Good Food Nation - programme of measures: 2019 update

4. Environmental Sustainability

Vision

The vision is for a decline in the environmental impact of food consumption in Scotland, for the benefit of the environment, industry and the people of Scotland.

Highlighted Environmental Sustainability measures setting out action we have taken to achieve the vision since 2018:

Scottish Rural Development Programme

2018 position: Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) environmental practices deliver inputs on pesticides and chemicals to assist climate change and reduce the negative impact on biodiversity. The programme supports farmers and land managers to adopt environmentally friendly land management and farming practices. This is through direct support for land management, advice and knowledge transfer.

2019 update: The SRDP will continue to operate until the end of 2020. Since 2015 nearly 1 million hectares of land is under environmental management with over 2,700 contracts worth almost £180 million put in place under the Agri-Environment Climate Change Scheme. In addition, advice and knowledge transfer supports farmers and land managers to protect and enhance our environment.

Food Waste reduction target

2018 position: The Scottish Government has committed to consulting on whether the Food Waste Reduction Target should be statutory.

2019 update: As stated in the Food Waste Reduction Action Plan published in April 2019, we will consult on seeking legal powers for a mandatory Food Waste Reduction Target by the end of 2019.

Food waste data

2018 position: Work is ongoing to the baseline data around food waste and food losses generated in industry and on the farm.

2019 update: Targeted work is ongoing to gauge levels of food waste and surplus across Scotland, the UK and Europe.The Food Waste Reduction Action Plan and the Programme for Government commit the Scottish Government to explore opportunities to place requirements on businesses to publicly report on their waste and surplus, specifically in regard to food and textiles. This would ensure more data on food waste and surplus is available.

Scottish Food Waste Prevention Target

2018 position: In 2016, the Scottish Government announced a target of reducing all food waste in Scotland by 33% by 2025, against a 2013 baseline.

2019 update: The Food Waste Reduction Action Plansets out the Scottish Government's proposals to tackle food waste. It makes connections to EU, UK and Scottish activities in place which tackle food waste. It also connects with other Scottish Government policies and commitments in respect of food and waste generation, including the Climate Change Plan, Circular Economy Strategy and Good Food Nation.

Environment Strategy for Scotland

2018 position: Scottish Government published a discussion paper Developing an Environment Strategy for Scotland^[31]in June 2018. The Environment Strategy will set out a shared, overarching vision that describes our guiding ambitions for Scotland's environment and our role in tackling global environmental challenges. It will support progress towards achieving the vision by identifying a set of supporting outcomes and priorities for action in order to deliver them.

2019 update: In February, we published^[32] an independent analysis of responses to the online discussion held in 2018. It concluded that there is broad support for our proposals for developing the Environment Strategy, including our draft vision, outcomes and knowledge accounts, with some suggestions for refinement.

We will set out our working vision for the Environment Strategy in the coming months. The strategy will form part of our overall strategic approach to environmental policy, alongside future arrangements for environmental principles and governance if the UK leaves the EU.