Yes, thank you, convener. Thank you for the invitation to address the committee this morning and to provide more information on the climate change plan update.
The update is ambitious and rightly so. We know that we face the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss and we must do all that we can to address those, including in agriculture and with our land use.
I want to make it clear that Scotland’s landscape and climate mean that our role and reputation as a globally renowned food producer should continue. Our challenge now is to do that as sustainably as possible and to build on the good work that is already being undertaken by many farmers, making best practice everyone’s practice. It will be challenging but it can be done. We can produce food in a way that cuts emissions and contributes to our environment and we can seize the opportunities that arise from doing so.
That, in short, convener, is our vision. I hope that other parties and all members will support it and the work that we are now doing to turn that vision into delivery and action.
The policies and the plans set out a route map, which will minimise emissions and enhance sustainability. That route map sets the direction of travel and we now have five farmer-led sectoral groups helping to determine and recommend how we get there. We have set out the macro approach and they will determine the micro, farm-level changes that will be needed.
A change of this scale can be effective only if we take people with us. Partnership is the key to achieving a just transition. Already, this co-development approach is making real progress. In less than a year, we have a practical set of recommended actions that can lower greenhouse gas emissions from the beef herd, enhance the environment and boost business profitability. The suckler beef programme board, which I co-chair with Jim Walker, is now working at pace to deliver those recommendations.
I have formed three further farmer-led groups on dairy, arable, hill farming and upland and, in addition, there is one existing industry leadership group from the pig sector. They are there to lead work in their various sectors. Each group is looking at research and evidence in Scotland and the UK as well as internationally. They are considering reports and looking at recommendations that others have already made and they are exploring how others are approaching these shared problems. They are engaging with wider stakeholders and agencies such as NatureScot. Crucially, they are listening to and learning from each other to produce recommendations that I hope will radically reform policy for farming and food production and how we support farmers and crofters in the future and focus their activity on producing food sustainably while also taking a whole-farm, low-carbon approach.
The update also sets out our proposals to change how land is used in Scotland. Expanding and sustainably managing our forests is crucial to achieving our climate targets. The targets are ambitious but I am confident that, with the public and private sectors working together, we can deliver.
We are matching ambition with action and funding. I am pleased that we have secured significant investment in the expansion of public and private forestry and for native woodland creation, too, which is over 40 per cent of what we plant. However, the challenge of tackling climate change is made more acute because of the UK Government’s £170 million reduction to the Scottish Government rural economy budget to 2025.
The climate change plan update sets out a clear vision and route map for addressing climate change in agriculture and land use. I look forward to members of the committee getting behind that effort and supporting a team Scotland approach.