RESPECT response to the Just Transition Plan for land use and agriculture

This document provides a response by the Rapid Engagement with Stressed Peatlands and Communities in Transformation (RESPECT) project to the Scottish Government’s draft Just Transition Plan for land use and agriculture. The fact that Scotland recognises changes in land use and agriculture to be both an environmental and a social challenge is incredibly important and reflects commitments at national level to statutory just transition principles and outcomes. However, we are at a point now where principles and objectives need to be translated into action. This response offers critical reflections on the Plan’s lack of integration with the forthcoming Fourth Land Use Strategy (LUS4) and the National Just Transition Outcomes, arguing that the Plan should be action-oriented, with concrete proposals, timelines and responsibilities. The response highlights the need for systemic change, including stronger regulation of natural capital markets, inclusive land governance and recognition of power imbalances in rural Scotland. The document stresses that a just transition must address procedural, distributive and restorative justice, and include the voices and needs of underrepresented groups such as tenants, crofters and future generations. 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.