{"id":48597,"date":"2023-05-24T17:01:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-24T16:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatechangenews.com\/?p=48597"},"modified":"2023-05-25T07:19:25","modified_gmt":"2023-05-25T06:19:25","slug":"uk-sued-over-plan-to-import-more-polluting-australian-beef","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2023\/05\/24\/uk-sued-over-plan-to-import-more-polluting-australian-beef\/","title":{"rendered":"UK sued over plan to import more polluting Australian beef"},"content":{"rendered":"

Campaigners have challenged the UK government over its assessment of an imminent free trade agreement with Australia, which critics say ignored the full climate impact of meat farming and consumption.<\/strong><\/p>\n

NGO Feedback has launched a formal legal challenge against the UK government, arguing that it risked flouting its international climate obligations by not properly assessing the environmental impacts of the deal.<\/p>\n

The UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement, which enters into force<\/a> at the end of the month, gives Australian producers better access to the UK market to sell beef, lamb and dairy.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Then UK prime minister Boris Johnson, trade secretary Liz Truss and Australian prime minister Scott Morrison celebrate the trade deal in London in 2021 (Photo credit: Number 10\/Flickr<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n

Agreeing the deal in 2021<\/a>, the UK government said Australia shared domestic \u201cbeliefs in high standards in areas such as animal welfare and the environment\u201d and maintained that the deal would uphold these.<\/p>\n

Brexit dash for deals<\/h3>\n

But critics believe it was passed in haste and risks undercutting UK producers with food that does more damage to the environment.<\/p>\n

Carina Millstone, executive director of Feedback, said the UK government had recklessly sacrificed both British farmers and the climate in a rush for positive headlines after the UK left the European Union and faced accusations that it was now globally isolated.<\/p>\n

Verra boss<\/strong> steps down after criticism of its carbon credits<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cAt a time of crisis in food and farming,” she said “the government must ensure all trade deals work towards our emissions reduction targets rather than towards further catastrophic heating.\u201d<\/p>\n

A government impact assessment<\/a> of the free trade agreement suggested there would be an increase in transport-related greenhouse gas emissions as more goods are moved between Australia and the UK.<\/p>\n

They estimated that increase would be 0.1-0.3 MtCo2 a year, about the annual emissions<\/a> of Liechenstein.<\/p>\n

Claims of uncertainty<\/h3>\n

But it said data uncertainties on the emissions impact of farming, particularly of beef, made drawing conclusions on these emissions difficult. <\/span><\/p>\n

Campaigners instead point <\/span>to a 2021 <\/span>independent review<\/span><\/a> of <\/span>the UK\u2019s national food strategy<\/span><\/a>. It used a 2020 study in Global Environmental Change<\/a> to conclude\u00a0that carbon emissions from UK beef was 30kg Co2\/kg compared to 45kg Co2e\/kg from Australian beef.<\/span><\/p>\n

The authors of that study found that these differences between different countries were “largely attributable to deforestation for grazing lands and higher methane emissions from…belching”.<\/p>\n