In this webinar we took a deep dive into Chris Stark’s insights, frustrations and reflections as the country’s leading climate change policy expert. Chris is one of the most well-known figures in climate policy, and was until recently one of the most senior independent officials working on the issue, as chief executive of the UK’s Climate Change […]

Given the complex nature of the UK food system, it is clear that interventions to transform it will need to be designed from a systems perspective, i.e. as systemic innovations. Key questions therefore include; what should be the boundaries of the system? Which actors and what perspectives would have to be involved? What collaboration would […]

What if we could turn methane from manure into energy for farmers and communities, and thereby reduce methane and carbon emissions? What too, if this created income for farming businesses, provided an alternative fuel for their machinery, and created circular systems locally?  With a number of farm trials underway and Cornwall authority exploring the potential, […]

Anyone who’s tried to unravel and address problems in the agri-food system will know how complex it is: Agri-food researchers, stakeholders, and professionals working towards net zero also have to account for other economic, health, social and environmental issues, which are often multiple, interlinked and overlapping. If this sounds familiar, so will the below characteristics […]

Are we missing a trick with manure management that others around the world are starting to see? New research suggests the scale of UK methane emissions may be larger than first thought – but also that better management could significantly reduce this, while technology could harness emissions to generate energy and income. All of this […]

Peatlands are incredible – globally they cover 3% of land area but hold more than twice the carbon in all the world’s forests. But managing them is a conundrum and a balancing act between short and long term food security, biodiversity, climate, and livelihoods: Their carbon-rich soils make them food-producing power-houses (accounting for 30-40% of […]

Food system transformation models often rest on us all eating more fruit and veg and less meat and dairy. But even if consumers were persuaded to choose a more plant-based diet, our supply of fresh produce is on a knife edge: Mounting pressures from Brexit to supermarkets, and labour to energy costs, mean many UK […]

Food system transformation models often rest on us all eating more fruit and veg and less meat and dairy. But even if consumers were persuaded to choose a more plant-based diet, our supply of fresh produce is on a knife edge: Mounting pressures from Brexit to supermarkets, and labour to energy costs, mean many UK […]

Changing our food system could, arguably, be approached with different aims and perspectives. What happens when the aim of change is net zero though? What are the win-wins from climate adaptation and mitigation? What could this mean on a practical level for farmers? But what too are the trade-offs we might need to weigh up, […]

‘Business-as-usual’ is dead. The world order – economically, politically, environmentally and socially – is being turned on its head and redrawn. Why then, when thinking about transforming our food system, do we tend to assume the world will just trundle on as it has before, leaving the UK free to carefully redesign its domestic production, […]

Our food system accounts for around a third of all global emissions – so why has it hardly been talked about at previous COPs? The UN’s climate change conference brings together world leaders every year to try to bash out a deal to cut emissions and halt climate change. But it’s so far been famously […]

As global warming increases, young people currently in their teens, 20s, 30s, early 40s will be the ones to bear the brunt of climatic changes, plus the responsibility of transitioning the agri-food system towards net zero by 2050. For those who are farmers, land managers and food producers, what challenges will they face? What opportunities […]