There are many government policy initiatives and many retailer-driven activities aiming for the agricultural sector to become more sustainable, and the number of these policies and activities is growing. Defra’s 25 Year Environment Plan is one of these. It requires food to be produced sustainably and also sets a number of environmental targets.
The Government has also stated its intention for UK to become net zero carbon by 2050. The BRC has stated its aim for its members to become net zero carbon by 2040 and some retailers are bringing this date forward. This places onus on the farming community to meet a number of sustainability indicators such as land use, chemical input, biodiversity waste, water and greenhouse gases (GHG). But there remains an important issue of measuring most of these indicators in a consistent way. The agricultural community needs tools necessary to respond to these challenges.
This document gives an overview of agricultural sustainability initiatives (19/5/22).