Reflection on COP26
Farming was not on the immediate agenda at the COP26 summit and that is incredible given how much unnecessary stick British farmers get over emissions.
Quite rightly the NFU had a say.
We laboured the point that 65 per cent of UK farmland is best suited to growing grass, which is also a huge store of carbon, to produce high quality beef and lamb.
Reducing our greenhouse gas footprint and offsetting emissions does not mean downsizing livestock production – this would only export our production to countries, which may not have the same standards of environmental protection as we do here.
Greenhouse gas emissions from UK beef are also half that of the world average.
Many Shropshire farmers are already on the way to reducing emissions and now need to see government policies that will support the industry in delivering on its net zero ambition.
Oliver Cartwright, NFU
