Tuesday, 24 August 2021

No Simple Solutions to the Complex Problem of Climate Change.

Westport Lake, an urban nature reserve in the centre of Stoke-on-Trent on a Saturday morning when it has been raining since first light and looks like going on doing so until dusk. An appropriate place to be attending a forum to discuss public understanding of climate change and what we’re prepared to do about it.

The event was one of five being staged across the county by Climate Matters Staffordshire. Information gathered at the forums will be used to write a report to be presented to local councils and other policymakers in October.

The topic was ‘the role of countryside, farming, food and nature’ in offering a solution to the climate crisis. Attendees took part in discussions around what can be done locally to reduce carbon emissions from food and farming, halting the decline in biodiversity, and the role councils, businesses and individuals can play in addressing climate change.

The resulting debate showed many of the strengths of the disparate coalition of groups coming together to respond to one of the greatest challenges facing humanity. Unfortunately, it also brought out into the light some of the problems that make finding a workable response difficult.

Giving a presentation on the role farming can play in tackling climate change Jeremy Lowe of the National Farmers Union (NFU) spoke about the Net Zero plan announced by President Minette Batters at the union’s 2019 conference.

This identifies some of the problems created by agriculture, which currently accounts for 10% of UK greenhouse gas emissions, although in contrast to the rest of the economy only a small proportion of these are carbon emissions. The plan sets out how by changing its methods the farming sector can contribute to the solution by capturing and storing carbon [1].

He admitted the sector faced some significant challenges to achieving the aims set out by the NFU, not the least of these being getting a frequently skeptical membership to buy in to the process. Poor public understanding of farming and the countryside along with a complex system for getting government support also create problems.

Jeff Sim, Senior Conservation Manager at Staffordshire Wildlife Trust spoke about the role his organization plays in preserving local wildlife habitats and trying to turn around the decline in biodiversity.

The Staffordshire Wildlife Trust has 19,000 members in the county, 600 of whom are active volunteers. It has responsibility for nature reserves across the county including those at Westport Lake and Cannock Chase.

He described the impact on local nature caused by climate change, citing the disappearance of the Globe Flower from Staffordshire’s moorland and the 2018 fires in the Roaches, the damage from which conservationists have warned could take half a century to repair [2].

The Trust, he said, are working to address declining biodiversity and climate change through ‘nature-based solutions’ to capturing carbon emissions, including restoring moorland and wetland habitats, and incentivizing sustainable farming methods. They also work to promote public understanding of and engagement with nature [3].

What we eat and how it is produced has an impact on the climate, diets like that common in the West that are high in meat and processed food account for a large proportion of UK emissions, food waste and the health impact of our national diet are also problematic.

In her presentation Keele alumnus Chloe Heath gave an overview of her research into dietary habits and their impact on climate change.

The National Food Strategy [4] recommends that to tackle climate change we reduce the amount of meat we eat by 30%. This, MS Heath said, will need to be done through a range of initiatives, including taxing meat and processed foods, improving labelling to help customers make informed choices and investing in technological solutions such as ‘lab grown’ meat.

Key to changing what we eat is changing how we think about food, MS Heath said more needed to be done to promote the health and environmental benefits of a vegetarian of vegan diet. This would involve improving food education in schools and supporting families on low incomes to access healthier diets.

The roundtable discussions that followed showed the strengths and weaknesses of such an event to developing a workable response to climate change.

There was an unquestioned wealth of knowledge and experience in the room, with participants from the farming sector, education and campaigning organizations well represented. The problem, to this observer, seemed to be that most conversations held on the tables leapt quickly, maybe too quickly, towards technical solutions.

This approach can often bypass the experience of communities for whom the environment is less of a concern than the trials of negotiating everyday life on a low income. It can also make farmers and food producers feel they are being unfairly singled out for blame, increasing their reluctance to engage.

The forum agreed a draft list of priorities based on the discussions that had taken place. Identifying as major issues to address finding a sustainable way to feed a growing world population, improving education and communication around environmental issues, and valuing and enhancing green spaces.

These priorities will be added to at subsequent events and once agreed a final version will be included in the final report. This will be delivered to local councils at a conference to be held at the Bridge Centre in Stoke-on-Trent on 14th October.

 

[1] https://www.nfuonline.com/news/latest-news/achieving-net-zero-meeting-the-climate-change-challenge/

[2] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-55363287

[3] https://www.staffs-wildlife.org.uk/

[4] file:///C:/Users/Adam/Downloads/1669_NFS_The_Plan_July21_S11.pdf

 

 

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