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<p>Sustainable agriculture and land use are critical to achieving the Sustainable
Development Goals and objectives of the Paris Agreement. The 2019 IPCC land-use report
set out the critical role that sustainable land use must play in climate mitigation
and building resilience. The COP26 Nature Campaign aims to raise the profile of this
agenda, building on the Just Rural Transition launched at the UN Climate Action Summit
and providing a platform to highlight actions that leading countries are taking to
deliver change.</p><p> </p><p>Reaching our Net Zero target is one of this Government's
top priorities. We know that this will be a challenge, requiring action across the
economy. It will mean changes to the way land is managed to reduce agricultural greenhouse
gas emissions. We will support the sector to make these changes through the schemes
set out in the Agricultural Transition Plan.</p><p> </p><p>The Agricultural Transition
Plan published on 30 November 2020 outlined how the Government will support farmers
and land managers by investing the money freed up from phasing out direct payments
to pay for improvements to the environment, improve animal health and welfare and
reduce carbon emissions. Simultaneously, we need to protect and increase our carbon
stores, increasing afforestation and peat restoration rates across England, whilst
supporting the adaptiveness and resilience of these ecosystems to risks which may
arise under a changing climate. Our new environmental land management schemes will
help deliver on this and include the Sustainable Farming Incentive, a universal scheme
open to all farmers, which will support sustainable approaches to farm husbandry to
deliver for the environment, such as actions to improve soil health and water quality,
enhance hedgerows and promote integrated pest management.</p><p> </p><p>We will also
take steps to reduce emissions through our animal health and welfare schemes and transitional
support schemes. For example, we will support action to identify and eliminate Bovine
Viral Diarrhoea, which raises greenhouse gas emissions from cattle. And we will provide
grants towards the cost of equipment, technology and infrastructure that will improve
farmers’ efficiency, benefiting the environment. These could include precision agriculture
and low-emission nutrient application equipment.</p>
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