To limit future warming requires rapid reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and achieving net zero by 2050, as required by UK legislation. Climate mitigation is led in government by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). But Defra is responsible for efforts to reduce GHG emissions from four sectors: agriculture, waste and wastewater, land-use, and fluorinated gases (F-gases). Defra also has responsibility to promote forestry, which acts as a carbon sink. Together, the four Defra sectors represent 15% of the total net UK GHGs, with agriculture being the biggest contributor (about 10% of UK emissions).
Defra has research interests in reduction of emissions, the removal of GHG from the atmosphere, and in understanding the impacts of mitigation activities on other environmental outcomes.
Get in touch with ari.comment@go-science.gov.uk
This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:
Reducing our carbon emissions is essential if we are to achieve Net Zero, address climate change and protect our futures. However, mitigation of unavoidable carbon-emissions will also require offsetting through large sca...
Funded by: Innovate UK
Lead research organisation: QUANTERRA SYSTEMS LTD
The project focuses on developing measurement of carbon fluxes from different habitats and farming systems, which is directly relevant to the question.
The UK is committed to quantifying and managing its emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG, i.e. CO2, CH4, N2O) to reduce the threat of dangerous climate change. Sinks and sources of GHGs vary in space and time across the UK...
Funded by: NERC
Lead research organisation: University of Edinburgh
The project aims to improve the capabilities of land surface models to estimate GHG emissions, which is partially relevant to the question.
Carbon sequestration in soil is one of the most promising biological negative emission (BNE) technologies to mitigate climate change. Soil carbon sequestration relies on the adoption of best management practices to incre...
Funded by: UKRI
Lead research organisation: James Hutton Institute