NFU Net Zero

In 2015, the UK pledged to be Net Zero by 2050, with the NFU striving for the more ambitious target of 2040. Net Zero is achieved when the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted is balanced with those removed from the atmosphere. This helps to combat climate change and reduce global warming.

Whilst contributing to 10% of the total GHG emissions, the agricultural industry sits in the unique position of controlling a significant land base that can be used to implement natural solutions to climate change, such as capturing carbon via sequestration into soils and vegetation.

What is Net Zero?

Net Zero refers to the balance between the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere. GHGs can be removed from the atmosphere through carbon sequestration which is expanded on below.

 

The Paris Agreement

The UK has a legal obligation to be Net Zero by 2050, as laid out by the Paris Agreement in 2015. This is in order to keep global temperature increase "well below" 2°C. Three years later, this recommended level was reduced to 1.5°C by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), due to the more severe climate consequences a 2°C warming would result in. Although some might argue we are past being able to meet this target with current projections.

 

Carbon Sequestration

As well as reducing emissions, a carbon balance can be achieved, or even offset, through sequestration. This is the active removal of carbon from the atmosphere and permanently locking it up in either vegetation or soil organic carbon (the carbon component of soil organic matter). The agricultural industry is in a unique position of already holding carbon stores and being able to sequester further through modifying practice. A carbon store is the amount of carbon already locked up in vegetation such as trees, hedgerows and in the soil. The act of increasing this store by expanding trees and hedgerows, or increasing soil organic carbon content through reduced cultivation then counts as sequestration.

 

The AHDB has comissioned several studies under its 'What Works for Agriculture' initiative, which we will make avaliable here.

 

Related Organisations

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Connected Content

There are around 3.2M ha of woodland in the UK. This is set to increase substantially over the coming years due to a range of policy, social, environmental and commercial drivers, including Net Zero, Biodiversity Net Gain, ELMs, Local nature recovery plans and carbon trading.

In our first workshop of the season and as part of the Countryside COP programme we met to introduce YEN Zero and discuss productivity and land use as it relates to crops and GHG emissions, addressing the questions: What is the role of productivity in reaching net zero agriculture? How do we balance meeting food demand while protecting our environment? Should we be ‘sparing’ land for nature or ‘sharing’ our agricultural land with nature?

Opportunities are increasing for farmers and land managers to earn revenues from storing carbon in soils or vegetation, or by reducing baseline GHG emissions from crop and livestock production.

NFU

The NFU represents more than 46,000 farming and growing businesses. Our purpose is to champion British agriculture and horticulture, to campaign for a stable and sustainable future for British farmers and to secure the best possible deal for our members. We strive to protect and promote British farm life and give our members a voice now and in the future.

YEN Zero is a recently established network in the ADAS YEN Family, with the overarching aim of creating a net-zero community. It aims to bring key players from across the agricultural industry together to meet the industry’s target of achieving net zero emissions by 2040.

The Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs.

The number of tools and calculators available can be daunting. None are necessarily right or wrong, the appropriate tool for you depends on the question you are asking.

Are environmental benefits (carbon, biodiversity...) best served by sharing agricultural land with nature, or by maximising yield in some areas to spare tracts of land exclusively for nature in other areas?  

The Farm Carbon Toolkit was created by farmers for farmers. For over a decade, we’ve worked to further the understanding of greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture. We provide tools and services to measure impact and run projects with farmers that inspire action on the ground. Our vision is a farming sector that minimises its carbon emissions and maximises its carbon sequestration, whilst producing quality food and a wide range of public goods, all produced by resilient and profitable farm businesses. Some people call this vision a regenerative farming future.  

The UK Government has set a Net Zero target for 2050. Land use and management has a key role to play in this, with the NFU setting an even earlier target of 2040.

There is a lot of interest in soil carbon currently, due to the opportunity to store and sequester carbon in soil. It is also vital for soil health, forming part of soil organic matter.

The ADAS Climate and Sustainability team help clients to address their sustainability challenges.

Trusted software which elevates farmers to the heart to the food and farming ecosystem

Ahead of COP27 in Egypt, Countryside COP will once again be held in October to allow the rural community to come together and showcase the opportunities available and the contribution already being made to reach Net Zero. 

Farm carbon calculator to lower emissions and increase productivity

Perennial biomass crops like miscanthus and short rotation coppice have the potential to meet energy demands as renewable fuels, helping to reduce GHG emissions and strive towards Net Zero.

