Stevenson attended the West of Scotland Agricultural College and initially managed his family farm before entering politics.

[3] As an MEP, Stevenson led an international campaign to raise awareness and secure aid for the victims of radiation in the Semipalatinsk region of Kazakhstan, where the Soviet Union government tested 607 nuclear devices from 1949 to 1990, leaving an appalling legacy of pollution, deprivation, illness and death.

The book was launched at the UN Headquarters in New York and all proceeds from its sale were presented by Stevenson to the Children's Hospital in Semipalatinsk, totalling over $20,000.

[citation needed] Stevenson also led a successful campaign for eight years in the European Parliament to impose an EU-wide ban on the import, export and trade in cat and dog fur.

It was estimated that up to two million cats and dogs were being slaughtered each year in China alone, simply to meet demand for fur products in Europe.

[3] Since the foundation of the European Iraqi Freedom Association (EIFA), a non-governmental and non-profit organisation based in Brussels 4 April 2014, he has acted as its president.