Further decrease in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions

The latest Scottish Government statistics which show a fall in agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been welcomed by NFU Scotland which claimed it was a result of the hard work undertaken by the industry to address the issue.

The union said that figures announced in yesterday’s official report on emissions showed a further decrease of 2.9 per cent in agriculture emissions between 2019 and 2020 – meaning Scottish agriculture’s emissions had fallen by 14.9 per cent since 1990.

The reductions were recorded across all of the three main types of greenhouse gases created by food production: C02, Methane, and Nitrous Oxide.

Reacting to the publication of the figures NFU Scotland’s Climate Change Policy Manager – and the union’s climate change specialist – Kate Hopper, said the figures highlighted the hard work undertaken by the industry to mitigate GHG emissions on farm: “While there is still a lot more work to do to get to net zero, these figures show that with the right future policy support Scottish agriculture can get there.

NFU Scotland's climate change policy manager, Kate Hopper.

“This includes the Scottish Government’s recently launched National Test Programme which is working towards baselining and more accurate reporting of on farm GHGs. The programme will also be leading work into what on farm actions best reduce emissions.”

But she added that it would be important to review how UK’s national inventory recorded GHG emissions as the industry was given no credit for its carbon sequestration.

“Farms have huge potential to store carbon, and we would like to see this balanced against our emissions, whilst we continue to produce high quality, sustainable, healthy Scottish food,” added Hopper.