Leading environmental groups have pulled out of the Scottish Government’s agricultural policy process, warning it is failing to deliver meaningful reforms and undermining efforts to support farmers and crop traders to tackle climate change and nature loss.
Representatives from organizations such as Scottish Environment Link and RSPB Scotland have resigned from both the Agricultural Reform Implementation Oversight Board (ARIOB) and its associated policy development group.
The body was established by ministers in 2021 to advise on the development of Scotland’s agricultural policy post-Brexit.
In a letter to the prime minister, the organizations said they were withdrawing because they had lost confidence in the process, arguing it failed to deliver true co-design and was unlikely to achieve the government’s own ambitions for sustainable agriculture.
They said strong evidence of the need for a major review of farm support payments was being ignored, leaving farmers without a clear direction as climate and economic pressures increase.
The group warned that continued delays and unclear policy signals risk leaving farmers and crop producers without the tools and certainty they need to respond to climate change and biodiversity loss, which are already impacting food production and agricultural businesses.
Scottish Environment Link, Stop Climate Chaos Scotland and RSPB Scotland, on behalf of thousands of people across Scotland, have been calling for a more ambitious approach to agricultural policy and faster progress towards a just transition for many years.
They want to direct the majority of agricultural funding towards supporting farmers and crop traders to take action for nature and the climate, including support for collaboration, supply chain development, advice, training and knowledge transfer.
The central concern, they say, is that while “only 5% of public funding for agriculture is spent on nature- and climate-friendly agriculture”, most funding continues to be provided through basic payments that unfairly benefit large farms with better quality land.
The organizations also called on the next Scottish Government after the election to draw a line under what they say was a failed policy-making process and start afresh.
Deborah Long, chief executive of Scottish Environment Link, said her organization had worked constructively from the start but had seen little evidence that views raised through ARIOB were shaping decision-making.
“There is very little evidence on this,” she said. “We no longer want to be part of a process in which we are not confident.” He said there was “no clear order of agenda and discussion”, uncertain timelines and evidence being ignored in subsequent policy decisions.
Mike Robinson, chairman of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland and ARIOB member, said his groups supported Ministers’ stated vision for sustainable and regenerative agriculture, but warned that current policy was not enough.
“The system is broken and needs a major overhaul,” he said, adding that climate change and nature loss were already impacting food production and agricultural businesses.
Mr Robinson said a just transition was essential for farmers and crop traders, but warned that this could not be used as an excuse for slow progress.
Vicki Swales, RSPB Scotland’s head of land use policy and member of the policy development group, said the process had been characterized by “constant frustration and shifting of sand”.
He said ministers had initially failed to establish key fundamental evidence, including the scale of the environmental and food production challenges and the principles that should guide the use of £650m of public money each year.
“Because we don’t have a clear understanding of what we’re trying to do and where we’re trying to get to policy-wise, we’re constantly getting lost and making unhelpful decisions,” she said.
With key environmental groups withdrawing from the process, pressure is mounting on ministers to rethink how they develop Scotland’s future agricultural policy and how public money is used to support farmers through climate and natural change.
