Agricultural land could again become a 'carbon sink'

Britain's plan: restore
natural habitats and allow
forests to grow again.

British scientists have worked out how to turn agricultural land – which currently produces 10% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions – into a “carbon sink” that soaks up carbon dioxide.

The answer is simple: take more land out of food production, restore natural habitats, and allow forests to grow again.

If, in the next 35 years, the UK increased forest cover from 12% to 30%, and surrendered 700,000 hectares to revert to peat bog, that would be enough to meet government ambitions to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions by 80%.

Read the Climate Home story - “UK tree-planting push could offset farming footprint – study.”