JOHN MUIR TRUST AND SEDA LAND’S PIONEERING CARBON EMISSIONS LAND TAX

By Nikki Gordon, 27 May 2022

In November 2021, to celebrate the COP26 climate conference, SEDA Land and the John Muir Trust hosted a webinar exploring the Trust’s proposal for a Carbon Emissions Land Tax. This calls for a tax to be introduced targeting landholdings over 1,000 hectares based on the amount of CO2 their land emits.

Scotland is rich in low productivity land that could be used to lock up vast amounts of CO2, whilst contributing to improving biodiversity and rural community regeneration. However, the land sector in Scotland punches well below its weight when it comes to delivering public benefits, including contributing to climate targets. Data shows that land is actually a net emitter of greenhouse gases, largely due to grazing pressures which restrict land from maximising its natural CO2 capture potential, and also due to the change from one land use category to another e.g. farmland to housing estates.

The introduction of this tax would pose a challenge to estates whose current primary land management objective is sport shooting. Landowners who maintain unsustainably high deer densities to maximise the number of stags available for trophy hunting, and those who manage land for driven grouse shooting to the detriment of CO2 capture, would likely be banded at the high end of the scale. A Carbon Emissions Land Tax, alongside robust regulation at national level to protect habitats under pressure from sport shooting, could become a major driver of change towards more responsible land management that contributes to climate and biodiversity targets.

The discussion point of the event was ‘does Scotland need a Carbon Emissions Land Tax if it is to reach its target of net zero by 2045?’. Our aim was to canvas a range of opinions and critical analysis on our proposed tax.

We had a broad line-up of expert panellists, from forestry consultants to community health specialists, all sharing their own unique perspective on how the tax would impact their areas of speciality. It was gratifying when it became clear that the panellists and audience agreed that they were broadly supportive of the tax and a lively discussion proceeded between panellists and the audience via the Q&A.

The event was punctuated by some inspiring words and music on the theme. Mark Gallie of Loud Poets read his beautiful poem Words from the Weary Wild Places. Specially created for the Trust, he delivered a heart-rending story of a world under strain from human pressures. Watch Mark perform his poem in this video.

Now, six months on from the event there have been some interesting developments with our campaign. Our tax was included in the Climate Assembly’s ‘Statement of Ambition and Recommendations’ and in December 2021, the Scottish Government published its response to these recommendations. In their response they cited an inability to implement a new national devolved tax within current powers. We have since addressed these concerns and have demonstrated a number of viable options to take this proposal forward. In their own Statement of Response, the Climate Assembly called for more urgency and can-do attitude from the Scottish Government.

We continue to progress our campaign, focusing on heightening public awareness of the issues addressed by our proposal. For example, 91% of adults surveyed were not aware that the land sector in Scotland emits more greenhouse gas emissions than the international aviation and shipping sector. A key strategy for this campaign is to increase education around the proposal, therefore we have spoken at a few key events. One such event was our Northwest Member’s Gathering, in which interesting discussions were triggered about whether a similar plan for the Northwest of England could be developed. We have also attended party conferences, parliamentary events, met with MSPs and have plans to host a parliamentary event, to build support among key politicians.

The urgency of the climate crisis demands that we take serious action to maximise the CO2 sequestration and storage potential of Scotland’s uplands. We are continuing our campaign, recognising the necessity and urgency behind our proposal. By taking bold action now, Scotland can become a global leader in natural climate solutions.

Keep up to date with the progress of the Carbon Emissions Land Tax via our campaign page: www.johnmuirtrust.org/celt