Livestock Industry (Climate Change)

I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman. It is scary to be in such close agreement with him, but I am. I also agree with his point about anaerobic digestion, and I shall come to that in a moment if I have time. Emissions from the livestock sector have declined by 18 per cent. and are projected to continue to fall to 32 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2010, which is real and significant progress, but after 2010 they are projected to rise again, so there is urgent need for action, and that is true of all sectors of the economy. In taking forward solutions to these issues, the Government must work in close partnership with the industry. DEFRA is already working collaboratively with the dairy supply chain through the road map process to reduce the environmental impact of milk production and consumption in the UK. The road map includes some important action for the entire supply chain, including challenging targets on the reduction of greenhouse gas balance from dairy farms, as well as setting targets to reduce water usage and to improve waste disposal. The meat industry is working on a similar road map for meat production. Helping all sectors of the economy to address climate change is a key priority for the Government. We fully recognise the challenges associated with tackling greenhouse gas emissions from the livestock sector as part of maintaining a sustainable and viable industry. Our agriculture and climate change work stream under the Farming Futures programmes—my hon. Friend will know about them—aims to address the challenges associated with tackling greenhouse gas emissions from the livestock sector and agriculture as a whole. We continue to work directly with the sector to ensure that farmers are fully aware of the effects of climate change, and are well equipped to change their practices to reduce emissions and make their businesses more resilient to the impact of climate change. We are doing that through our rural climate change forum, our high-level stakeholder group, which provides valuable advice on policy, research and communications for climate change and land management. All the major stakeholders in the farming, forestry and land management sectors are represented on that group. We understand how important it is for farmers to have easily accessible information on climate change, and we have funded the Farming Futures communications project since 2006 to provide farmers with practical advice on the impact of climate change and on how to take action to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The project has produced a series of fact sheets and case studies, including some on reducing emissions from the livestock sector. In addition, a series of regional workshops for farmers has been held. We are mindful that our 80 per cent. emissions reduction target is ambitious, and the unique nature of the agricultural sector makes it even more challenging for it fully to play its part. The Committee on Climate Change has recently identified the technical abatement potential for the agriculture, forestry and land management sectors, and we are working with the Committee, the rural climate change forum and other stakeholders to develop the policy framework that we will need to have in place to ensure that those identified savings are realised. It is important to note that some measures to tackle climate change in this sector provide real benefits not just for climate change, but for other environmental objectives, such as biodiversity and water, soil and air quality. Anaerobic digestion is a subject that we could spend all day discussing. It is a good example of win-win technology, and we are driving it forward. It could help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the use of manures, slurries and other organic matter, such as food waste. Some innovative ideas are emerging on how to turn food waste from supermarkets to good use—