While we welcome this initial consultation on mechanisms to actively remove CO2 from the atmosphere, we believe that it overlooks the potential future opportunities for carbon usage as a feedstock, as well as the more immediate prospects for carbon storage in vegetation or soil.
In our opinion, farmers and growers need access to a multiplicity of forms of carbon finance, benefiting from the provision of 'negative emissions' as a public good, alongside climate-friendly agricultural production.
This is likely to form a significant part of our 2040 aspiration for net zero agriculture.
NFU members can download our consultation response here.