The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has said that the Government’s plans on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from farming and land use fall short of pledges made in its original net zero strategy.
According to the WWF’s analysis of the Government’s carbon budget delivery plan, the total projected emissions reductions from now until 2037 for agriculture and land use were 58 per cent less than the emissions reduction figures underpinning the original net zero strategy.
This gap is equivalent to the emissions of the entire UK building sector and the group has warned that if it carries on like this, farming and land use is set to become the third largest source of emissions by 2035.
The Government announced after Brexit that the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) would be replaced by environmental land management schemes which would pay farmers to restore nature.
However, the analysts found that for farming alone, the expected total emission reductions from now to 2037 in the new plans are 38 per cent lower than previously promised in the original net zero strategy and continue to omit any actions to support a shift to more sustainable diets.
In addition, according to the WWF’s report, the total projected emission benefits from tree planting from now to 2037 are 85 per cent lower than previously claimed. Tree planting rates are already only half of what is needed to be in line with net zero.
Meanwhile, the total projected emission benefits from the restoration of peatlands – carbon-rich wetlands are 80 per cent lower than the equivalent emissions from peatlands promised in the original net zero strategy.
This is disappointing, as peatlands are some of the most carbon-rich areas with the biggest benefits if they are restored.
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