What we buy, and land use, food and farming

Group three

The group focusing on what we buy, and food, farming and land use heard balanced, accurate and comprehensive information about topics including consumption, waste, dietary choices and land use.

A number of speakers took turns to address the group, and then the assembly members had an opportunity to question them at their tables. Some of the speakers were informants (they explain the range of views or options that exist on the topic) and some were advocates (they present their personal opinion, or the opinion of the organisation they work for.) Read more about how the speakers were selected here.

The group was asked to formulate views on what should be done to reach net zero by 2050 and how it should be done.

For 'what we buy' the evidence broadly covered the three main elements of the ‘waste hierarchy’:

  • Reduce: measures to reduce consumption and increase product efficiency (e.g., designing things that last longer, extended producer guarantees, advertising regulations)
  • Reuse: measures that encourage more sharing and borrowing (e.g. car-sharing, tool libraries) and remanufacturing
  • Recycle: measures to encourage recycling and composting

Pros and cons of each approach were discussed, along with co-benefits and trade-offs.

For 'food, farming and land use' the evidence covered areas including:

  • Potential changes to consumer behaviour (e.g. including eating lower-carbon foods, reducing portion sizes and food waste, etc.)
  • Potential changes to food production and retail (e.g. more efficient farming practices, promoting local suppliers, etc.)
  • Potential changes to land use (e.g. restoring peatland, expanding woodland and growing more energy crops)

Pros and cons of each approach were discussed, along with co-benefits and trade-offs.

Speaker briefings

Each speaker was provided with a brief from the Expert Leads on what their presentation should cover. You can read the briefings for the speakers on what we buy here and the briefings for the speakers on land use, food and farming here.

Saturday 8th February

13:00

Professor Lorraine Whitmarsh, University of Cardiff, introduces the topic area livestream

13:30

Panel one - what we buy livestream

Professor Mike Berners-Lee, Lancaster University – introduction to what we buy and this panel (informant)

Professor John Barratt, University of Leeds – ways to reduce the amount we buy in the first place (informant)

Dr Nicole Koenig-Lewis, Cardiff Business School – ways to reuse products (informant)

14:15

Assembly members prioritise their questions for the later Q&A

14:40

Panel one continued livestream

Julie Hill, WRAP - waste recovery and recycling (informant)

Libby Peake, Green Alliance – different ways to make change happen (informant)

15:15

Assembly members prioritise their questions for the later Q&A

15:50

Q&A with all panel speakers

Sunday 9th February

09:25

Panel two - food, farming and land use livestream

Indra Thillainathan, Committee on Climate Change – introduce the topic of food, farming and land use (informant)

Ceris Jones, National Farmers’ Union - the role of farming in reducing emissions (advocate)

Sue Pritchard, Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce - the role of farming in reducing emissions (advocate)

10:10

Assembly members prioritise their questions for the later Q&A

10:25

Panel two continued livestream

Dr Jo House, University of Bristol - role of land uses other than farming in reducing emissions (informant)

Dr Rosie Green, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine – how changing the types of food we eat can reduce emissions (informant)

Professor Tim Lang, City University – how changing the way we consume food can reduce emissions (informant)

11:10

Assembly members prioritise their questions for the later Q&A

11:45

Q&A with all panel speakers