UK farming union presidents. L-R) NFU Cymru President Aled Jones, NFU Scotland president Martin Kennedy, NFU president Minette Batters and UFU president David Brown.
The UK farming unions (NFU, NFUS, UFU and NFU Cymru) call upon the UK government and the devolved administrations, together with world leaders, to support a sustainable and productive future for agriculture, growing our ability to produce climate-friendly food at the same time as sustaining rural communities, protecting nature and the planet.
Agriculture in the UK is a uniquely versatile sector, which supplies food, fibre and energy whilst taking action on climate change, capturing and storing carbon and contributing towards reducing emissions. Farmers across the world are on the frontline of climate change with drought, fires and flooding threatening global food security.
Farmers across the UK are ready and willing to help alleviate the risks of extreme weather events and to think innovatively about how farming practices can, for example, enhance flood resilience in rural areas alongside sustainable food production. But they will need support to do this, and to ensure their farming businesses can also become resilient to current and future climate-related risks and their impacts including through better protection of agricultural land from flooding and securing a fair share of water, in order to give farmers the confidence to invest for an increasingly uncertain future.
It is vital that agriculture, land use, environmental and other policies are practical and properly funded, with a portfolio of measures for the diversity of farm types. It is by adopting a holistic approach to farming – considering food production, biodiversity, landscapes and communities alongside climate adaptation and mitigation – that will ensure a just transition to net zero farming in the future which leaves no farmer behind.
We want agriculture’s role in taking action on climate change while producing for the future to be widely recognised, at COP28 and beyond.
Commenting UFU president David Brown said, “Agriculture is critical to tackling two of the biggest challenges that we face at a national and global level, producing enough food to feed a growing population while tackling climate change. Extreme weather events are beyond our control as farmers and have a significant impact on our ability to thrive as food producers. The recent flooding in parts of Northern Ireland saw many potato and vegetable farmers losing a large percentage of their crop with little left to salvage.
“Our farmers are eager to reduce the likelihood of these extreme weather events by combating climate change, and this requires support from government. Creating environmental incentives that support family farms to remain viable is critical alongside polices that enhance food production and ensuring the marketplace is a level playing field for our farmers. Delivering on these fronts will give our members the confidence to invest in the future of farming.”
