皇家华人

The Environment and Climate Change Committee has published its report, , which says the UK must keep up momentum on cutting methane emissions at home and demonstrate international leadership.

Notable recommendations include:

• The UK Government should consult with representative bodies, individual farmers and regulators to ensure clear and consistent expectations are set and accompanying guidance provided.
• Methane mitigation must be considered in the context of other priorities, including sustainable farming, food security, biodiversity, and ongoing higher food costs.
• The UK Government must lead an open and honest conversation with the sector and supermarkets about how these costs will be distributed to reduce emissions whilst not burdening farmers or consumers unfairly.
• The government should consider whether and how ELMS could be used as an effective policy tool to incentivise methane mitigation.
• Enhanced monitoring and verification of emissions at smaller scales not only improves the quality and accuracy of data for the UK鈥檚 National Inventory Report but also makes it possible to reward and encourage good practice in mitigating emissions by individual businesses or individuals.
• The government should build on its work to improve the accuracy and reliability of agricultural emissions calculators for use on individual farms, in line with our recommendations regarding metrics in chapter 3.
• The government could consider whether there is a case for setting separate methane emissions targets for different sectors, and whether regulation could support this policy.

Responding to the report, NFU President Tom Bradshaw said: 鈥淲e echo many of the House of Lords鈥� recommendations in its methane report as a way of investing in the agricultural industry and making sure we follow science and evidence-based policy to further mitigate any impact.

鈥淏ritish farmers are world leaders in producing climate-friendly food and want to do more, but we cannot do it alone.

鈥淏ritish farmers are being asked to do more with less and many are concerned about their future. It is vital that we see a clear policy direction from government to support farm businesses to reduce emissions through productivity improvements and technology advancements, such as a fit for purpose Livestock Information programme.

鈥淎dditionally, consumer engagement is essential for driving sustainable supply chains and enabling informed decision-making.鈥�

NFU response

皇家华人welcomed the opportunity to respond to this call for evidence on methane.

Our aspiration is for British farmers to produce the most climate-friendly food in the world through improving productivity, using land, hedgerows, and trees to take up and store carbon, and boosting renewable energy output.

We know that there is no single answer to the climate change challenge facing us all.

皇家华人said that for successful implementation of climate action in livestock management, the benefits and co-benefits, including socio-economic and food security dimensions, must be considered holistically.

In the response, the NFU called upon the government to:

• Incentivise KPI and GHG assessments, and support industry initiatives which aim to reduce duplication and drive the provision of reliable, streamlined data.
• Support collaborative working on the next steps in harmonising GHG accounting tools for agriculture.
• Build a multi-species Livestock Information Service that makes greater use of the statutory data already collected and integrates non-statutory information to听inform management decisions on farm that will increase productivity.
• Continuously improve the national GHG inventory, both through more representative emissions factors and activity data.
• Address the economics and regulatory barriers to investment in small-scale AD plants and other advanced slurry management technologies, recognising the multiple public goods they can provide.
• Implement strong safeguards to ensure that our highly trade-exposed sector is not at risk from the export of our food production emissions through 鈥榗arbon leakage鈥�.
• Set up targeted incentives in the tax system.

When it comes to methane reporting, the NFU wants a unified approach across industry and government at a national scale. Therefore, the NFU supports dual accounting using GWP100 and GWP* because of the advantages and disadvantages of both metrics.

皇家华人also wants to see solutions for incorporating GWP* for dual reporting in on-farm calculators. The nutrient density of foods in relation to their climate impact also needs to be expressed.

Our full written evidence can be read at:

NFU President Tom Bradshaw recently appeared in front of the House of Lords鈥� Environment and Climate Change Committee to give evidence on its inquiry into methane.

This session focused on agriculture, but the Committee has also taken evidence from stakeholders and regulators in the landfill and oil industry.

Tom warned that exporting Britain鈥檚 production overseas presents a real danger because methane emissions have a global impact, irrespective of origin, and red meat produced in Britain emits 50% less emissions than the global average.

International impact

The Committee were interested in the international impact and asked if the NFU would support a methane tax on imports.

Tom acknowledged the point but said that single metrics might not provide the outcomes that consumers want and hypothesised a situation where a high animal welfare system might produce more emissions.

In addition, the Committee were interested to hear about the most effective ways to measure, baseline, and reduce methane emissions.

There were questions surrounding whether technological solutions would be viable, and if they could have any unintended consequences.

Tom cautioned that methane-inhibiting feed additives should not be seen as a silver bullet, and that working to eradicate diseases like Bluetongue and bTB would also drive down emissions.

Issues around data

The issues surrounding the availability of data were also raised throughout the session.

Tom told the Committee that we must understand exactly how much methane farmers and growers are producing if we are to spend public money reducing emissions.

This is because it would be impossible to justify the investment without being able to compare our progress.

However, he did caveat this by stressing that farm-level data needs to be protected and benefit the farmers themselves.

皇家华人very much welcomed the opportunity to give evidence to the Environment and Climate Change Committee and has also submitted written evidence as part of its inquiry into methane.

Watch back Tom Bradshaw giving evidence on 鈥�

This Call for Evidence has now closed.听

The House of Lords鈥� Select Committee Call for Evidence on methane is part of an inquiry into the progress the UK has made as a signatory of the Global Methane Pledge.

The pledge is a commitment to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030.

The inquiry is looking at progress made across a range of industries including agriculture, fossil fuels and waste.

For agriculture, the Call for Evidence is interested in technologies and policies to help reduce methane emissions, how reducing methane emissions needs to be balanced with food security, and measurements and metrics for methane eg, GWP*.

Also relevant is the question on what more could be done to collect food waste separately from landfill.

You can read more on the Call for Evidence at: .