The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has today (Wednesday 20 May) published a new report warning that "more action is needed" on climate risks to agriculture in the UK.

The Soil Association is calling on the government to heed these warnings and to back agroecology – farming in harmony with nature. Agroforestry, which was backed by the CCC report, and organic are key examples of agroecology.

On Monday, Soil Association Head of Farming Policy Gareth Morgan gave evidence in parliament to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Environment around how nature-friendly, agroecological farming needs to be prioritised in the face of climate change.

Responding to the CCC report, he said: "This report serves as a stark and frightening reality check for government on how climate change will risk our food security and national security. Our food system is dangerously vulnerable to shocks like war and climate change, and we need to prioritise resilience through nature-friendly farming. 

"But the committee requirement to do its modelling based on existing government policy around the quantity of food we import, means that the question of where our food will come from in future is left unresolved. In an increasingly flooded and drought stressed world, it is dangerous for us to continue with our current reliance on imports, especially for fruit and veg. 

"The government urgently needs to double production and consumption of British fruit and veg and the much-anticipated Horticulture Growth Plan should set out how this can be achieved. We also want to see a plan to increase the growing of beans, peas and pulses that can provide nitrogen for crops without artificial fertiliser. And we must ensure this is produced by nature-friendly methods like organic which don't rely on fossil-fuel based inputs and prioritise healthy soils that are more resilient to flooding and drought."

The Soil Association welcomes from the report:

• Recognition that diets need to change for climate resilience. We call for a shift to less but better meat, with much less factory animal farming, animals reared on pastures and much more homegrown peas, beans, fruit and veg. 
• Support for agroforestry – integrating trees into farming systems. Evidence increasingly shows that trees can boost productivity, providing shade and shelter for livestock and crops in the face of extreme weather, and boosting soil health.
• Soil health, water management and biodiversity are recognised as a cornerstone of farmland adaptation. 
• Recognition of the advantages of agroecology and mixed farming as adaptation tools. As organic farms have healthier soils and as organic is the best-defined method of agroecology, the Soil Association calls for an Organic Action for England, following the lead in Scotland where organic farmland has surged.
• Acknowledgement that public funding needs to be better utilised to drive adaptation, including increasing data and monitoring to spatially target adaptation and increasing farmer engagement through knowledge sharing and exchange. Programmes like Soil Association Exchange, which helps farmers to collect and analyse data on sustainability metrics, are key for delivering this. 
• Recommendations for food businesses to integrate adaptation into transition planning and deploy climate adaptation action plans. 

Read more about how agroecology can deliver climate resilience in the Soil Association's recent report: No drought about it: Farming agroecologically for climate resilience

Hear from farmers delivering climate resilience:

• Andy Dibben, Cotswold farmer
• Alex Gray, Brooksby College
• Joe Rolfe, RB Organics
• Holden Dairies
• John Kerr, Somerset farmer
• Nikki Yoxxall, Scotland farmer