Rural and Environment

  • Sustainable Tourism

    19th September 2020 by

    Blog piece from Rural Economy & Tourism Secretary on Sustainable Tourism as part of Climate Week

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  • Launch of ScotWind

    11th June 2020 by

    Crown Estate Scotland has launched ScotWind, the first round of offshore wind leasing to be administered in Scotland.

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  • In the news: Land use report

    23rd January 2020 by

    You may have seen coverage in the media around the UK Committee on Climate Change’s latest report into Land Use.

    The report states that land use must change to meet the UK’s net zero target. Although it is possible to reduce the emission of Greenhouse Gases in ways that are consistent with other strategic priorities for land – such as food production and biodiversity – the current UK & Devolved Administration policy frameworks for food production, forestry, and environment will not achieve the net zero target and must change significantly.

    The Scottish Government’s response is below.

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  • Animals and animal products after Brexit

    17th October 2019 by

    Scotland does not want to leave the EU but there is a strong risk that we may end up leaving without a deal in place on 31st October 2019.

    While the Scottish Government is doing as much as it can to mitigate the impact of leaving the EU, we will not be able to prevent or address every impact.

    Leaving the EU will mean things we are used to happening, or which we agreed to as part of a Member State, will no longer stand.

    This note sets out what you need to do what you need to do to ensure you can continue to transport live animals into and out of the EU after Brexit.

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  • In the news: Scottish Agriculture

    31st July 2019 by

    The House of Commons Scottish Affairs Select Committee has published a report into the future of Scottish agriculture, which is running widely in the media today.

    The Committee argues that Brexit presents an opportunity to address failings in the agriculture funding formula, which has led to Scottish farms and crofts receiving low levels of funding.

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  • Farming and the climate emergency

    21st May 2019 by

    Rural Affairs Minister Mairi Gougeon blogs on farming and the global climate emergency.

    The First Minister has declared a global climate emergency. The evidence is irrefutable and the science is compelling. People are clear, they expect action and the world needs to act now, not least for future generations.

    We are leading this response. This was made clear when we acted immediately to the advice of the Committee on Climate Change by lodging amendments to our Climate Change Bill to set a 2045 target for net zero emissions.

    Just last week another warning was issued about the damage humans are causing to our natural environment this time in relation to global biodiversity. But there is nothing to be gained from playing a blame game nor from singling out any one sector.

    So I am equally clear, that farming should not be held up as the problem. It is part of the solution.

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  • In the news: climate change and business

    24th December 2018 by

    Findings released by World Wildlife Foundation Scotland today suggests that small to medium-sized businesses feel less prepared for the risks of climate change compared to larger businesses.

    The survey of 300 businesses shows that only 2 in 5 of Scotland’s smaller firms feel prepared for risks posed by climate change, while over three-quarters of larger businesses stated they are either fully or partly prepared.

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  • In the news: UK waste strategy

    18th December 2018 by

    You will no doubt have seen that many news outlets are running the a story this morning that the UK Government has published its Resources and Waste Strategy, which places more responsibility on manufacturers and producers to pay recycling and disposal costs.

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  • In the news: Marine litter

    29th November 2018 by

    This morning the Marine Conservation Society published its 25th Great British Beach Clean – a mass participation beach clean and survey event – that found there’s more litter on Scottish beaches than last year.

    The beach clean, which took place in September, saw volunteers remove 2,503kg of litter from Scottish beaches. In total, more than 75,000 items were picked up along the 15,680 meters of surveyed coastline, and found that cotton bud sticks at their highest level for eight years.

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  • In the news: Red meat levy success

    16th November 2018 by

    The Scottish Government and industry – particularly QMS and Jim McLaren, its recently retired Chairman – have worked tirelessly for the last decade to find a sustainable solution that would ensure that the monies raised through this levy could be used to benefit the Scottish quality meat sector, including marketing and promotion of Scotch beef, Scotch lamb and specially selected pork to consumers at home and abroad.

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