Harnessing our collective strengths to bring about a step change in more sustainable soil health practices over the next decade

The Forestry Commission increases the value of woodlands to society and the environment.  It is a non-ministerial government department.

Our new book on Understanding and fostering soil carbon sequestration edited by Cornelia Rumpel, Director of Research in the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences at the French National Research Center, provides an authoritative review of all the latest research in this important area.

Bringing the real food and farming movement together. Every January the Oxford Real Farming Conference connects people in the UK and around the globe who want to transform our food and farming system. The ORFC23 is taking place between 4th-6th January 2023 - see our event page for more details in the 'recommended content' section below.

Introduction   Climate change will significantly impact agriculture, forestry and the food industry, and the impact will change over time. The change in local and global climate conditions will impact the life cycle process of the agriculture and food industry, including the quality of seeds, growing seasons, crop maturity, livestock productivity, forest productivity, etc. The most critical impacts are the increased CO2 emissions due to growth in agricultural activities, the changing rainfall patterns, increased evaporative demand, reduced water availability for irrigation threatening all agricultural production, extended or repeated periods of drought, tree deaths, increased flooding, including that caused by sea-level rise, substantial losses in crop production in low-lying agricultural areas, soil compaction, waterlogging and soil erosion, and pests and diseases threatening the production.    Climate change will affect the range and quality of the ecosystem services that agriculture and forestry provide and rely on. They provide climate control, flood regulation, biodiversity, pollination and nutrient cycling. These sectors play a critical role in adapting to the change by introducing new healthy and resilient genotypes, varieties, breeds and management practices.    As the impact of climate change continues to be severe, there is a need for more anticipatory adaptation measures. Agriculture and forestry are components of larger biophysical, social and economic systems, reacting and adapting to climate change in different ways, resulting in complex global changes whose impacts at the local level are not easy to predict.   Conversely, the demand for agriculture and the food industry is growing, including to achieve the ‘No Hunger’ SDG 2 target, universal access to safe and nutritious food, end all forms of malnutrition, double the productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, sustainable food production and resilient agricultural practices, maintain the genetic diversity in food production, invest in rural infrastructure, agricultural research, technology and gene banks, preventing agricultural trade restrictions, market distortions and export subsidies, and ensuring stable food commodity markets and timely access to information.   Thus, achieving food and nutritional security by increasing crop productivity while limiting carbon emissions is of utmost priority for every nation. This includes strengthening sustainable agri-food value chains, scaling up agri-food systems resilience, improving food security, and generating employment. While doing this, we must increase innovative practices and the creative and entrepreneurial skills of farmers worldwide to do their jobs and businesses effectively, foresee future scenarios and be prepared and resilient to climate and economic shocks.   This highlights an urgent need to identify an eco-friendly/cleaner consumption and production system that is more productive, profitable, resource-efficient (i.e. efficient use of energy, water, and carbon-based inputs), environmentally safer, balanced gender, accessible and inclusive of everyone, and resilient. Communities Carbon Calculator (CCC) Pilot Our proposal, Communities Carbon Calculator, is about designing eco-friendly and carbon-cum energy efficient, resilient and sustainable production and consumption systems for the diverse agroecosystems worldwide.   The primary concept is to have meaningful, interrelated, inter-sectoral collaborative four (4) Carbon Interventions: Carbon budgeting includes carbon reduction, using embodied carbon and reducing carbon waste for positive impact. Carbon mobilisation includes understanding the carbon dynamics throughout the processes, practices and products and applying technologies (natural, bio, chemical, mechanical, etc.) and fixing it for positive impact. Carbon literacy includes increasing the understanding and knowledge of the use of technologies (digital), theories and practices for a sustainable and resilient low-carbon sector. Carbon Sustainability includes developing local and global ecosystems for sustainable and resilient sectors.   CCC Pilot will focus on 1 region and four countries in this Pilot. However, we are open to more countries or regions joining the Pilot. We have started collecting interest from the global community, and if we get 20 stakeholders from a country, it will be included in the pilot.   For now, we have committed interest from: Region: The Congo Basin Countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ouganda, Kenya, Ghana, Pakistan, Nigeria, Zambia, and Mongolia   The Global Sustainable Futures Progress through Partnerships Network calls partners/collaborators/individuals to join the optimised integrated COMMUNITIES CALCULATOR CARBON (CCC) Pilot. For Africa, our foremost partner is Actions for the Development of Africa - ADA, led by Bernard K. Mulenda. He is closely working with Professor Dr Mylor Ngoie on the interventions from the Universities over the region.   Country Carbon Calculator (CCC) Pilot will drive total transformation in systems at the country level. It will impact many other interrelated sectors, such as agriculture, water, waste, transport, energy, health, etc., developing in-country projects and integrating strategies for technology, subject expertise, innovation and commercialisation, including: Identifying and connecting with relevant stakeholders physically, socially and virtually, both at local, national and regional levels Advocating, encouraging, and negotiating with stakeholders to get involved in the program for managing carbon emission, business and innovative commodities, adopting an integrated approach and multi-area agreements Creating local, national and regional forums to attract all stakeholders (start-ups, technicians, experts) associated with business Facilitating carbon calculator development in-country, partnering with subject matter experts, academia, and technology experts The Carbon Calculator will be an online tool enabling every business manager detailing and supply chain actors to calculate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and carbon storage into soil and biomass on the land area they are footprinting. It will account for all types of agriculture, food production and land use, producing a carbon balance detailing emissions into Scopes 1,2,3 emissions and carbon storage. A noticeable difference will be reflected in the quality of services, commercialisation, certification, carbon credits, crop diversity and inclusion of farmers, women and youth A scalable and innovative approach to connecting the countries as low-carbon, resilient and sustainable environmental, agriculture and food suppliers, health, manufacturing, etc. Seven WorkPlans WP1: To map the current resources in your country to create a farm carbon calculator WP2: To build a working model for piloting the carbon calculator WP3: To evaluate the CCC Pilot quarterly for its delivery of services/products/processes WP4: To measure the changes in the sector due to the innovative practices developed through CCC Pilot WP5: To measure the changes in related sectors such as agriculture, water, energy, transport, health nutrition, soil quality, housing, etc. through CCC Pilot WP6: To develop the learning/skill development/innovative practices knowledge exchange gathered through CCC Pilot WP7: To work with the stakeholders to improve decision-making for a resilient and sustainable industry   Please complete this form to express your interest: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScpkme0WNS-th6QGNcTTJ6d9vMZa2myFBixszOD4YYDLRq9Mg/viewform?usp=share_link Contact Dr Renuka Thakore, Founder and CEO, Global Sustainable Futures Network CIC, UK [email protected] https://www.linkedin.com/in/rbthakore/  

