New report sets out 10-year plan for farming to address the climate crisis

Today the RSA Food, Farming and Countryside Commission released a new report which calls for a radical 10-year plan to transition to a sustainable food and farming system, in order to address the climate crisis.

Our deputy chief executive Tom Fyans said: ‘This important report is absolutely right to call for a transformation of our agriculture sector by 2030, and put the countryside at the centre of the green economy.

‘We must, if we are to successfully tackle the enormous challenges posed by the climate emergency, take a strategic approach to how we manage and use our land. Putting the countryside front and centre of this strategy will enable us to work with nature to end farming’s contribution to the breakdown of our climate as well as mitigate the impacts, such as wild fires and flooding, that rising temperatures will bring.

‘The government must introduce policies and the right levels of funding that support a transition to agricultural practices, such as agroforestry, conservation agriculture and paludiculture. This will see us plant more trees, regenerate our soils and restore our peatlands, and thereby store carbon. Ambitious targets don’t do anything in themselves. Actions speak louder than words.’