The Paris Agreement demands tougher action to remove greenhouse
gas emissions from the atmosphere. We must, at the same
time, prepare for the inevitable climate change that is
already happening. In this context, current uses of land in
the UK must change.
Today, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) publishes two linked
reports:
‘Land use: Reducing emissions and preparing for climate
change’ finds that fundamental reform is required to
ensure land becomes a more effective carbon store. The critical
services we receive from the land; clean water, healthy
soils, wildlife, timber and food, are threatened by a
warming climate. Government can address these concerns while
ensuring sufficient food production for an increasing
population and space for new homes.
‘Biomass in a low-carbon economy’ considers the role of
biomass – wood, plants and organic waste – in the global
strategy to tackle climate change. Biomass can play an important
role in meeting the UK’s long-term (2050) emissions targets
and moving towards net-zero emissions, but only with
stricter governance to ensure sustainable supplies. Current UK
energy uses will need to change.
There is now an opportunity, especially through the new
Agriculture and the Environment Bills, to define a better
strategy for our land to meet the goals of the UK Climate Change
Act.
• Climate change impacts are already altering the land’s use,
while the services provided by the natural environment are
being degraded. Average UK temperatures have risen by
0.8°C over the last forty years; with nine of the ten
warmest years for the UK occurring since 2002. Loss of soil
fertility, biodiversity and peatland degradation are now
apparent, in large part driven by intensive food production.
Projections of future UK climate suggest further warming, sea
level rise, periods of heavier rain leading to greater risks
from flooding as well as reduced water availability in
summer. Despite some opportunities, the negative impacts on our
soil, water,
vegetation and wildlife are likely to be significant.
• Land is a critical natural resource, but past policies
governing the use of UK land have been fragmented and
incomplete. Under the Common Agricultural Policy and its
predecessors, food production has been rewarded over other
services that the land can provide. Change provides the
opportunity to maximise the use of land as a natural store for
carbon and as a regulator of natural hazards such as
flooding.
• New land-use policy must promote radically different uses of UK
land to support deeper emissions reductions and improve
resilience to climate change impacts. This includes increased
tree planting, improved forest management, restoration of
peatlands, and shifts to low-carbon farming practices, which
improve soil and water quality. These will help to reduce flood
risk and improve the condition of semi-naturalhabitatssuch
as woodlands and wetlands.
• Alternative uses of land can be economic for farmers and land
managers, but Government must provide help for them to
transition. Assistance is needed with skills, training
and information to implement new uses of land. Support for
high up-front costs and financing to aid that transition are
also required. Land managers must have better access to
information about the impacts of a changing climate.
The Committee also finds an important role for biomass reducing
and removing UK emissions, but only if certain critical
criteria are met. It recommends:
• The UK should aim to increase the volume of carbon stored inour
forests and land. The supply of sustainable biomass
harvested from UK sources should also
increase. Government must increase tree-planting from
9000 hectares per year on average to 20,000 hectares by
2020 and 27,000 hectares by 2030, and extend this further to
2050. This should go alongside planting energy crops on
low-quality land.
• Food and biodegradable waste must be collected separately from
other refuse in all areas across the UK. By 2025, no
biodegradable waste such as food, paper, card, wood, textiles
and garden waste should be sent to landfill.
• Rules governing the supply of sustainable sources of biomass
for energy need to be improved. Without sustainable land
management practices and careful control of
lifecycle emissions’, use of biomass for energy production
can have a worse impact on the climate than the ongoing use of
fossil fuels. The long-term role of biomass imports to the UK
must therefore depend on improved regulation of their
supply. High-GHG sources (for example, tracts of
forest harvested just for energy) should be clearly
regulated out of use and better practice encouraged, such as
the use of organic waste. TheUK must lead a global shift towards
improved monitoring and reporting techniques of biomass
stocks(e.g. using satellite data) and use a broader range
of policy levers (e.g. trade and development policy,
standards, procurement and finance rules).
• Biomass must be used in the most effective way. Uses that
enable long-term carbon storage should be prioritised. The
use of biomass must not exceed the levels of
sustainable material that are currently available. Steps
should include a substantial increase in the use of wood in
the construction of buildings, the development of key
technologies including carbon capture and storage, the
phasing out of large-scale biomass power plants that do not
capture and store their emissions, phasing out biofuel use
in cars and vans in the 2030s, and supporting the use of
biofuels in aviation (up to 10% of demand).
Lord Deben, Chairman of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC),
said:
“Land is our most precious natural asset but the way we use land
in this country needs fundamental reform. We must ensure our
use of land helps to reduce the emissions that are warming
our atmosphere. We must also improve the resilience of the land
to climate change. New legislation on agriculture and the
environment provides us with a unique opportunity to
reward landowners and farmers for actions such as tree
planting, restoring peatlands and improving soil and water
quality.
“We need a new conversation about the role that biomass can play
in helping to meet the UK’s climate change targets. If
supply of biomass is more strictly governed, its use can be
sustainable and it can play an essential role in reducing
emissions, locking away carbon in plants and
soils. Unsustainable supplies of biomass have no place in
our future energy mix.”
To request copies of the reports, please CLICK
HERE
Commenting on the report, Benedict McAleenan Head of
Biomass UK, part of the Renewable Energy Association said:
”We strongly support the CCC’s findings, which show the important
role of biomass in the UK’s long-term energy system. Crucially,
they point out that trying to combat climate change without
biomass would be harder and more expensive.
“Well-regulated biomass can provide benefits for forestry,
agriculture and our energy system, backing up technologies like
wind and solar. In the future it will be combined with carbon
capture to actually remove carbon from the atmosphere – a crucial
role if we’re to stop climate change.
“We have always worked with government to develop world-leading
sustainability regulations. We’ll look closely at this report’s
policy recommendations to ensure biomass continues to cut carbon
emissions, support forests and stabilise the energy system long
into the future.”
