Nitrogen use efficiency in Scotland: annual report 2024

Progress towards implementing proposals and policies relevant to improving nitrogen use efficiency in Scotland

The Scottish Government has a range of strategies and policy initiatives in place, across sectors of the economy, to improve the use of nitrogen and thereby reduce the harms caused by losses into the environment. These measures include:

• measures that can be expected to improve the efficiency of nitrogen use within food production, such as increasing uptake of climate mitigation measures by farmers, crofters, land managers and other primary food producers; increasing awareness and knowledge transfer and reduced emissions from nitrogen fertiliser, along with improved storage and use of slurry. Such practices are in line with a shift to sustainable and regenerative practices in line with Scotland Vision for agriculture.
• policies to reduce dependence on fossil fuel combustion across sectors (including transport, industry and wider energy use), for example by shifting to electric vehicles, supporting active travel choices and supporting renewable energy technologies, all of which will help reduce nitrous oxide emissions from these sectors.
• policies to reduce the climate and environmental impacts of waste management processes and support a transition towards a more circular economy, for example, delivering against our ambitions to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030, as part of the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3 target, which may help reduce nitrogen losses associated with food production and consumption. Proposals to help achieve this are outlined in the draft Circular Economy and Waste Route Map (2024).