A transdisciplinary hub looking to provide to bridge the gap between science and policy to achieve Net Zero

Report commissioned by WWF & Tesco launched at OFC 2022 on "

NFU published a report in 2019 outling how agriculture can be part of the solution and commiting

A range of products are commercially available that claim to enable more efficient nutrient uptake, allowing less nutrient to be applied as fertiliser.

Policy plays a critical role in shaping the agriculture industry in the UK and Europe. Government policies can have a major impact on the way that farmers operate, the crops they grow, and the prices they receive for their products. Policy has a major effect on how land is managed and environmental outcomes.

Lots of initiatives are measuring and reporting the carbon or greenhouse footprint of products or activities, including crops, livestock and food.

Together, we’re creating plausible pathways, and practical, open science, to achieve Net Zero through the Agrifood system by 2050.

Inchdairnie Distillery Ltd produces Single Malt Scotch Whisky and Single Grain Scotch Whisky. At present we consume 5,000 tons of malted cereal per year.

Educating, inspiring and empowering current and future farmers to achieve net zero within a sustainable farming and food system.

Recording from session at Groundswell 2022 with summary below from Agricology

If you are a farmer seeking extra revenue for good environmental work on your land, we could help you to access funds.

The Agriculture and Land Use Alliance brings together all interested organisations/individuals across the UK pre-farm gate sector to drive change to a net zero economy through results-driven collaboration.

WWF

WWF supports lots of work on sustainable agriculture in a partnership with Tesco.

The School of Sustainable Food and Farming Journey to Net Zero Competition is looking to support the development or implementation of a system, process or processes which will have a positive, measurable impact on how winners can farm in a sustainable way. There is a total of £50k available which will be awarded in grants of between £5k-20k.

Biofuels have been mandated in road fuel since 2008 to help reduce the fossil carbon emissions from petrol and diesel.  

Farmers Weekly article by Mike Abram exploring four carbon calculators

Land of Plenty is WWF's blueprint for how the agriculture and land use sectors in the UK can help fight climate change and bring nature back to life.

Innovate UK and BBSRC announce new £16 million competition to drive forward novel, resource efficient, low-emission food production systems.

