Call for Scottish Government support to help farmers grow food and tackle climate crisis

Scotland’s new funding system for agriculture must help all farmers and crofters to produce food while also tackling climate change, reversing declines in nature, safeguarding animal welfare and revitalising rural areas, environmentalists have said.

In a letter to Scottish rural affairs secretary Mairi Gougeon, members of the coalition Scottish Environment Link and other supporters of the Farm for Scotland’s Future campaign are demanding urgent and targeted action to help slash greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture industry. These emissions are responsible for the third-largest share of Scotland’s total climate pollution, while ensuring food producers are supported.

The letter states: “If Scotland is to meet its climate targets and reverse the rapid decline of species and habitats, the Scottish Government must act faster to develop detailed policy proposals and implement them at pace, using existing powers and those created by the forthcoming Agriculture Bill. Nothing less than meaningful and transformative change is required.

“The Scottish public’s support for such change is underlined by the thousands of people who have signed the Farm for Scotland’s Future petition calling for a Bill that makes farming work for nature, climate and people.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to achieve that goal. It must not be wasted.”

The call comes just days after a damning new report from government advisers at the Climate Change Committee (CCC), which concluded Scotland’s legally binding target to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2045 – five years ahead of the date set for the UK as a whole – was “in danger of becoming meaningless” with “glaring gaps” between ambition and action.

CCC chairman Lord Deben said: “In 2019 the Scottish Parliament committed the country to some of the most stretching climate goals in the world, but they are increasingly at risk without real progress towards the milestones that Scottish ministers have previously laid out. One year ago, I called for more clarity and transparency on Scottish climate policy and delivery. That plea remains unanswered.”

A wide range of environmental organisations have signed the letter, including Community Supported Agriculture, WWF Scotland, the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland, Nourish Scotland, Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, Compassion in World Farming, RSPB Scotland and the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland.

The agriculture sector is responsible for the third-largest share of Scotland's total climate emissions

Deborah Long, chief officer for Scottish Environment Link, said: “With farming and crofting covering three quarters of Scotland’s entire land area, agriculture can make an enormous contribution to Scotland’s efforts to tackle climate change and reverse the loss of our nature.

“Some farmers and crofters are already doing amazing work to this end. But to bring about the scale of change we need and to enable all farmers and crofters to play their part, Government support is essential.

“As the Climate Change Committee report so clearly states, Scottish Government policy on farming to date is lagging far behind where we need to be to reach our climate goals.

“The Agriculture Bill is our chance to change this, and to create a farm funding system fit for the challenges of the 21st century.”

Deborah Long, chief officer for the coalition Scottish Environment Link, which is among the signatories of a letter calling for support to help farmers cut their climate emissions and boost nature while producing important food supplies

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Climate Change Committee’s advice is a timely reminder of the scale of the challenge if we are to reduce Scotland’s emissions and play our role in limiting global warming. We fully acknowledge it will require truly transformational action across our society and economy, driven by government, as part of a national effort to tackle the climate emergency.

“We have set out in our Vision for Agriculture our commitment to supporting farmers and crofters in meeting the twin crises of climate change and nature loss and firmly believe that there is no contradiction between high quality food production, and producing it in a way that delivers climate adaptation and mitigation, and supports nature restoration.

“Farming has a vital role in delivering these priorities and we will reward farmers and crofters who help us to restore and enhance nature in our farmed landscape though our enhanced payments. We are committed to integrating enhanced conditionality of at least half of all funding by 2025, then from 2026 we intend to introduce a new mechanism which will see future support payments linked to the contribution farmers and crofters make in delivering our climate and nature objectives.

“We will continue to work with farmers and crofters across Scotland and the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board to understand what measures for future conditions of support really can and will work – measures that not only deliver for nature and for climate, but that make sense to producers and that can be picked-up and implemented by agriculture businesses across Scotland.”