Support for Carbon Emissions Land Tax grows

As Europe burns, 31 organisations back call for carbon land tax on Scotland’s largest estates.

A diverse range of community groups, trade unions, churches, charities and businesses representing over a million members are calling on the Scottish Government to introduce a world-leading tax on greenhouse gas emissions on landholdings over one thousand hectares.

The Carbon Emissions Land Tax is based on the polluters pay principle.

The STUC, the Scottish Community Alliance, Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, the Wellbeing Economy Alliance Scotland and the Quakers are among the groups calling for the Scottish Government to agree the principle of a new Carbon Emissions Land Tax.

Initiated by the John Muir Trust, the tax proposal is designed as a lever to drive urgent changes in land use to support climate targets. To comply with devolved powers, the proposed new tax would be collected by local authorities, generating tens of millions of pounds of additional funding for local services in rural areas.

Mike Daniels, the Trust's Head of Policy, said: “Scotland has an abundance of low productivity land that is failing to pull its weight in the drive to Net Zero. Millions of hectares consist of degraded peatlands and bare, overgrazed uplands that are emitting greenhouse gases when they should be sequestering  CO₂ on a colossal scale.

“The Carbon Emissions Land Tax we are proposing is based on the polluters pay principle. Incentives are available to landowners for woodland creation and peatland restoration, but the slow pace of change and low uptake of these incentives, show that we need sticks as well as carrots.

“The John Muir Trust has conducted serious research – including discussions with scientists, economists, tax and experts – to show how this could work in practice. We are flexible, however, about the detail, and are seeking support at this stage around the general principle.”

Roz Foyer, the General Secretary of the STUC, said: “Scotland has the most concentrated pattern of land ownership in the developed world. The STUC has a long history of campaigning for land reform, and in recent years has campaigned for a Just Transition that tackles climate change while creating jobs and reducing inequality.

“If we are to have a genuinely Just Transition for Scotland land tax and regulation will be crucial. The John Muir Trust’s Carbon Emissions Land Tax proposal could help raise much needed revenue for local Councils while simultaneously reducing emissions from Scotland’s land.”

Mike Robinson, Chair of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, said: "Scotland has missed eight emission reduction targets out of the last 12, and agriculture and land use is now the second highest emitting sector. If we are to have a chance of meeting our crucial 2030 climate targets it's vital that we use our tax and spending powers to make the biggest polluters pay, driving behaviour change and raising much needed additional funds to reduce emissions.

"Stop Climate Chaos Scotland urges the Scottish Government to rapidly explore all available levers, including a Carbon Emissions Land Tax, and deliver a Just Transition to a low carbon, fairer society as quickly as possible."

• Read our letter to the Scottish Government and sign the petition here.

Additional notes

The John Muir first presented the idea of Carbon Emissions Land Tax Scotland’s to Climate Assembly in early 2021. After hearing and reading the arguments, the body – consisting of 100 adults selected as a representative sample of the country’s wider population – supported the proposal with 81 per cent in favour.

Since then, the idea has gained traction from politicians across three of Scotland’s five main political parties ­ – the SNP, Scottish Labour and the Scottish Green Party – and among wider civic society.

The details of how the tax would work in practice are open to discussion would be based on the following principles: 

• Behavioural change. Taxation is a tried and tested means of preventing damaging activity. Examples include taxes on tobacco, alcoholic drinks, petrol, sugar, plastic bags, and waste disposal.
• The tax would apply only to landholdings over a thousand hectares with an exemption for community owned land. We anticipate that in addition to private estates, large landholdings held by UK and Scottish Government agencies such as the Ministry of Defence and Forestry and Land Scotland would and National Nature Reserves would also be liable, as would properties owned by NGOs (including the John Muir Trust).
• A banding system. Based on the same idea as the energy efficiency rating for buildings, we would suggest that, following an initial assessment, all large landholdings would be placed in five bands ranging from net zero emissions upwards, with a sliding scale of tax per hectare based on the gap between the potential of that land for storage and current levels of greenhouse gas emissions. Landholdings could move into lower tax over time as they reduce that gap.
• Local authority discretion. While the introduction of the tax would require legislation by the Scottish Government, we would expect it to be left to the discretion of rural councils to decide whether it to introduce it. The revenues would be retained locally and preferably ring-fenced for specific actions connected with reducing climate emissions, such as better public transport, improved energy efficiency in council housing and local nature restoration initiatives.