The size of the black hole in public finances was the big economic story this week, but there was worrying environmental news too. “Nature is dying,” said Defra secretary Steve Reed as he announced a new statutory plan to protect and restore the natural environment with delivery plans to meet each of the country’s Environment Act targets. Currently, we are off track on most of the 10 targets – which span climate change and pollution as well as nature – according to the Office of Environmental Protection’s report in January.
Nature is still seriously declining across the UK. A rapid review, to be completed by the end of the year, will determine whether the current environmental improvement plan is fit for purpose. An update on progress, also published this week, shows there is much to do. Poor performance on this front has been well reported in recent months. Defra will now engage with stakeholders across environment and nature, farming, resources, waste and water sectors, working “hand in glove” with businesses, local authorities and civil society across the country to develop new ambitious plans to save nature.
Increasing investment in nature-friendly farming to £5.9bn each year across the UK is essential to meet legally binding nature and climate targets and improve the resilience of the UK farming industry, according to independent analysis published by the RSPB, National Trust and The Wildlife Trusts last month. Ahead of the recent general election, both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats pledged an increase in the farming budget but Labour did not.
However, this week Labour promised to “restore stability” for farmers. New figures released by Defra show confidence remains low: half of farmers don’t feel positive about their future in farming; and 14% of those making changes plan to leave farming in the next three to five years. “The results make clear the need for the end of farmers being rocked by the chop and change of farming schemes, optimising Environmental Land Management schemes so they work for all farmers,” the department said in a statement. According to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), 440 farmers left dairy between April 2023 and this April. However the total number of dairy cows is about the same, suggesting that the trend towards bigger farms continues, reports the Sustainable Food Trust.
Food businesses also want stability and support for agro-ecological approaches to farming. In July, a cohort of major businesses called on countries’ leaders to adopt and enforce policies “to halt and reverse nature loss this decade”, reported Just-Drinks. More than 130 companies and financial institutions, including Nestlé, Danone and Unilever, made the call to action under the Business for Nature organisation.
Food and drink brands continue to invest in the production end of their supply chains – improving resilience to the changing climate and helping to reduce scope 3 emissions. Most of the work comes under the umbrella of ‘regenerative agriculture’ (see our recent feature on the topic here).
Suntory has just unveiled a new research project to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the growing of blackcurrants through regenerative farming practices on 60 hectares of land in Norfolk. There will be sap sampling to better understand and optimise blackcurrant plant nutrition, while conventional inputs to fertilise and protect the crops will be replaced with novel and ones. Soil health and carbon sequestration should also improve. The project will use the widely adopted Cool Farm Tool to quantify the on-farm greenhouse gas emissions and soil carbon sequestration. “We’re not just tackling greenhouse gas emissions, we’re looking to increase the amount of life, in our soil, in turn improving soil health and fertility,” said Harriet Prosser, agronomist, SBF GB&I.
Speaking of emissions brings us to news that the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has deferred any decision on the use of carbon offsets in climate targets until next year. Guidance currently remains “unchanged”, SBTi, said this week, as it released research that will help the initiative revise its corporate net-zero standard. The ‘scope 3 discussion paper’ explores scenarios on how environmental attribute certificates, including carbon credits, may be used in science-based target-setting contexts. There is also a long review of the evidence relating to carbon credits. This part of the conclusion will interest food companies in particular, given the reference to the increasingly popular practice of carbon insetting too:
“The evidence submitted to the SBTi generally suggests that there could be clear risks to corporate use of carbon credits for the purpose of offsetting, with the potential unintended effect of hindering the net-zero transformation and/or reducing climate finance. On the other hand, BVCM [beyond value chain mitigation] and contribution approaches may represent preferable models for accelerating net-zero transformation and increasing climate finance in that those efforts are over and above a company’s efforts to reduce its own emissions. However […] there is a clear need to assess a wider body of evidence to interrogate this research area more thoroughly. In particular, there is a clear need for further research into and standardisation of insetting as a corporate practice, where carbon credits originate from within a company’s value chain.”
Our other stories this week: the French start-up hoping to bring cultivated foie gras to the UK and four other markets; the UK Government launches a single-use plastic policy review; and the search for climate-proof chocolate production.
