The CLA is heartened to see the Committee on Climate
Change (CCC) has outlined methods demonstrating how UK farming
can produce the same amount of food but meet net-zero targets in
its recently-published land use report.
The Land Use: Policies for a Net Zero
UK report explores a range of options to reduce the
UK’s carbon footprint, including through nature-based solutions
such as tree planting, peatland restoration and low-carbon
farming practices. These options all highlight the positive
contribution that farmers and landowners can make to tackling
climate change and demonstrate that investment in sustainable
farming practices is good value for money, with payback of almost
two times the costs.
Mark Bridgeman, President of the CLA
said:
“Overall, we welcome the findings in this report. The
CLA contributed heavily to this report, convening a specialist
‘CLA Climate Change Panel’ with some of our members who are
leading the way on climate change on their own holdings. It is
fantastic to see that many of their points on forestry, bioenergy
and low carbon farming practices have been
included.
“We are particularly pleased to see that, following
the last report, the Committee have significantly lowered their
calls for a reduction of cattle and sheep numbers from 46% to
10%. The livestock sector has a big role to play in tackling
climate change, but it is important this role is proportionate to
its actual impact on global temperatures.
“Carbon sequestration and storage is a big part of
the solution to get to net-zero, so it’s also good to see that
the CCC has taken on board the CLA’s proposals to make tree
planting an attractive option for landowners, encouraging access
to multiple funding streams acknowledging both the carbon and
non-carbon benefits of new woodland.
“Many of our members are already taking steps to move
towards low carbon farming practices and are keen to encourage
the rapid adoption of new technologies and innovation. However,
while it is important to examine how the regulatory baseline
needs to change to support climate change, there needs to be a
clear case for change and the wider needs of both farming and
nature must be considered. An extension of Nitrate Vulnerable
Zones, for example, must be evidence based and take into account
the varied nature of land management.
“The CCC specifically opted not to look at soil
carbon storage. The government has acknowledged in the
Agriculture Bill the importance of soil quality and functionality
as healthy soils managed well can sequester and store carbon.
This is an important part of the wider picture and can’t be
ignored when looking at climate change action in the land use
sector.”
