The Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) has strongly criticised the Climate Change Committee’s seventh Carbon Budget issued on Wednesday 26 February 2025.

The TFA’s problem with the advice of the Climate Change Committee (CCC) is in the pathway it has presented for the future of production and consumption of dairy and meat products. The CCC is pressing for a 27% reduction in cattle and sheep numbers, together with a 25% reduction in meat consumption (30% reduction of red meat) and a 20% reduction in dairy consumption all by 2040. By 2050, the CCC goes further by seeking an overall 35% reduction in average meat consumption. Although issued only as advice to Government, it is usually the case that the Government follows the advice of the CCC, which has a legislative duty to assist the Government in reaching statutory targets for net zero.

TFA Chief Executive, George Dunn, said “We all recognise the climate emergency and the need to do all we can to address it. However, by perpetuating anti-livestock rhetoric within its own echo chamber, the CCC has fallen into an ‘Emperor’s new clothes’ policy for which they will get plaudits, but without justification. We need to step back and see clearly the carbon services provided every day of the week by hard-working dairy and livestock farmers throughout the United Kingdom”

“It is alarming how many times throughout the Carbon Budget report that meat, dairy and aviation are grouped together in the same sentence. This is simply bonkers. Official figures show that 12% of UK carbon emissions come from agriculture – a sector which utilises 70% of the land area of the country. That means that the other 30% of the land is generating 88% of the emissions. Acre for acre the use of land for agriculture is some 17 times more carbon efficient than all other uses,” said Mr Dunn.

“Looking specifically at meat and dairy production which is predominantly located in the west of the country, and overlaying that with maps showing the concentration of soil carbon shows a strong correlation. Livestock farmers are merely recycling carbon sequestrated from the atmosphere in the grass that they grow, together with the hedgerows and trees existing on their holdings. However, they are also the custodians of a massive carbon bank in their soils that have locked up carbon for the benefit of the nation and the world. Surely, they deserve much more credit and support for that?” said Mr Dunn.

Alongside the seventh Carbon Budget, the CCC has also issued the report from its own Agriculture Advisory Group which takes a much more pragmatic approach. However, it appears to have been largely ignored by the CCC in reaching its conclusions.

“It is quite striking the report from the Agriculture Advisory Group takes a fundamentally different approach to that of the CCC. The TFA is not saying that we do not need to change farming practices. However, we do not need to lurch towards the corner solutions proposed by the CCC. There is much within the report of the Agricultural Advisory Group, including its call for a more holistic approach, which should be given more focused attention,” said Mr Dunn.