On Wednesday 30 October, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves set out the Labour government’s first budget.
In response, Professor Ian Bateman (University of Exeter), who leads the NetZeroPlus Demonstrator, said:
“The increase in annual support for greenhouse gas removal via tree planting and peatland restoration is welcome, particularly as both approaches can generate substantial co-benefits when they are targeted to the right places, such as providing habitat for Britain’s beleaguered wild species and access to the natural environment. Similarly, the continued shift of taxpayers’ funds towards the provision of public benefits is also welcome. However, the failure to both target public funds to those areas which produce the greatest public benefits, and to take the poorest farmers out of poverty, still highlights the acknowledged but long overdue need for radical reform in land use policy.”
Dr Helen West (University of Nottingham), an investigator at the Biochar Demonstrator, said:
“Whilst investment in delivery of 1.5 million homes is laudable, it is imperative that new builds and changes to planning permission are not to the detriment of the natural environment and that investment in tree planting schemes should benefit biodiversity, since this is critical to carbon storage.”
Professor Colin Snape (University of Nottingham), who leads the Biochar Demonstrator, said:
“The new funding opportunities for net zero are welcome regarding the mix of emerging approaches for Greenhouse Gas Removal (GGR), including biochar, enhanced rock weathering (ERW) and direct air capture (DAC) that will be need to be implemented at scale.”
Learn more about the Demonstrator projects and the CO2RE Hub in our series of short documentaries.
