A rapid rise in carbon dioxide has raised the prospect of human extinction in decades, but that catastrophic event can still be prevented relatively easy.
That was the sobering, but ultimately optimistic message from Dr Douglas Gurr, director of the Natural History Museum at LEAF's recent conference in London.
"COâ‚‚ levels are rising to levels where we saw mass extinction events," he said.
"But the encouraging thing is that, unlike those natural increases, we have the power to make significant and rapid changes to limit emissions and we are already doing so."
READ NOW: Nando's to audit suppliers over River Action pollution claims
Contributing to the land use debate that Defra has sparked, Dr Gurr referred to recent work that the Natural History Museum has done mapping the UK's natural capital.
"Given that the UK was under ice 100,000 years ago and much of the east of England was under the sea 10,000 years ago, Britain is not so rich environmentally as other parts of the world, such as South America, who having been growing tress and other plants for millions of years. That does raise questions about taking out rich habitats in other parts of the world to grow crops to feed animals."
Climate change
The UK's biodiversity intactness increased by 0.4% to 31% of the country between 2000 and 2020, according to the Natural History Museum, which contrasted with a decline in other countries. Dr Gurr explained that the UK's most environmentally rich habitats are in the north west, south west and south east of England as well as in Wales and protecting those areas has to be a priority.
The conference heard from Australian farmer Andrew Bruem who said that agriculture in his country was facing an existential crisis and that doing nothing to improve was not an option. He is also chief executive of SoilCQuest, an independent not-for-profit organisation of farmers and scientists which is aiming to increase soil carbon and reduce emissions.
"We are not immune from the increasingly frequent flood or drought events, but we are now more able to cope with them."
Wiltshire farmers Lucy and Nick Tyler are using a drive to a lower their carbon footprint to improve the efficiency and profitability of their dairy unit.
"By monitoring soil carbon, cow health and genetic performance we are not only meeting the requirements of our buyers but also using feed more efficiently and improving cow performance."
A 15% reduction in the amount of food the UK imports between 2021 and 2030 was one of the ambitions shared with the conference by Sarah Bradbury, chief executive of supply chain organisation The Institute of Grocery Distribution. She also called for a 22% reduction in UK farming's emissions and a 20% drop in energy use.
Oxbury Bank used the Leaf conference to explain its new Transition Facility. Borrowers get reduced interest rates the more environmental and carbon reduction measures they take. The standard interest rate for a farm not undertaking transition measures is 1.5% over the Bank of England base rate, with a 0.75% annual fee. Those carrying out carbon transition measures are offered interest rates of 1.0% over base, with a 0.5% annual fee, while LEAF members also receive a 1.0% over base interest rate but no annual fee.
READ NOW: More than 10% of agricultural land could be sacrificed for climate and environment plans
The new facility also supports borrowers with carbon calculation, carbon monitoring via a partnership with Downforce Technologies and data sharing.