Where does rewilding sit in the future of food and agriculture? Rewilding is a contested term, described by some as laying a foundation for global biodiversity restoration and by others as a threat to human and non-human life in the countryside. This explainer explores how and why people disagree about rewilding, compares its various definitions, and considers how the rewilding debate ties in with different visions for the future of food.

As a thought-piece for Science for Sustainable Agriculture, science communicator Dr Julian Little examines two contrasting approaches taken by leading food businesses to promote more sustainable agriculture and food production – the apparently “unscalable” regenerative agriculture, and sustainable intensification. Which approach is most likely to deliver the necessary increases in global food production while at the same time reducing agriculture’s footprint, delivering net zero and leaving room for nature? And are they in conflict?

White Horse Energy have secured funding from Department of Energy Security and Net Zero as part of the Biomass Feedstocks Innovation Programme to develop a transportable pelletising technology. This will be deployed at farm level with the capability of processing agricultural residues and perennial energy crops into industrial standard biomass pellets. This produces a high-density renewable energy source, for which the demand is growing substantially because of the need to find alternatives to fossil fuels. A prototype of the mobile pelletiser is currently being developed ready to enter the market. White Horse Energy hopes to provide farmers with an opportunity to increase farm revenue, all year round, without interfering with existing operations.  Due to a lack of domestic production, current UK demand for biomass feedstocks significantly outweighs available supply. Therefore, a large proportion of biomass material is currently imported, which limits the sustainable nature of this energy source. White Horse Energy’s innovation will increase the viability of UK production and provide farmers with the opportunity to diversify into a new UK market, with lower environmental impacts and input costs. White Horse Energy are keen to engage with farmers during this development stage to understand the issues and concerns within the agricultural industry that affect growers most. This engagement assists in shaping the project to provide a diversification option that contributes positively to both the environment and farm income. Ultimately producing a solution that meets a wide variety of needs for everyone.

Glossary of terms around Net Zero brought together with plain English definitions in a Farmers Weekly article supported by AHDB and Trinity AgTech  

Scientific paper setting out how GHG emissions from agriculture could be reduced through more efficient production and use of N fertiliser. Gao, Y., Cabrera Serrenho, A. (2023) Greenhouse gas emissions from nitrogen fertilizers could be reduced by up to one-fifth of current levels by 2050 with combined interventions. Nature Food. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-023-00698-w  

This project aims to bring some clarity on the extent to which commonly used tools diverge in their estimates of carbon footprint for a range of well-defined reference systems.

The Go to Guide for reducing farm GHG emissions, from Innovation for Agriculture. Funded by WWF a

A joint report from Crop Health and Protection (CHAP) and AHDB, that aimed to determine a baselin

Webinar hosted by GWCT with David Powlson - watch the video below.

Report by Green Alliance for WWF & Tesco exploring carbon markets. Introdu

Scientific paper by Andrew Balmford & colleagues published in Nature Sustainability 2018:

Report from RASE on getting to Net Zero.

Scientific paper in Nature by Tim Searchinger and colleagues on Carbon Opportunity Cost of ch

Guide from CIEL on GHG emissions from livestock farming and how to reduce them.

Climate change threatens our ability to ensure global food security, eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development. In 2016, 31 percent of global emissions originating from human activity came from agrifood systems.

Help us collate the knowledge sources, organisations and initiatives out there that are seeking to improve the farmed environment

Network of farmers advisors and researchers working together, sharing ideas and data and testing solutions to increase soil carbon

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The Future Farming Resilience Fund (FFRF) is a scheme set up by Defra to provide free business support to farmers and land managers during the early years of the agricultural transition. The third phase of the fund is now open for registration.

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The business event showcasing low carbon practices, technology and energy solutions for a profitable & sustainable farming future.

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A partnership of agricultural, environmental and governmental bodies, promoting good environmental management through productive farming practices.

A must-attend event for anyone with an interest in the role biochar will play in the future agricultural landscape. Run by The Allerton Project.

An overview of the greenhouse gas costs of cropping, including an analysis of YEN data in lead up to establishing YEN Zero.  Also includes an analysis of the relationship between nitrogen fertiliser, GHG costs, yield, GHG intensity and potential indirect land use change (ILUC) consequences.  

The next Low Carbon Agriculture Show will take place on the 7 - 8 February 2023 at the National Agricultural Exhibition Centre (NAEC), Stoneleigh, to help farmers and landowners to rise to the challenge of producing more domestic, climate friendly food and energy.

