Farming will form part of the solution to meeting Scotland’s environmental obligations, MSPs taking part in a climate change debate were told.
The Green Party used Scottish parliament time to highlight that the Earth is entering a 'climate emergency', calling for the end of oil and gas recovery and legislative ban on the extraction of unconventional oil and gas.
On Wednesday (27 March), Holyrood could not agree on any one position towards improving the current Climate Change Bill going through parliament, which will limit greenhouse gases by 78% come 2040.
However, Scottish Conservative MSP Peter Chapman argued that farmers can present a net benefit on emissions if they are given Scottish government support and access to new technologies.
He told MSPs during the debate that farming is 'part of the solution to climate change rather than part of the problem'.
“It is largely our farmers who will plant the extra trees which we need to counter climate change,” Mr Chapman said.
“It is farmers who will put mitigation measures in place to restore peat bogs. It is on farmers’ land that wind turbines and solar panel farms are located.”
He added: “Cattle and sheep get a bad press, but again by grazing grass and keeping it green and growing, this process also helps to lock up carbon.
“Most of our sheep and cattle are kept on ground that can only grow grass so these areas are never going to be capable of growing cereals or beans.”
It comes as there is growing criticism of the UK livestock industry over claims that it is damaging the climate.
The Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) has called the amount of criticism levied against livestock farmers in the debate as “unfair”.
For example, statistics from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) estimate total UK greenhouse gas emissions are around 468 mtCO2e and all of UK agriculture is responsible for only around 10% of these.
The bulk of emissions come from transport and energy which together account for over half of total emissions.
UK agriculture is also responsible for managing around 70% of the total landmass of the UK, and it’s emissions are low by comparison to the transport and energy sector.
