SEBG News
Estates to play key role in tackling climate change
24th April 2008Edinburgh, April 24 – Scotland’s progressive estates said today (Thursday) that landowners will have a key role to play in addressing climate change and its effect on rural Scotland for generations to come.
The Scottish Estates Business Group (SEBG) today held a conference in Edinburgh on climate change and the role of rural estates.
John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, gave the keynote address on Scotland’s climate change agenda.
Stuart Young, SEBG deputy chairman, told delegates at the conference: “We underestimate the importance of climate change at our peril. Most estates are already actively involved in high quality conservation and environmental stewardship and that work is to be recognised and commended.
“However, we must look to future generations and examine what part we will have in addressing climate change and the multiplicity of issues that fall under that banner.
“We should do so with some confidence. Estates have proved – sometimes over hundreds of years – that they are willing to adapt and change, meeting the demands of the time and SEBG is certainly of the opinion that climate change is an area where estates and landowners should be fully engaged.
“We have been able to measure and quantify the positive social and economic impact of estates through research and we can do the same in playing a full and active role in addressing climate change. Estates by their character are well placed to take a holistic view of landscape and water catchment issues and take steps to manage land that will protect water resource and address carbon emissions.”
Speakers at the conference included Professor Allan Buckwell, of the Country Land and Business Association, Hamish Walls, of the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society, Willie McGhee, Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management.
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Further information: Ramsay Smith, Media House: 0141 220 6040 / 07788 414856 email: ramsay@mediahouse.co.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
SEBG represents a group of progressive land-based estates with significant agricultural and rural business interests. It aims to promote a modern business approach in the management of Scotland's land resource in ways which deliver social, economic and environmental benefits. The Group seeks to secure a sustainable and prosperous future for rural areas and its members work hard across Scotland to stimulate enterprise and economic development.
