The UK must make big changes to its diets, farming and land use to hit net zero – official climate advisers
The UK must make big changes to its diets, farming and land use to hit net zero – official climate advisers
Numbers of cows and sheep will have to fall by a third, with their farms replaced by huge areas of new woodland.
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This mostly seems pretty achievable in my eyes. Meat consumption is apparently trending down anyway, even without government intervention. The difficult part may be turning farmland into woodland, because how do you get farmers to convert their source of income into land for trees?
This is something that irks me about how we have things setup at the moment. Farming produces food. Put money in, get food out. The notion that it also needs to make money is putting the cart before the horse. Yay capitalism.
to convert their source of income into land for trees?
The correct trees are income. Less than other sources. But I spose that is where gov needs to step in. But well managed wood cultivation is both CO2 absorbing and would reduce the huge transport harm imported wood causes.
Also, wood is getting insanely costly in the UK due to import costs. It may help other industries.
Also wood absorbs more Co2 in early growth so 10-50 year (depending on wood type). Replant and Investments plans in such land can be very effective.
Subsidise orchards like we do open farm land?
(I am not good enough at this law to know if orchards get the farming subsidies, happy to be informed by Lemmy people)
Orchards are very different from woodland. Trees need to be evenly planted and have much more space than woods. Probably better than nothing but it's not the kind of CO2-sink woodland the CCC is talking about.
I am not good enough at this law
Nor am I. But Do know pre Brexit the EU was funding actual wood land. That is a huge part of the issues farmers have now.
The huge farm subsidies the EU provided were still not replaced or agreed to long after Brexit. I'm not sure if they ever were at all. But farmers were forced to change growing habits with no idea what the gov was going to support.
It was a huge part of way £350m a week was an outright lie. Not only were we not actually sending that much due to discounts. We got a huge chunk back via farm subs, and others.
Still makes me cringe thinking about what we gave up.
Yep. I'm likely older than you. (coincidently bang on the age where the stats placed our votes at 50/50 )
So I was born a few years before we voted to join. And grew up watching most of the benefits becoming a part of UK life. And realise half my generation are fucking insane.