RESPECT response to Draft Climate Change Plan Scrutiny

This document provides a response by the Rapid Engagement with Stressed Peatlands and Communities in Transformation (RESPECT) project to the Scottish Parliament’s call for views on the anticipated Climate Change Plan for 2026-2040. This submission addresses the policies, challenges and opportunities for the land use and agriculture sectors in meeting Scotland’s ambitious climate targets, with a central focus on ensuring a just transition. Scotland’s statutory climate targets are heavily reliant on these sectors, including through peatland restoration on agricultural land. However, achieving climate goals in a fair and equitable manner requires a fundamental shift from the current fragmented and market-driven approach to a more integrated, strategic and just governance framework. Current policies, while laudable in their aims and ambitions, risk exacerbating existing inequalities relating to the ownership and control of natural resources, potentially disempowering smaller farmers, crofters, tenants and rural communities. A successful and just Climate Change Plan (CCP) must move beyond hectare-based targets to a holistic approach that integrates climate action with agricultural policy, nature restoration, community wealth building and land reform. The interdisciplinary RESPECT project is part of the Land Use for Net Zero, Nature and People (LUNZ) Hub and is funded by the UKRI Land Use for Net Zero programme. It aims to produce data, methods, landholder tools and proposals for governance reforms to change agricultural practices on peatland. RESPECT brings together researchers across Scotland and England with expertise in the natural and social sciences, humanities and law. RESPECT will also produce a Peatland Triage Tool (PTT), providing decision-support for landowners, land managers, farmers and crofters (collectively ‘landholders’) seeking to undertake peatland restoration.