UK climate report: Cut red meat by 20% and plant more trees

Reducing the number of ruminants and increased tree planting on farmland are key to meeting the UK’s “net zero” carbon ambitions, says the Committee on Climate Change (CCC).

Launching its latest report, Land Use: Policies for a Net Zero UK, committee chairman Lord Deben said the time for discussion was over and the time for delivery had arrived, backed by legislation if necessary.

“Changing the way we use our land is critical to delivering the UK’s net zero target,” he said.

“Doing so can provide new revenue opportunities for farmers, better air quality and improved biodiversity.

“But major changes are required and action from government is needed quickly.”

According to the report, agriculture currently accounts for 12% of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK, but this can be reduced by almost two-thirds if the right actions are taken.

Specifically, it suggests:

Reduce consumption of beef, lamb and dairy by at least 20% per person, and food waste by a similar 20%

Increase tree planting by 100m trees/year, lifting UK forestry cover from 13% to 18% by 2050

Encourage low-carbon farming practices – such as “controlled-release” fertilisers, improved livestock health and new diets for cattle

Restore at least 50% of upland peat by “rewetting” them, and banning extraction and heather burning

Expand bioenergy crops to about 23,000ha/year, including miscanthus and short rotation coppice

The result of all this would be that about 20% of land would be taken out of traditional agricultural production and moved into long-term, natural carbon storage, said Chris Stark, CCC chief executive.

But this would not necessarily mean a reduction in food production, he told a briefing on Wednesday (22 January), so long as there was an improvement in productivity and a change in diet “reducing consumption of the most carbon-intensive food – beef, lamb and dairy”.

Cut methane

This drop in meat and dairy consumption was needed to reduce methane emissions, said Mr Stark, and so contain the rise in global temperatures.

Even though UK grass-fed beef was less damaging than other global systems, it still needed to play its part.

“But it’s very important that we don’t then replace that with the importation of higher greenhouse-gas-intensity meat from abroad,” he said.

“We will need a strong trade policy to make that happen.”

Achieving a 20% reducing red meat consumption should be done by steering people towards the right diet choice, rather than legislating, such as better labelling and improving plant-based offerings in schools and hospitals.

“The main message here is eat a little less meat, but know that you can go for the high-quality produce that we have here in the UK, which has lower greenhouse gas emissions than imported meat,” said Mr Stark.

Carbon credits

As for tree planting, the CCC is suggesting a system of Feed-in Tariffs, similar to those used with renewable energy, or a carbon trading scheme, where farmers can sell carbon credits.

This could be funded by a levy on greenhouse gas emitting industries, such as oil extraction or aviation.

Overall, the CCC estimates that all its recommendations would cost about £1.4bn/year, but would yield net benefits to society of more than £4bn.