Natural capital headline topic at land conference

Natural capital is the headline topic at the virtual three-day Land Connection 2021 conference, which brings experts together to look at the role of land in helping to achieve some of Scotland’s big ambitions for the economy, climate and communities.

Natural capital refers to the elements of the natural environment which provide valuable goods and services to people. But the emerging and rapidly-growing influence of carbon value in the land market is being driven by what is known as socially responsible investment – best characterised by companies and organisations acquiring either land or carbon credits to offset carbon emissions and support their climate change objectives. Recent high profile examples include the acquisition of land in the Cairngorms by Standard Life and Brewdog.

Scottish Land Commission chief executive Hamish Trench will tell the conference this investment in Scotland’s land has potential to bring significant change to Scotland’s environment and drive a just transition to a net zero economy, but that there are risks to address so that the market works in the public interest.

He said: “There is an opportunity for a win-win, a transformation that benefits nature and people.

“There is no question that this new investment will be much needed in delivering the land use outcomes Scotland is looking for. But there are questions to consider, firstly, about unintended consequences, and secondly, about how emerging value is used fairly and productively.”

Mr Trench added: “Investment in natural capital brings the impetus to develop new governance models for our land.

“This is not unheard of in Scotland – in fact some of the early community land acquisitions like Eigg and Knoydart were established with collaborative, partnership governance arrangements across sectors.

“It seems time to revisit these ideas now in establishing land ownership structures that are accountable, resilient and deliver on net zero.”

“There is much we can do collectively to ensure Scotland really benefits widely from emerging values associated with carbon and natural capital.

“The influence of natural capital value and finance in the land market is not an entirely new or unprecedented phenomenon.

“Unlike many previous resource booms, such as oil and gas, this one is not extractive in terms of the physical resource. It is though, a very current driver that again reveals the need to modernise our underlying system of land ownership to meet challenges of today and the coming decades.

“As I see it, we have a shared challenge to manage this issue well – to build public confidence that while land use change will come at pace, it will also be fair, that the benefits will be widely felt and that we are thinking ahead to make the most of what is a shared natural resource.”