Leading environmental groups have resigned from the Scottish government’s farming policy process, warning that it has failed to deliver meaningful reform and is undermining efforts to help farmers and crofters tackle climate change and nature loss.
Representatives from organisations including Scottish Environment LINK and RSPB Scotland have stepped down from both the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board (ARIOB) and its accompanying Policy Development Group.
The bodies were established by ministers in 2021 to advise on the development of Scottish farming policy following the UK’s departure from the European Union.
In a letter to the First Minister, the organisations said they were walking away after losing confidence in the process, which they argued had failed to deliver genuine co-design and was unlikely to meet the government’s own ambitions for sustainable agriculture.
They said strong evidence pointing to the need for a major overhaul of farm support payments was being overlooked, leaving farmers without clear direction at a time of mounting climate and economic pressure.
The groups warned that continued delays and unclear policy signals risk leaving farmers and crofters without the tools or certainty needed to respond to climate change and biodiversity loss, which they said were already affecting food production and farm businesses.
Scottish Environment LINK, Stop Climate Chaos Scotland and RSPB Scotland, together representing thousands of people across Scotland, have long called for a more ambitious approach to agricultural policy and faster progress towards a just transition.
They want the majority of farm funding redirected towards helping farmers and crofters take action for nature and climate, including support for collaboration, supply chain development, advice, training and knowledge transfer.
A central concern, they said, was that just “5% of public funding for agriculture is spent on nature and climate friendly farming”, while most funding continues to be delivered through base payments that disproportionately benefit larger farms with better quality land.
The organisations also urged the next Scottish government, following the election, to draw a line under what they described as a failed policy development process and begin again.
Deborah Long, chief executive of Scottish Environment LINK, said her organisation had engaged constructively since the outset but had seen little evidence that views raised through ARIOB were shaping decisions.
“We see little evidence of this,” she said. “We are no longer willing to participate in a process in which we do not have confidence.” She said there was “no clear sequencing of agendas and discussions”, with uncertain timelines and evidence being ignored in subsequent policy decisions.
Mike Robinson, chair of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland and an ARIOB member, said the organisations supported ministers’ stated vision for sustainable and regenerative agriculture but warned current policy would fall short.
“The system is broken and needs a major overhaul,” he said, adding that climate change and nature loss were already affecting food production and farm businesses.
Robinson said a just transition for farmers and crofters was essential, but warned this could not be used as a reason for slow progress.
Vicki Swales, head of land use policy at RSPB Scotland and a member of the policy development group, said the process had been marked by “constant frustration and shifting sands”.
She said ministers had failed to establish key baseline evidence at the outset, including the scale of environmental and food production challenges and the principles that should guide the use of £650 million of public funding each year.
“Without a clear sense of what it is trying to do and where it is trying to get to in policy terms, it is constantly losing its way and making unhelpful decisions,” she said.
With key environmental organisations now walking away from the process, pressure is mounting on ministers to rethink how Scotland’s future farm policy is developed and how public funding is used to support farmers through the climate and nature transition.
