To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to support UK farmers to reduce their methane emissions to help ensure the UK agriculture sector can meet the commitments made in the Global Methane Pledge.
Answered on
7 November 2022
Our environmental land management schemes will pay farmers for providing public goods, including climate change mitigation.
As published in January 2022, we anticipate the collective actions of farmers under our environmental land management scheme agreements, together with our other farming offers such as the Farming Investment Fund, will decarbonise agricultural emissions by a total of up to 6 MtCO2e p.a. in Carbon Budget 6 (2033-37) in England.
More broadly HM Government’s Net Zero Strategy sets out our plans to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions, including a range of policies and actions to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions (including methane) from agriculture.
Ruminant livestock are the leading cause of agriculture methane emissions. Improvements in productivity have already reduced emissions from the sector, however new technologies and livestock management improvements can help this go further. For example, feed additives with methane inhibiting properties have the potential to directly reduce methane emissions, especially from housed cattle.
The United Kingdom and Devolved Governments have launched a call for evidence to better understand the opportunities and challenges associated with the use of feed products that can reduce methane emissions from livestock, and explore how we can work with farmers and agri-businesses to increase adoption of this technology to support more sustainable protein production.