Climate change, the challenge of our time
Speech at National Farmers Union conference.
Good morning,
Intro
Thank you for inviting me today to speak to you about climate change.
The timing could not be more appropriate after what we’ve seen over the last few weeks.
Yet again this winter Environment Agency staff have been out on the ground responding to the effects of the winter weather, working around the clock to protect lives and livelihoods and support communities which have been hit.
They do a brilliant job and I want to take this opportunity to thank every single one of them and those working for the emergency services, internal drainage boards and local authorities who have helped with the response.
I also want to thank the NFU as well. I know your colleagues have been a real help on the ground broadcasting our warning and informing messages.
It’s this sort of collaboration we need to build on if we are going to succeed in tackling the challenges of the climate emergency.
Climate Change
Because that emergency is already here. As Dave Throup, the EA’s own flood manager in the West Midlands said last week:
“I’ve seen things I would not have believed. This is not normal flooding, we are in uncharted territory”.
Storms Ciara and Dennis have brought incredible amounts of rainfall and devastating widespread flooding.
The month is not yet out but already we have had 200% of average rainfall in February. We have seen almost all the major rivers in England reach the highest water levels on record. The Severn, Trent, Colne, Ribble, Calder, Aire, Wye, Lugg and Derwent all set new records. Some areas have seen a month’s worth of rain in just 24 hours, and the situation is still ongoing.
We’ve seen around 4000 properties flooded across England this winter, but the farming community has also been badly affected. The latest estimates indicate 35,000 hectares of farmland has been flooded in the Midlands and Yorkshire form Storm Dennis alone.
I’ve seen the devastation of flooding first hand – the last few weeks I’ve been criss-crossing the country visiting areas that have been affected. In November I met farmers who had been flooded in Lincolnshire and joined Minette on a visit in Yorkshire.
We may have had staff on the ground the last few weeks, but the road to recovery for those impacted can take much longer. Many of you will know this better than most.
For farmers it can cause crops and livestock to be lost, create short term economic difficulties and pose questions about long-term viability.
Long Term view
And it’s that long term view we need to be talking about, where the focus of debate needs to be and it’s what I want to use my time talking about today.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns us we only have ten years left to hold global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, to avoid catastrophic climate change.
Farmers and landowners are on the front line of the impacts. In the last two years alone you’ve had to contend with exceptionally hot, dry weather and flooding caused by record-breaking rainfall, as we’ve seen this winter.
So I’m delighted and proud that both the NFU and the Environment Agency are showing the long-term leadership needed to tackle these challenges with our own commitments to net zero.
In the face of these unchartered challenges it’s only with a long term vision and strong collaboration, that we can turn the tide on climate change and build a nation resilient to its impacts.
Protection
Our new national Flood and Coastal Risk Strategy, is a blueprint for this vision. It moves away from thinking purely about protection to the broader concept of resilience.
I want to make clear, as our Chief Executive Sir James Bevan did yesterday, protection is always going to be a central part of what we do.
This winter alone we have protected 85,000 homes from flooding. Our current six-year flood programme will also better protect 300,000 hectares of agricultural land, helping to avoid more than £1.5bn worth of economic damage.
Our flood strategy recognises the value of these so called ‘hard’ engineering solutions and there will be plenty more built in the future.
But as the Secretary of State said two weeks ago, “we cannot protect everyone”.
We’re an organisation with finite resources, both to build new, and maintain existing, flood defences.
We will be able to do a lot with the £4 billion the government has pledged for the next budget.
But there are 9,000 kilometres of coastline and 36,000 kilometres of main rivers in this country. 1.3 million hectares of agricultural land is in a flood plain or low-lying coastal area.
And the risk of flooding is only going to be exacerbated in a changing climate as sea levels rise, winters get wetter, and we experience more extreme rainfall events.
This is particularly important for farmers because government policy is always going to prioritise protecting houses over farmland.
Resilience
That is why the concept of resilience and the long term horizon in our strategy is so important for the agricultural community.
Resilience is key to limiting the damage when flooding does happen and helping you recover quicker afterwards.
Part of that is recognising the services farmers and landowners already provide. We want to work with you and organisations like Internal Drainage Boards to develop the tools which:
- recognise the protection you provide to others when your land is flooded
- recognise the contribution the 58 per cent of grade one agricultural land currently at risk of flooding makes to domestic food security
- and rewards you for farming your land in a sustainable way that helps to reduce flood risk
Enabling farmers to make decisions about their own resilience has to be central to this.
There is some good work already happening. Take the Fens for example. It is low lying, high quality agricultural land which has been dependent on land drainage since the 1600s to be viable and it is at significant risk from climate change impacts.
The Environment Agency is working with farmers, businesses, landowners, local government and communities to develop innovative, co-ordinated, sustainable solutions to manage this landscape for the long term.
Water scarcity
We also need to address flooding in the round with water resources, and consider ways of saving and using flood water rather than pumping it out to sea.
Because we need to consider the challenges of too little water alongside those of too much.