Carbon Zero Consulting, part of the RSK group, invites you to discover what natural environmental heat sources can do for your food and drink manufacturing operations, as it is clear that high energy prices are here to stay for the foreseeable future.

This report by the German Environment Agency examines the mitigation potential of climate friendly soil management practices at global, EU and German level, along with key management measures, their co-benefits and trade-offs, and implementation challenges.

An overview of the greenhouse gas costs of cropping, including an analysis of YEN data in lead up to establishing YEN Zero.  Also includes an analysis of the relationship between nitrogen fertiliser, GHG costs, yield, GHG intensity and potential indirect land use change (ILUC) consequences. Part funded by the Morley Foundation.

Our food system accounts for 1/3 of all global emissions - so why has it hardly been talked about at previous COPs? Will this ever change?

The Big Tent is the annual meeting of the Network and an opportunity for participants to hear from, and engage with, researchers, business leaders, policy-makers and voluntary organisations working for change in the agri-food system to meet the UK’s net zero 2050 goal. 

‘Business-as-usual’ is dead. So what could the UK agri-food system look like in 2050, and what would this mean for research now & net zero?

CO2, CH4, GWP, N2O, CO2e? It’s not all about carbon – and the most important emission from agriculture isn’t carbon dioxide. See HERE  AHDB's glossary of terms regarding carbon and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.

Based on RASE’s ‘Farm of the Future’ report, this guide highlights some of the tools available to farm businesses. It shows how farmers can be part of the transition to a more circular economy, improve soil management, deploy solutions to sequester carbon, protect rural resources, and adopt on-farm renewable energy.

Net zero is not just about emissions, it's also about balancing the amount of greenhouse gas released with the amount removed across your entire farm business.

You are invited to join us for this winter meeting at David Fuller-Shapcotts Sweethope Farm.

Carbon Calling CIC is a farmer-led movement founded in 2019 by Liz Genever and Nic Renison.   It is aimed at farmers who are just on the turn - they know what they are doing isn't quite working but not sure what to do next.   We are want to empower all livestock farmers in the UK to develop their systems to ensure they are profitable, environmentally aware and improving well-being.

ADAS, the Met Office, and farming guests explore the barriers and challenges that farmers face from a changing climate.

This paper describes four scenarios for how the world might be in 2050 and what sort of agri-food systems may exist within them.

This page is designed to give information to PulsePEP community members on using the Farm Carbon Calculator from Farm Carbon Toolkit for carbon emission baselining as part of the Nitrogen Climate Smart Project.

The discussions at COP28 highlight the critical role of agricultural innovations in achieving food security and climate goals sustainably.

Exploring how cover crops can be incorporated into rotations 

The business event showcasing low carbon practices, technology and energy solutions for a profitable & sustainable farming future

Healthy, well-managed soils support productive and healthy crops and pasture and allows for a profitable and resilient farming system.

To help growers calculate the carbon footprint of their crops and identify mitigation measures, the Yield Enhancement Network created a new farmer network called YEN Zero.

Fertility is the key driver of profit in the dairy herd and is dependent on genetics, nutrition and health status.

As global warming increases, young people currently in their teens, 20s, 30s, and early 40s will be the ones to bear the brunt of climatic changes, plus the responsibility of transitioning the agri-food system towards net zero by 2050.

Tree-planting is a key part of the UK government’s plan to reach net zero by 2050, with a commitment to plant 30,000 hectares of new woodland every year. But where will all these trees go, and how can we ensure food production is maintained?

Get your carbon questions answered as FarmED delve into the world of soil carbon, sequestration, net zero and carbon credits.

This webinar introduces the work of YEN Zero with the ADAS Climate Change and Sustainability team and Will Oliver, an arable farmer from Lincolnshire and YEN Zero member.

Across the horticulture sector, production efficiency and waste avoidance are key to cutting emissions from farms.

Review by NFU into carbon calculators - available to NFU members only

Case studies from 26 farmers striving to reach net zero

According to PAS 2050 Specification for lifecycle assessment of GHG emissions the increase in Soi

From HillsGreen webinar on 3/2/2022 - In current times, carbon has become a buzzword. I

Recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlight how human acti

Report for AHDB Abstract The AHDB is developing a What Works Centre for agriculture and

Report by SRUC, JHI & Forest Research 2018. Executive Summary:

Part of a series of projects from the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) looking at the potentia

AHDB Research Review No 94. 2020.  By Elizabeth Stockdale and Vera Eory This high-

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