“Preventing irreversible climate disruption is the race of our lives and for our lives. It is a race we can – and must — win.”

António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, August 1, 2019

Land, farming and food

The Downforce Trust (Registered Charity Number 1187541) was established in 2020 to accelerate action on climate change.

The world’s main sources of greenhouse gas emissions are energy production (~70%) and agriculture, food and land use (~25%). Alongside the transition to renewable and low-carbon energy, the Trust believes that changing the way we farm is the most beneficial way to address climate change and protect the environment, safely and quickly.

Beneficial for farmers’ livelihoods and the value of their land.

Beneficial for human health, with better and more secure food supplies.

Beneficial for water and air quality.

Beneficial for nature and biodiversity.

Farming accounts for about one third of all land use. Farmers can not only help reduce GHG emissions. They can also draw carbon from the atmosphere into soil and vegetation. Healthy, living soil is full of life, and life is made of carbon. There are many different approaches, including regenerative and conservation agriculture.

Meeting the data challenge

One challenge is how we channel investment into regenerative agriculture. The main barrier is the cost and difficulty of reliably measuring natural capital, including Soil Organic Carbon. The Trust therefore funded research which has led to DownforceⓇ, a radical new approach to measuring natural capital (such as soil carbon) and ecosystem services (such as carbon sequestration), using modelling and remote data sources, such as satellite feeds. In February 2021, The Trust created Downforce Technologies Limited to develop and commercialise DownforceⓇ.

The System of Rice Intensification (SRI)

Rice is the staple food for half of the world, and its cultivation provides a livelihood to millions of households. It also the second largest source of methane from agriculture, with GHG emissions similar to the aviation sector.

In 2021, the Trust launched SRI-2030, a movement to promote the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) around the world. SRI is a set of practices for rice cultivation that increase the rice yield and returns for farmers while reducing GHG emissions and water consumption.

SRI is a great example of how, by working with nature, we can protect the environment without compromising food security and the economy.

Climate migration

Migration has moved into the fore of politics in the United States and much of Europe in the past few years. The subject raises both legitimate concerns and destructive rhetoric. However, the political parties that are most vocal about migration are silent on its relation to climate change.

There is no dispute that climate change is a substantial and growing cause of migration. Approximately 3.3 to 3.6 billion people live in contexts that are highly vulnerable to climate change (IPCC). When home becomes uninhabitable—whether due to conflict, climate change or other external pressures—people are faced with little choice other than to move (UNHCR). Between 25 million and one billion people could become environmental migrants by 2050 (IOM).

If we are to address this reality then we need to invest in agroecological programmes that build resilience to climate change and mitigate it by drawing carbon down into soils and vegetation. This is a huge opportunity across agricultural land globally, but is especially urgent for countries on the frontline of climate change.

The UK has a highly successful programme of investing in agriculture in such countries. The FCDO’s LINKS programme in Nigeria doubled rice yields while halving GHG emissions for 45,000 farmers. But our investment in agriculture is small – less than £200 million out of an overseas aid budget of £8 billion. We have more that we could be investing from our International Climate Finance budget – perhaps another £2 billion over 2025 and 2026.

If we invest more into agriculture in frontline states, we can help build food production and food sovereignty, improve livelihoods and the economy, boost education and job opportunities. While at the same time helping to strengthen UK security and combat climate change.

The Downforce Trust is working with Parliamentarians and Government to promote this systematic and effective approach.

Trustees

Merrick Denton-Thompson OBE has worked in local government and the voluntary sector throughout a career pursuing a passion for the environment and countryside. He has served as president of the Landscape Institute, and on the board of Natural England, and is the founding Trustee of the Learning Through Landscapes Trust.

Mungo Soggot studied law at the London School of Economics before embarking on an award-winning career as an investigative journalist in South Africa. He is the founder and chief executive of Scrolla, a new digital newspaper for Africa.

Adam Parr is a barrister and entrepreneur and former chief executive and chairman of the Williams F1 Team, where he encountered ‘downforce.’ Adam is a Business Fellow at the Smith School for Enterprise & the Environment at the University of Oxford and a Research Associate of the John Porter Diplomacy Centre at Hertford College, Oxford.