Memorandum submitted by Natural England
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Natural England is a new organisation
that was established under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities
Act 2006. We are a non-departmental public body formed by bringing
together English Nature and parts of the Rural Development Service
and the Countryside Agency.
1.2 Natural England's purpose is to ensure
that England's unique natural environment—its flora and
fauna, land and seascapes, geology and soils—is conserved,
enhanced, and managed for the benefit of present and future generations,
thereby contributing to sustainable development.
2. EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
2.1 The UK Climate Change Programme 2006
(UKCCP06) is too short-term in its approach to delivering emissions
reductions. A more long-term focus will be needed to deliver a
future statutory 60% reduction target.
2.2 An example of the potential contribution
that longer-term mitigation options can make is the role farmers
can play as "carbon managers".
3. NATURAL ENGLAND
AND CLIMATE
CHANGE
3.1 Formulating effective responses to climate
change, its causes and its effects, is a strategic priority for
Natural England. Annex 1 outlines the scope of our climate change
policy.
4. RESPONSE TO
INQUIRY ISSUES
4.1 Natural England's response addresses
Issue 5 cited in the Call for Evidence.
4.2 In our view, the majority of policies
in the UKCCP06 are short-term and designed with the primary aim
of delivering the 2010 target. This has meant that longer-term
measures, which might only become cost-effective after 2020, have
generally been neglected.
4.3 We agree that cost-effectiveness should
be a consideration when assessing policy options to deliver emissions
reductions, but that this assessment should be made over a longer
time period in relation to the 2050 target.
4.4 Farmers and land managers can potentially
make an important contribution to climate change mitigation in
the medium to long-term by:
— Maintaining, restoring and creating
natural carbon sinks (such as peatlands and woodlands) which remove
("sequester") and store carbon from the atmosphere.
— Reducing the loss of carbon from
soils to the atmosphere and water courses.
4.5 There is growing evidence that a significant
amount of carbon is being lost from UK soils. It appears that
soils with high carbon content, such as peat, are loosing carbon
at the fastest rates. This is concerning, as the UK's peatlands
store around three billion tonnes of carbon and so keep an important
reservoir of carbon out of the atmosphere.
4.6 Some estimates suggest that the continued
degradation of peat in the English uplands could result in some
380,000 tonnes of carbon being lost per annum, equivalent to around
2% of the UK's Kyoto commitment. The scale of carbon loss is in
part due to unsustainable land management practices, such as drainage,
over-burning and intensive grazing.
4.7 If all of the upland peats in England
were in a good ecological condition then they could instead sequester
up to 40,000 tonnes of carbon per annum, by locking up carbon
in the natural accumulation of peat.
4.8 However, emissions reductions from carbon
management practices generally take time to be realised. Peatland
restoration programmes and management changes such as blocking
drainage channels ("grips") and reducing the intensity
of burning and grazing can, in the short to medium term, arrest
the loss of soil carbon. However, if the peat has been damaged
it will inevitably take time for natural functions to be re-established
and for the peat to resume sequestration. To improve the evidence
base in this area, Natural England is currently funding research
in various locations in the uplands to quantify the carbon implications
of peatland restoration schemes and changes to management practices.
4.9 A wide range of mitigation measures
will be required to stabilise atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse
gases. The Government should not limit the available options through
too narrow an approach to assessing cost-effectiveness. A key
test should be that there is a high level of certainty that a
mitigation measure will make a significant contribution to reducing
atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases over the next few
decades.
4.10 In our view, sustainable land management
practices can improve the ability of the natural environment to
provide essential goods and services, including climate regulation
by sequestering and storing carbon. This contribution has the
potential to be significant, especially when it is assessed over
a long timeframe.
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