For too long in the UK, we have tended to view the climate crisis as something happening elsewhere—whether it be hurricanes in the United States or floods in Bangladesh—while imagining ourselves to be relatively shielded. But this complacency is no longer tenable; climate change is already devastating our communities, and no one is feeling it more acutely than farmers.
In the past 18 months, England has experienced its wettest period since record-keeping began in 1836. Across the UK and Ireland, the recent wet winter was made ten times more likely due to climate change. Extreme weather is a brutal new norm.
In my constituency in Hitchin, I meet many farmers struggling with the heavy rains. While costs have skyrocketed in recent years, wet weather has meant that farmers have planted fewer crops and experienced reduced yields. This combination has resulted in a hit to their bank balances and taken a toll on their mental health.
But this isn’t just a crisis for farmers—it’s a crisis for us all. The health of our agricultural sector is fundamental to food security. As global food systems become ever more fragile—largely owing to the escalating climate and nature crises, but also because of geopolitical conflicts—an increased reliance on imports makes us vulnerable to supply shocks and price hikes. The impact is already being felt in the UK, with climate change adding £361 annually to the average household food bill since the beginning of 2022.
Food security is national security. Supporting farmers is therefore an investment in our collective prosperity. This means we need policies that allow farmers to create diverse and resilient businesses. Central to this will be getting the Environmental Land Management scheme, the main post-Brexit mechanism for providing financial assistance to farmers in England—and a key lever for tackling the climate and nature crises—to work for all farms. But aid will need to go much further.
Farmers will play a vital role in the green revolution, and must benefit from it commensurately. This is why it’s so important that we connect renewable energy on farms to the national grid through Great British Energy (GBE), a newly created and publicly owned company.
It also means supporting farmers to export their produce overseas and backing them in trade deals, including through the government’s plans to negotiate a new veterinary agreement with the European Union. We must also deliver on our commitment to use the public purse to ensure that 50 per cent of public sector food is locally produced or certified to high environmental standards.
Supporting farmers is an investment in our collective prosperity
It is no wonder that farmers are worried about climate change, given their proximity to its effects. It’s also no surprise that farmers overwhelmingly back efforts to reach net zero, and at rates higher than the general public. With climate extremes threatening their livelihoods, the need for swift, decisive action is clear. In addition to working with farmers to store carbon in trees and soil on farms, one of the most effective ways to take action is by transforming the UK into a clean energy superpower.
This is one of Keir Starmer’s core missions. It’s not just about cutting emissions—it’s about bringing down energy bills and reducing our dependence on costly, volatile energy imports. The government’s ambition for a clean energy electricity system by 2030 is within reach, but it requires boldness. That’s why initiatives like GBE are crucial in driving investment in renewable energy across the country, including on farms and in rural communities.
Helping farmers to build resilient businesses is not just vital for their prosperity, but essential to national security. Supporting them to restore nature on farms is a primary tool for reversing nature loss across the UK; it can aid in tackling the very climate crisis that threatens to undermine the agricultural sector. Climate change demands urgent action. By addressing it head-on, we can ensure that UK farming remains resilient and a cornerstone of our nation’s prosperity.
