Arable Climate Change Group - a new blueprint for Scotland's arable sector: report

Paving the way to success

"If everyone is moving forward together success takes care of itself"

Henry Ford

The ACCG believe the reality is that only by building businesses capable of being, or becoming, both economically and environmentally resilient, will we achieve our climate targets. It is time for the sector to own its future and ensure its voice is heard, so that our ambitions and potential are delivered. It is now imperative that the actions of industry, government, and the wider supply chain speak louder than the words within this report.

We have clearly outlined the view that achieving the ambitious climate change targets will be reliant on building resilient businesses who are best placed to contribute. A legacy of agricultural support demonstrates that a single sector or single-issue approach to shaping policy mechanisms has severe limitations in achieving national strategic outcomes. Optimising performance at individual farm level will be reliant on an approach which considers the whole entity and its actions. In many ways this is a common-sense approach that has been lost, amongst the complexity of agricultural policy making and support structures which have been established over the years.

The ACCG is clear that this common-sense approach must come to the fore, whilst recognising that we must move at pace to implement change and deliver measurable results. We therefore conclude that an approach that builds on existing clear thinking and established frameworks provides a distinct advantage, removing the potential for criticism of unnecessary reinvention.

The ACCG also recognise the significant effort required to change the practices and behaviours across an entire industry and its supporting bodies, but we believe the opportunity to change should be inclusive. We believe adopting the principles of Climate Smart Agriculture through an integrated approach to farm management will achieve this level of inclusivity.