It’s been several weeks since the Climate Change Committee (CCC) published its Seventh Carbon Budget (CB7) for the UK economy. We read the headlines and reaction at the time, but now the dust has settled and it’s time to dig deeper into the details:

What does the Carbon Budget really mean for farming, UK diets and the land based sectors? Will farmers really be better off pursuing net zero? How did the CCC come to its conclusions and recommendations? What gaps in knowledge and data did it face and would like the research community and wider sector to help plug next time?

Two members of the CCC team – Indra Thillainathan and Sandra Bogelein – will be answering these questions and more. As well as giving an overview of what CB7 would mean for the wider economy and agriculture and land sectors more specifically, they will cover;

• Common questions asked to the CCC about agriculture – that are not covered in the report
• More info about the CCC’s assessment that farmers could be better off under CB7

• Assumptions behind a shift away from average meat and dairy consumption & the most impactful levers to achieve this, plus health impacts 

• Research and data gaps that the CCC faced when compiling the Carbon Budget

More on the 7th Carbon Budget

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) published its 7th Carbon Budget on 26th February, which updated the 6th Carbon Budget published in 2020. The Budget is widely seen as the most authoritative assessment of the UK’s emissions across all sectors. It represents the independent statutory advice to the UK Government about what needs to happen to reach net zero by 2050.  

About Indra 

Indra Thillainathan is Team Leader of the CCC’s land, agriculture and nature team, covering both mitigation and adaptation. She oversaw the  work on the Seventh Carbon Budget advice  for the agriculture and land use sectors. She has extensive experience at the CCC, having previously worked on residential energy efficiency and  fuel poverty.  She has a Masters degree in economics.

About Sandra

Sandra Bogelein is a Government Social researcher with a PhD in environmental psychology. At the CCC she is the lead analyst for people and Net Zero and covers work on the most impactful low-carbon household choices and public engagement on Net Zero and adaptation.

About this webinar series

This webinar is part of a monthly series run by AFN Network+ which explores net zero in the UK agri-food system with leading movers and shakers. Expect deep and varied insight from across the sector, including farmers, scientists, policy analysts, community leaders, retailers, politicians, businesses and health professionals. The series is organised and chaired by Jez Fredenburgh our Knowledge Exchange Fellow, and Prof Neil Ward, AFN Co-lead and Professor of rural geography. Jez and Neil are based in the School of Environmental Sciences, and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, at the University of East Anglia.