A new carbon land tax would punish rural estates which already make the greatest contribution to achieving net zero, Scottish Land & Estates (SLE) has warned.

A consultation will be launched this summer on carbon land tax on the largest rural estates in Scotland, the Scottish government has confirmed.

The devolved government also confirmed it would scrap its annual and interim targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

This would be replaced with a system measuring emissions every five years.

But the SLE said research demonstrated that rural estates were ‘in the vanguard’ of renewable energy, woodland creation and peatland restoration.

The rural business organisation noted that renewable energy on such estates accounted for around 60% of Scotland’s generating capacity.

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