Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the farming community in achieving net zero emissions by 2040.

Environmental land management is the foundation of our new approach. Our recently announced Countryside Stewardship Plus will target actions and payments to maximise delivery against priority environmental outcomes, such as net zero. Landscape Recovery, which will initially focus on biodiversity, water quality and net zero, is for landowners and managers who want to take a more large-scale, long-term approach. We published further information on the growth and rollout of our environmental land management schemes on 26 January, which contains the full range of actions, including those that support net zero.

Together with environmental land management schemes, we have the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, which supports farmers to achieve our net zero goals by: incentivising the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from livestock through tackling diseases and improving productivity, supporting the Net Zero Strategy and the 25 Year Environment Plan.

Other farming schemes which support achieving net zero include the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme, which provides funding for farmers and other land managers to work in partnership with National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty bodies to deliver projects for climate, nature, people and place.
The Government anticipates our environmental land management scheme, the Farming Innovation Fund and other farming offers will reduce agricultural emissions by up to 6 MtCO2e per annum in Carbon Budget 6 in England.