We have had an incredibly wet winter and for many, right now, the thought of not having enough water might seem inconceivable.
But climate change means we will have another dry year like we did in 2018 sometime soon. Back then we worked well together to build in more flexible abstraction.
We will need to continue to work together to manage our water resources and adapt to the changing climate.
Land Use
How we use and manage the land is a key component of increasing our resilience and adapting to a changing climate.
It is also key to restoring our natural environment and helping nature thrive.
And as the Committee on Climate Change highlighted last month, it is has a major part to play in how we reach net zero.
Farming covers 70 per cent of the land in England, so farmers and landowners are uniquely placed to deliver on all these ambitions.
Just as you are on the front line of climate change, bearing the brunt of its impacts, then as Minette said yesterday, you can be on the front line of the solutions.
As the Secretary of State said earlier “no group has more power to reverse environmental decline than our farmers”.
And with that environmental focus, putting nature at the centre of our thinking, there is the potential for multiple win-wins.
Where changes to reach net zero can also help us be resilient to the impacts of climate change that are already locked in, and restore our natural environment.
For example:
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new forests can take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and reduce the impact of flooding that is already being caused by climate change, while at the same time enabling wildlife recovery and the restoration of beautiful landscapes
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the protection and restoration of peatland will prevent the release of greenhouse gases, while also helping rare species to expand their populations and slowing the flow of water upstream
Taking a strategic approach to land use – ensuring that nature-based solutions are used in places where they can be most effective, can help us avoid potential adverse impacts on the environment and build the resilience our communities need to prosper.
Of course some of these changes take time, which is why the need for a long-term view is so important. Some of the changes also pose difficult questions, which is why the need for us to work together on answering them is also so crucial.
We recognise that, just as any approach to flood resilience has to consider food security, so any catchment wide, land-use changes need to be considered alongside the need for a healthy, sustainable food chain which balances the environmental costs of domestic and overseas food production.
Land Management
Long term, large scale, land-use change will be crucial in helping us reach net zero, adapt to the changing climate and restore nature.
But that does not mean there aren’t things that can be done now to make a difference.
There are over 100,000 farms in England, many of them too small or perhaps too limited by income to consider some of the more ambitious projects.
With the right support there is a lot farmers can do on their land and with their own practices. Indeed, there is already a lot that is being done.
Take soil for example. Now, everyone in this room knows the benefits of improving soil quality, but it’s always worth putting on the record again. It can:
- sequester carbon – and that’s a win for reaching net zero
- improve drainage and moisture retention – a win for flood risk when it’s wet, and for drought resilience when it’s dry
- reduce run-off of chemicals and sediment into water ways, and
- keep chemical inputs and natural fertility in your fields, where you want them
Managing this precious resource well is a win-win, win-win.
Or take the management of slurries and manure. Better storage and application can help reduce harmful emissions, both to the atmosphere and the local environment.
It’s no secret that 65 per cent of the UK’s surface and ground water bodies fail to achieve good ecological status. About a quarter of those fail for reasons relating to agriculture or rural land management.
The problems in the dairy sector are one particular area where we want to work in collaboration with you.
I know most farmers work hard to minimise pollution, because good phosphate, soil, and nitrate retention is good farming, but if farmers do want to be part of the solution, then the problem of pollution is another area where we need to work together to get to grips with it.
Solutions and ELMS
Sometimes all of these challenges – too much water, too little water and polluted water – in a future of an increasingly volatile climate, can feel overwhelming.
But because many of the challenges are connected it means the solutions – the land management and land use choices I’ve described – are connected too.
It’s a case of doing more of and better the things we know already work, to achieve those multiple wins we all want to see.
The new “public money for public goods” approach, which the Secretary of State has just set out in more detail, is a fantastic opportunity to incentivise the right behaviours and practices.
I repeat the call of the Secretary of State to make sure you get involved in the consultation, which I have no doubt that you will be. Only by collaborating on the design of the new scheme can we ensure it delivers benefits for climate resilience, environmental restoration, food security AND farmers.
We particularly welcome the grant scheme for investing in equipment. This can help farmers who want to do the right thing – both in reaching net zero and tackling pollution – but are struggling to finance the infrastructure investment required.
We would also like to see the “public money for public goods” approach complemented with a well-supported and enforced regulatory baseline to drive up environmental performance.
This mixture of minimum standards and incentives will need to be set and regulated in an appropriate way.
It will need to deter and punish those who choose the wrong path, but also recognise that many farmers operate in a domestic and international market.
Because if the UK wants to be a global leader on the environment, it needs to set consistent standards internationally – not one rule at home, while turning a blind eye to environmental degradation overseas.
Conclusion
There is so much more I can talk about – but I want to ensure we have plenty of time to get into the detail of these issues in the Q&A.
So as Dave Throup said, we are in unchartered territory. What we are seeing is not normal.
Therefore our response cannot be normal either. That means we are going to have to work together, even more than we already do, to develop the big solutions to the big challenges.
Thank you very much.