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I. Introduction
1. The Agriculture and Climate Change Stakeholder Group ( ACCSG) was formed in November 2006 to consider the implications of climate change for Scottish agriculture (see Annex A for remit). The Group comprises representatives from several stakeholder bodies (see Annex B) and has met 12 times, with its deliberations aided by several expert presentations (see Annex C), a commissioned review 1 and discussions at a policy seminar held in Peebles. It also benefited from liaison with the Rural Climate Change Forum ( RCCF) 2 - a group with a similar remit reporting to DEFRA.
2. This report summarises ACCSG's findings and offers a number of recommendations for further action. The next section presents the context within which ACCSG operated. Sections III and IV report the likely nature of climate change in Scotland, its effect on agriculture and possible adaptations. Sections V and VI report the contribution of Scottish agriculture to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and how this might be mitigated. Section VII considers some economic aspects of mitigation and how it might be encouraged. Section VIII concludes with four firm sets of recommendations for further action.
3. Although presented under a number of discrete headings, linkages can and should be drawn between all of the Sections. Indeed, although ACCSG's remit related primarily to agriculture, it rapidly became apparent that climate change spans different aspects of land use and its associated public goods or co-benefits, and that none can be viewed in isolation. Consequently a recurring theme of this report is the need for greater consistency and co-ordination across different land use policies, such as agriculture, forestry, flooding, biodiversity and landscape but also food and energy security and rural development.
4. In addition, another key theme is the need to consider the trade-offs involved in adjusting to the challenges of climate change, whether through adaptation to cope with its consequences or mitigation to reduce pressure for further climate change. That is, most adjustments will entail additional costs in the form of extra effort, income forgone or the loss of some public goods. Since different forms of adjustment will incur different levels of such costs, cost-effectiveness should guide the order in which adjustments are prioritised not only within agriculture but also across other sectors of the economy: all other things being equal, lower cost adjustments should be pursued before higher cost ones. Moreover, the costs of any adjustment also need to be viewed against the benefits achieved, with only those adjustments delivering benefits in excess of costs actually justifying implementation. Within these constraints, a number of agricultural adjustments may be readily identified and are summarised.
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