As we can all agree, climate change has made the weather more extreme, with winters getting wetter and summers getting drier.
The UK is legally committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Meaning that the UK aims to reduce its emissions as much as possible and offset any remaining emissions through methods like carbon capture and storage or afforestation. Agriculture must play its part, yet there is no single answer how to achieve net zero.
91²Ö¿âhas set out a range of measures that will help achieve net zero, which fall under three broad headings: Improving farming’s productive efficiency; improving land management and changing land use to capture more carbon; boosting renewable energy and the wider bioeconomy.
At the same time as reducing our impact on the climate, we should not reduce our capacity to feed UK consumers with high quality, affordable British food. At the same time the UK must not achieve its climate change ambitions by exporting UK production, or our greenhouse gas emissions, to other countries.
The York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority are currently consulting on their route map to carbon negative, which sets out ambitious plans to be net zero carbon by 2034 and carbon negative by 2040. Agriculture is highlighted in the plan as a net contributor of carbon alongside transport.
To help farming reduce its carbon emissions, the Combined Authority has launched a Business Sustainability Programme to businesses and farms with the aim of increasing the number of enterprises adopting technologies or processes and reduce carbon dioxide equivalent because of support. This will support business resilience through increased energy security and climate change adaptation, facilitate measures that are not only good for the planet, but for businesses’ bottom lines and enable farm business resilience through reduced emissions, increased energy efficiency and lower costs.
It is important that other authorities recognise that achieving net zero will require investment and support for farm businesses. By working together as an industry, across all farming sectors, choosing from a broad range of policy measures, this will enable individual farm businesses to act on net zero.