Climate change to drive future policy direction
With climate change mitigation set to remain centre stage in government thinking, it is likely to be a prime driver in setting the direction of travel as the UK and devolved administrations draw together their plans for future domestic farm policy.
But NFU Scotland has warned that scientific evidence and the impacts on the long-term sustainability of farming and food production in Scotland are also key points to be built into the development of future strategies:
“Scotland’s farmers and crofters need to be part of the solution, not the scapegoats,” said the union’s vice president, Martin Kennedy.
Speaking at a press briefing he said that the whole industry was working towards developing a factbased method of calculating the true contribution which agriculture could make towards lowering the country’s net emissions - by including its role in carbon sequestration as well as emissions:
“Up to now, we cannot and will not be allowed to count the positive contribution agriculture makes regarding carbon sequestration within the rules of the IPCC inventory which was agreed in 2006.” And while Kennedy admitted that it would be all but impossible to change the protocols used to carry out the calculations for the inventory itself, he said that a “twin track” approach which included the positive contributions from agriculture could be used to draw together “joined-up” policy.
He said that the union – and the rest of the farming sector – was working hand in glove with Scottish Environment, Food and Agriculture Research Institutes (SEFARI), the umbrella group for the country’s world renowned research centres, towards creating a scientifically verifiable method of calculating a whole-farm approach to carbon balance.
NFU Scotland’s close relationship with SEFARI had seen Dr Gemma Miller commence a fellowship with the union as she worked on research to answer key questions that the industry had about agriculture and climate change, greenhouse gas emissions and carbon accounting.
Kennedy said that Dr Miller was helping to identify key facts and figures which could be used to balance the negative rhetoric which had been aimed at the agricultural industry in recent months.
The union new climate change policy manager, Ruth Taylor, had attended the UN Climate Change Conference, COP25, in Madrid as a precursor to preparing to showcase the farming industry’s credentials during COP26, which will take place in Glasgow later this year.
Kennedy also said that the union’s involvement in the Farming for 1.5 degrees project, was looking at how the food, farming and land use sectors could help towards a climate neutral Scotland.
The project, he said, was working towards a set of recommendations to develop templates for action at individual business level and identifying the necessary areas of funding and legislation, and gaps in existing knowledge.