Scottish Land & Estates statement on Scotland climate change report

Press Release

Scottish Land & Estates, the rural business organisation, has issued the following statement on the publication of the new CCC report on Progress in Reducing Emissions in Scotland.

Stephen Young, Director of Policy at Scottish Land & Estates, said:

“The CCC report highlights the stark challenges that already exist in Scotland achieving its climate change targets and sadly, the Scottish Government is now pursuing policies that will make progress even tougher.

“Delivering peatland restoration and forestry at scale is crucial in achieving carbon sequestration but as was outlined in research commissioned by Scottish Land & Estates last year, we are lagging way behind.

“Our members are carrying out the vast bulk of work which is taking place. Currently, large-scale peatland restoration projects of more than 200ha – such as those carried out on rural estates – account for 57% of the 42,300ha of peatland that has been restored since 2013. Only 25% of the target has been achieved through small-scale projects of less than 100ha.

“Of the 45,000ha of woodland planted with support from the Forestry Grant Scheme since 2015, almost half of that total was achieved through large-scale projects over 100ha.

“At the recent Budget, the government dealt swingeing cuts to the Forestry Grant Scheme. Cashflow is already a significant barrier to woodland creation and these cuts will exacerbate this financial challenge.

“The ideologically driven land reform bill published in recent days is also compounding this issue and by government pushing for fragmentation of ownership, it will mean delivering forestry and peatland restoration at a large-scale is far tougher.

“Crucially, the bill will disincentivise new private investment in natural capital.

“The Scottish Government stated that the finance gap for nature in Scotland for the next decade has been estimated to be £20 billion - and that it wanted commercial investors to plug that gap to fund the restoration and regeneration of Scotland’s landscapes.

“By pursuing the break-up of land landholdings that are capable of delivering and taking on the financial risk that comes with these projects, the government is sending out a message that it does not want to work with business to achieve climate change targets. If the government can provide no certainty then investors will naturally choose other countries to invest in.

“Scotland stands at a crossroads in achieving net zero and it is disheartening that the Scottish Government now appears to be abandoning any hope of reaching its own targets.”