Farming can play a key role in UK climate change fight
14/03/07

The NFU has welcomed the Government’s commitment to tackling climate change and said farmers were in a prime position to help it achieve its targets.

But it called for any emissions targets to be EU-wide to ensure British farming did not suffer as a result of extra regulation, and that farmers could only fully adapt to the challenges if there was consistency in Government policy.

The Climate Change Bill, published today, puts in place the legislative framework for the Government’s target of a 60 per cent cut in carbon dioxide emissions from 1990 levels by 2050.

The Bill also includes an interim carbon reduction target of between 26 per cent and 32 per cent by 2020 and the setting of carbon ‘budgets’ every five years to cap emissions levels. The Government also has to report annually to Parliament on its progress in controlling emissions.

NFU President Peter Kendall said: “We welcome the Government’s long-term commitment to tackling climate change, and the emerging opportunities it provides for farmers to generate low-carbon renewable energy for heat, electricity and transport fuels. We welcome the chance to sit down and analyse the Bill in detail.

“We need consistency in climate change policy from this, and future, governments to enable our members to adapt to changing policies as the environment changes, and we need to make sure the Government works with the EU on targets to ensure British agriculture is not put at a competitive disadvantage.”

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