Time is running out on voluntary measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, a University of Edinburgh academic has said.

During an evidence session on the Climate Change Bill, Professor David Reay told the Scottish Parliament’s environment, climate change and land reform committee that Scottish Government programmes to tackle emissions from agriculture “had not worked very well”. Prof Reay cited Farming for a Better Climate, which provides information for farmers to follow on a voluntary basis and examples from nine current focus farms.

“While farming for a better climate gives some great exemplars and if they were implemented across Scotland that would be a huge success, […] emissions are what we are all concerned about and they are not going down in the sector,” he said.

The bill proposes a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from a 1990 baseline by 2050. At the Royal Highland Show, shortly after the bill’s launch in May, former QMS chair, Jim McLaren said the bill and wider “anti-red meat agenda” greatly exceed the threat to the livestock sector than other challenges, including Brexit.

NFUS environment and land use policy manager, Andrew Midgley said to the committee that part of the problem is that climate change is not top of the Scottish Government and industry’s list, with other issues, such as Brexit and the future of farm support taking priority, but that regulation was not the answer.

“We are likely to receive results in incentive and education and that is where the emphasis should be.”

Pete Richie of Nourish Scotland said that lack of capital and management time made it difficult for farm businesses to change their practices. “We’ve not been given a clear message that being better with greenhouse gases means being better with profitability and the QMS figures show very clearly that the more profitable farms in general show lower greenhouse gas emissions.

“I would agree that regulation is a very blunt instrument but it is going to be needed very soon if we don’t scale up very rapidly what we’re doing,” said Ritchie.

QMS chair Kate Rowell said the existing measurement of emissions was too blunt and that concentrating on livestock numbers rather than management practices was analogous to counting the number of cars on the road and overlooking manufacturers’ efforts to make them more efficient.

“We would really like for there to be investment in research for a new world-leading measurement system for agricultural emissions,” she said to the committee.