Thesis title:
The Sustainable Agricultural Transition: An interdisciplinary approach investigating how to promote climate-beneficial measures with farmers in arable farmlands and within the livestock sector
Abstract:
Agriculture accounts for 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Many countries including EU members and the UK have committed to reaching net zero by 2050 and climate-beneficial farming measures will play a key role in reaching this goal as part of the transition towards sustainable agriculture. A wide array of climate-beneficial measures is currently available to farmers, incentivised through government agri-environment schemes and direct payments. While research has been carried out into how to engage farmers in these schemes, there is a clear gap in the literature on how to specifically promote climate-beneficial measures with farmers. This doctoral thesis will centre around the United Kingdom due to the new agricultural policy and the need for more research that has been identified for meeting the UK’s climate change and sustainable development commitments. I will therefore explore farmers’ perceptions of climate change and its mitigation and the economic, social, environmental and political dimensions of farmer decision-making. I aim to identify ways of improving knowledge exchange on climate mitigation. Ultimately, using existing collaborations at the Centre for Environmental Policy, I will gain a detailed understanding of the policy context and make recommendations for environmental land management and agricultural policy. The findings of this research will benefit climate mitigation in the UK and in countries with similar infrastructures and farming systems.
Publications:
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2017.0038
First supervisor:
Alexandra Collins
Pathway:
9-Political Ecology, Energy & Environmental Health
Cohort:
2021-22