Farmers hung out to dry while fossil fuels cash in—more bad news for climate and nature

The Government’s outdated climate and nature targets, coupled with a lack of joined-up decision-making, have delivered yet another disastrous policy blunder. Last week, the Government announced a pause in payments to farmers under the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI).

SFI is one of the key Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes designed to support farmers in working in harmony with nature—to restore ecosystems, lock up carbon, cut pollution in our rivers, and help to protect communities from downstream flooding. Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Tim Farron MP, rightly said that the closure of the SFI was a “betrayal” that will “outrage everyone who cares for our environment”.

This reckless decision strikes a blow to the very work needed to stabilise our environment for a liveable and prosperous future. It also betrays hardworking farmers who, despite their crucial role in ensuring food security and environmental sustainability, struggle to make ends meet in an unfair food industry. Most farming household income is well below the national average, contrary to the image portrayed by wealthy hobbyists like Jeremy Clarkson. In horticulture—whose products we need more of for a healthy diet and planet —average incomes are even lower.

This abrupt pause to the SFI puts vital nature-friendly farming at risk and adds further financial strain to farmers’ wafer-thin margins.

A failure of joined-up government

The Government’s approach in tackling the climate and nature crisis, which Liberal Democrats MPs have been challenging, undermines support for a just transition to an environmentally friendly future.

On one hand, DEFRA is pulling the rug out from under farmers striving to adopt sustainable practices, who will have to wait “a year without support” as Sarah Dyke MP correctly points out. On the other, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is pouring tens of billions of public funding into the oil industry, using the fig leaf of unproven, costly carbon capture technology to justify a new wave of gas power stations and polluting blue hydrogen plants.

Labour was given the chance to fix this systemic failure in January when Liberal Democrat MP, Roz Savage, proposed the Climate and Nature Bill. The Bill offered a joined-up approach to tackling the climate and nature crisis that would lock the UK’s international commitments into domestic law.

Independent scientists, unaffiliated with the fossil fuel industry, have been unequivocal: carbon capture and storage (CCS) will not work at scale. The Government is deliberately ignoring the vast upstream emissions from natural gas—particularly imported US gas—where supply chain emissions make up around two-thirds of its total warming impact. Yet, due to our outdated climate laws, this is simply ignored by the Labour Government.

Nature-friendly farming: a proven and cost-effective solution for climate and nature

Nature-friendly farming is a well-evidenced, cost-effective way to sequester carbon. Studies show that sustainable practices such as agroforestry—where trees are strategically planted among crops or livestock—can absorb significant amounts of CO₂  while enhancing biodiversity, improving soil health, and increasing resilience to extreme weather. For livestock farming, tree cover also provides essential shade, helping to prevent heat stress in animals—DEFRA says the risk to dairy cattle in the South West will increase by 10 times as global temperatures rise.

Instead of handing out vast sums of public money to fossil fuel giants for “solutions” that scientists warn will not deliver, Labour should seize the opportunity to invest in a vibrant, rural, food economy and boost jobs in local communities. By properly funding nature-friendly farming, the Government could achieve multiple wins: restoring nature—while securing long-term carbon sequestration. Investing in sustainable food production will also alleviate the cost of living crisis and boost jobs.

The CAN Bill: the missing piece in UK climate and nature policy

The Climate and Nature Bill has cross-party backing with unanimous support from Liberal Democrat MPs, which would have placed the UK as a climate leader internationally. Instead of supporting the CAN Bill, Labour blocked it, choosing to maintain a status quo that allows short term decision-making to continue, further undermining the UK’s environmental commitments.

If Labour is serious about climate leadership, improving our resilience against extreme weather events, and supporting a just energy and food transition, Ministers must stop repeating the mistakes of past Governments and follow in the footsteps of Liberal Democrat MPs by advancing the aims of the CAN Bill.

Instead of punishing farmers and rewarding polluters, the Government must adopt a coherent, science-led approach to climate and nature policy—starting with reinstating and strengthening payments for sustainable farming.

* Prof Paul Behrens, Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford Simon Oldridge, Zero Hour