House of Lords Report - Nature Based Solutions: Rhetoric or Reality?
The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee has called for a land use strategy for the UK in order to address the competing demands being made of land, in its report reviewing the potential contribution that “nature-based solutions” can make to the UK’s path to Net Zero.
Nature-based solutions: rhetoric or reality? The potential contribution of nature-based solutions to net zero in the UK can be downloaded from the House of Lords website. Nature-based solutions are interventions which work with nature to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase carbon sequestration or offer other benefits such as reduced flood risk or increased biodiversity. The most widely used solutions are restoration of damaged peat and tree-planting.
Having acknowledged that nature-based solutions were “not a substitute for decarbonising all sectors of the economy” and that their potential contribution to reaching Net Zero “should not be overstated”, the Committee identified the following issues which the Government needs to tackle in order to support the development of nature-based solutions and the financial markets which will enable them to be scaled up:
1. Improve scientific understanding
There are evidence gaps in relation to carbon sequestration by trees, hedges, farmland soils and peat which need to be filled
Long term studies are needed to assess the performance of these solutions and their resilience to climate change
However, the need for such research should not prevent the continued roll-out of nature based solutions – we cannot afford to wait for complete information
2. Fill in the policy gaps
Targets should be set for nature-based solutions and budgets for delivery bodies need to be increased
As a matter of urgency, Defra should provide more clarity on the ELM programme and a commitment to long term funding to allow farmers and land managers to plan ahead
Communication with farmers and land managers needs to be improved and skills and training programmes should be put in place, alongside a dedicated advisory service
The co-benefits of Woodland Carbon Code and Peatland Code projects should be quantified to enable payments for credits to recognise the biodiversity and other benefits that those projects deliver
Companies need more information on what they must do to reach Net Zero and how offsets can be legitimately used
Clear regulatory standards are needed for emerging carbon markets, such as those for farmland soil and the Government should consider acting as or sponsoring a central broker for carbon credits
3. Develop a land use strategy
An overall land use strategy should be developed to outline how nature-based solutions will contribute to Net Zero, how they will be integrated with other policies and how trade-offs in land use will be managed. It must explain how the UK’s land can deliver the multiple services demanded of it without offshoring emissions.
The report accurately describes how many landowners and farmers feel that they currently lack enough information to decide how to proceed: whether to continue to rely on Government funded grants schemes with no long term commitment in place, or whether to commit to new private sector markets which lack robust standards and regulation. That is a reflection of the new and rapidly-evolving area in which we find ourselves right now.
However things are moving fast and there is no shortage of energy, ideas and enthusiasm in this sector. Defra has already funded 27 innovative projects through round 1 of the Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund and the closing date for round 2 is in early February. The money from NEIRF will help a number of organisations to develop new mechanisms for drawing private investment into nature recovery and, because knowledge sharing is part of the funding deal, we all stand to learn from their experience.
28th January 2022