The Climate Action Plan 2023, which has been published today (Wednesday, December 21), has endorsed the recommended actions of the two Food Vision sectoral groups.

Both the Food Vision Dairy Group and the Food Vision Beef and Sheep Group published reports earlier this year outlining recommendations to cut emissions in the agriculture sector by 25% by 2030.

Many of these recommendations have been specifically included in the Climate Action Plan.

The measures and key performance indicators (KPIs) are divided between measures to 2025 and then further measures to 2030 (though there is significant overlap here).

The period to 2030 is split into two carbon budget periods; one to 2025 and another from 2026 to 2030. The maximum permitted amount of emissions for the agriculture sector to 2025 is 106MT of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq), while the limit from 2026 to 2030 is 96MT CO2eq.

The plan states: "To meet the required level of emissions reduction by 2025, we [the government] will implement the recommendations from the Food Vision sectoral groupings."

These measures will include:

Then, in order to reach the required emissions reduction targets to 2030, the above measures will be built on and added to in the second carbon budget period.

The measures taken to 2030 will include:

One of the most controversial aspects of the recommendations from the Food Vision sectoral groupings was livestock number reductions.

The Climate Action Plan published today said the government will "mobilise recommendations of the Food Vision sectoral groupings and support land use diversification options for livestock farmers, such as anaerobic digestion, forestry and tillage, to incentivize voluntary livestock reductions".

More to follow...