Dieter Helm's lecture series on Net Zero

2. AGENDA
• Agricultural emissions
• Agricultural consumption emissions vs. production
• Applying the polluter pays principle – the emitting bit
• Natural sequestration, soils, peat & trees
• Biocrops and forestry for biomass
• Multiple public goods
• The natural capital baseline

3. AGRICULTURAL EMISSIONS
On a production basis – at least 10%
• + peat and soil emissions not captured by conventional measurements
• + biofuels
On a consumption basis
• Fertilisers + pesticides emissions
• Imported machinery manufacture
• Food import consumption
Can’t do next zero without agriculture

4. AGRICULTURE CONSUMPTION
& NOT JUST PRODUCTION
• UK imports almost ALL inputs
• Fertilisers, steel, cement, petrochemicals, aluminium used by farmers
• UK imports 40% food
• So need border tariffs if net zero terrestrial production targets to create level
playing field.

5. POLLUTER PAYS PRINCIPLE
• Good 101 economics
• Red Diesel
• Fertilisers & pesticide taxes
• Peat emissions & a common carbon price

6. SEQUESTRATION, SOILS & PEAT
• A carbon price, e.g. £16 a tonne Carbon Floor Price
• A baseline – Natural Capital Survey of natural capital assets
• A 1 year/5 year update
• Enhancement scenarios and accreditation
But what about already good conditions?
• Use taxes for net emissions
• Level playing field on imports
• Regulation
• Scope for offsets & carbon credit trading

7. BIOCROPS & FORESTRY
• No such thing as fully renewable bio-crops and biofuels
• Forestry is temporary sequestration
• Biomass as wood pellets in power stations is not net zero
• Full cycle costs of biocrops
• AD for waste very different for AD with maize & crops
AND
• One hectare per minute Amazon destroyed

8. MULTIPLE PUBLIC GOODS
• Non-excludable, non-rival & public not private
• Multiple consequences of net zero production targets
• On trees and water
• On trees & biodiversity
• On soils and peats and biodiversity
• Risk of silo mentality
• It is not just all about climate change