The Broads, alongside the UK’s National Parks have joined the UN-backed ‘Race to Zero’ initiative. This is a commitment to drive action to halve carbon emissions within the Broads National Park by 2030 and become significant net carbon sinks by 2050.

National Parks will work with partners to transform an area of land almost four times the size of London (610,000 hectares) into a haven for nature through nature-friendly management across the 15 National Parks, as well as driving significant increases in the use of sustainable travel, renewable energy and sustainably-produced food.

UK National Parks are committed to becoming beacons for a sustainable future, using their partnerships and convening powers to help meet the UK’s climate change commitments while also supporting thriving rural communities, helping to restore Britain’s lost biodiversity, and improving food security.

New report shows the way

A new report published by Small World Consulting details the current carbon footprint of the UK’s 15 National Parks landscapes and lays out an evidenced path to make the National Parks into net carbon sinks, going from emitting around 11.5 million tonnes of harmful greenhouses gases per year – primarily from energy consumption, visitor travel and agriculture in 2022, to 'soaking up’ around 3.5 million tonnes instead by 2050 (absorbing roughly around the same amount of carbon per year as 24,000 flights between London and New York.)

By supporting this path, the UK’s National Parks will actively drive towards net zero landscapes by around 2040, meeting the central ambition of the Race to Zero initiative (global net zero emissions by 2050) a decade ‘early’, and becoming significant sources of carbon capture after that point.

This net zero pathway will involve:

* Restoring nature on a huge scale, increasing the ability of the land to sequester carbon by bringing 610,000 hectares of land into nature-friendly management.

This will include:

* Restoring 168,000 hectares of damaged peatland (7% of all land area within the National Parks).
* Introducing regenerative agriculture practices to 224,000 hectares of land (10% of all land area within the National Parks).
* Creating 218,400 hectares of new woodland (9% of all land area within the National Parks).
* A transition to sustainable and more locally grown food, halving emissions from food eaten in National Parks by 2050.
* Increasing energy efficiency, reducing energy-related emissions from buildings, transport and industrial processes to near zero by 2050.
* A transition to sustainable travel to and from National Parks, reducing visitor travel emissions to near zero by 2050.

Published by Small World Consulting, led by world-leading carbon footprinting expert Mike Berners-Lee, the report also shows that changes to reach net zero can deliver a wide range of environmental, economic and social benefits including:

* increased biodiversity,
* increased resilience to the effects of flooding, heatwaves and droughts brought about by climate change,
* increased recreational value in landscapes to offer new sustainable employment opportunities,
* increased inward investment to support sustainable livelihoods for rural communities,
* supporting healthier communities and better air quality.

The Broads Authority’s work towards achieving net zero spans its entire operations, from decarbonising its works programme, to helping local farmers lock carbon into soils and working with local authority partners to actively manage the impacts of climate change within the Broads area.

In 2019, the Authority pledged to make its own operations carbon neutral by 2030 and to aim for a zero-carbon target by 2040. By 2022, it had achieved a reduction in its carbon footprint of 21%, well on the way to its goal of reducing its carbon emissions by half by the year 2030.

The Authority works on several partnership projects with farmers, landowners, local and district councils, the tourism industry and the wider public to reduce carbon emissions.

These include:

Broads Peat Partnership
Lowland peatlands drained for agricultural use are fast degrading. When peatlands degrade, their soil is lost, the land subsides and the carbon they preserve is released primarily as carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. This process is bad both for farmers and for the climate. The Partnership brings together farmers, landowners, academics and innovators to overcome complex barriers to peatland restoration that exist in the Broads. Wetland farming (known as paludiculture) at sites in the Broads is demonstrating practical solutions to and generating new income streams for farmers and landowners by growing low carbon crops which thrive in wet conditions. Additional benefits include reduced emissions, improvements to land and biodiversity.

Nature Recovery
Nature recovery projects in the Broads will play a large role in its commitment to net zero. Changing the way we manage land to emphasise the connection between carbon, nature and water will deliver CO2 savings. For example, our peatland restoration project at Buttle Marsh will raise the water-table on deep peat soils to attract incredible wildlife, improve water quality and prevent CO2 from leaving the soil.

Measuring Broads’ carbon
Working with UKCEH Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and Cranfield to measure carbon emissions from land in the Broads. It is estimated that there are 27,356ha of deep peat and 65,544ha of wasted peat in Norfolk and Suffolk (Natural Capital Evidence Compendium, 2020), which could play an important role in mitigating climate change whilst remaining a farmed landscape.

Wetland Farming
At Horsey, two wetland crops are being grown; reed for roof thatching and reedmace which is used to clean water, as well as for construction materials. In addition, the site has attracted breeding waders.

Managing Water
The Lowland Agricultural Peat Water Discovery Pilot (LAPWDP) is working with farmers in the Yare and Waveney valleys to discuss and map out future water management requirements to lower emissions from land.

Electrifying the Broads
Working with boatyards on initiatives to transition the Hire Boat fleet to electric and zero-emission propulsion. Landamores Boat yard has built electric luxury boats, Martham Ferry Boatyard have an electric fleet and Bishy Barnaby Boats are mostly electric day boats.

Decarbonising the Authority’s footprint
The Authority’s actions to cut its own carbon footprint are already making a difference to its largest sources of emissions; vehicle and equipment use. Using Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil in place of diesel has reduced these emissions significantly, alongside replacing older vehicles and vessel engines with electric alternatives when they come to the end of their natural lives.

The Authority’s estimated carbon footprint has fallen by 21% (2019 – 2022) as a result of purchasing electric vehicles and replacing diesel, a shift to meetings being held remotely and switching to renewable electricity tariffs. This led to a reduction in the use of pool vehicles.

There are electric charging points for vessels at nineteen BA 24-hour moorings, plans for additional charging points at Great Yarmouth and plans to increase the number of sites with vehicle electric-charging points.

As yet zero-emission heavy equipment, such as the excavators used for river management, are not available.

Broadland Futures Initiative  
A partnership to plan for flood risk management that better copes with our changing climate and rising sea level. However, in the future, the challenge of more extreme weather requires adaptations and investments.

The Norfolk and Suffolk Climate Change Partnerships
These work on issues to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport, and nature restoration projects.

“Here in the Broads, we are pleased to be part of the Race to Zero, demonstrating our commitment to addressing climate change, having already made significant savings in all areas of our work. We can rise to this challenge by reducing our carbon footprint, restoring nature and our peatlands soils, by working together with farmers, local communities and visitors."John Packman, Broads Authority Chief Executive

“Covering nearly 10% of the UK, National Parks have a very significant role to play in the UK’s path to net zero. Ending reliance on fossil fuels in rural Britain is every bit as important and as challenging as in our towns cities.

“Alongside that is the imperative to protect precious carbon stores, move to nature-friendly farming, and leave more space for nature. Race to Zero is a global leadership initiative and UK National Parks are innovating what a fair rural transition looks like that involves local farmers and communities in shaping the solutions and attracting the investment needed.”

Nigel Topping, former UN High Level Climate Champion at COP26, Member of UK Climate Change Committee

“UK National Parks can be exemplars in showing how the UK can reach essential climate and biodiversity goals whilst strengthening food security and enhancing rural livelihoods and communities.”Mike Berners-Lee, Founder and Director of Small World Consulting