

“With a national housing crisis, growing poverty, systemic failures to uphold disabled people’s rights, and many more serious human rights issues facing communities around Scotland, we really need to see urgent action to strengthen our human rights laws.

“We call on all political parties to pledge their support for a Scottish Human Rights Bill in their manifestos for the 2026 Holyrood elections.”