Nitrogen use efficiency in Scotland: annual report 2026

Progress towards implementing proposals and policies relevant to improving nitrogen use efficiency in Scotland

The Scottish Government has a range of strategies and policy initiatives in place, across sectors of the economy, that help to improve the use of nitrogen and thereby reduce the harms caused by losses into the environment. These measures include:

• Policies to reduce nitrogen emissions from the agriculture sector through improved efficiencies and changes in practice, in particular in the storage and use of slurry and fertiliser. The Climate Change Plan (2026 – 2040) sets out our policies and proposals for agriculture to reduce its emissions and contribute to our national carbon budgets. It includes key policies and proposals to reduce nitrogen emissions including through soil analysis and nutrient management planning as part of the Whole Farm Plan and the investigation of technologies for alternative, improved or more efficient fertilisers. The Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2024, in conjunction with the Agriculture (Retained EU Law and Data) (Scotland) Act 2020, provides the powers required to deliver a support framework that enables high-quality food production, climate mitigation and adaptation, and nature restoration. We continue to provide guidance, advice and knowledge transfer as well as financial support for farmers and crofters to better understand and take action to improve their nitrogen use efficiency.
• Supporting the transition towards more sustainable transport through policies to reduce dependence on fossil fuel combustion across the transport sector, for example, by shifting to electric vehicles, which will help reduce nitrogen oxides emissions, and increasing the uptake of active and sustainable travel through investment in high-quality active travel infrastructure and behaviour change initiatives.
• Continuing to implement existing strategies, such as for our Cleaner Air For Scotland 2 (CAFS2) Strategy, as air pollutants (including ammonia and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂)) have impacts on human health and the natural environment within Scotland.
• Policies and proposals to reduce the climate and environmental impacts of waste management and support a transition towards a more circular economy. The Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024 contains provisions to underpin Scotland's transition to a circular economy, and modernise Scotland's waste and recycling services, while Scotland’s Circular Economy and Waste Route Map to 2030, published in 2024, sets out priorities for delivery. Building on this, the Circular Economy Strategy, published in March 2026, sets out the rationale and benefits of a more circular economy. The Climate Change Plan (2026 – 2040) sets out the actions we will take to reduce sectoral emissions to contribute to Scotland’s journey to net zero. These measures will contribute towards sustainable use of nitrogen inputs to the economy, and to minimising losses of nitrogen into the environment.