A recent exchange about ‘crises’ – ecological, climate, environmental – recalled a former UK prime minister’s infamous question: “Crisis? What crisis?” This occurred in the 1979 so-called ‘Winter of Discontent’, an allusion to Shakespeare’s Richard III, which heralded a seismic shift in British politics. It is now widely felt that we live in a globalised age not so much of crisis, but ‘polycrisis’ or perhaps even ‘polycrises.'(1.) This post discusses the connectivity between local and international crises, and considers questions not just around ‘what crisis?’ but also ‘whose crisis?’ It highlights the generalised ‘crises of sustainability’ requiring a wide range of human adaptations, as well as re-adaptations, to natural processes and planetary boundaries.

Securing a Sustainable Future

At the end of January, the Welsh Government opened a consultation on the White Paper entitled Securing a Sustainable Future (sub-headed ‘Environmental Principles, Governance and Biodiversity Targets for a Greener Wales’). It should be emphasised this initiative has the broad support of conservation and environmental organisations, but coincided with a ‘winter of discontent’ among sections of the farming community. The Foreword from the Welsh Minister for Climate Change sets out the context:

The environment is the foundation upon which our society and economy are built. It provides us with clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and fertile land to grow food. It also supports a rich tapestry of biodiversity, which is essential for the health of our ecosystems.
However, our environment is under increasing threat from human activities. Climate change, pollution, and overexploitation of resources are all taking a toll on our natural world. These threats not only damage the environment but also pose a serious risk to our own well-being and that of future generations.…

Launch of this White Paper comes at a time when the Welsh Government has also entered the final stage of consultation on a Sustainable Farming Scheme which has provoked the ire of some farmers because of changes to the agricultural subsidy regime. One of the main objections voiced against the proposed scheme, together with wider proposals for more ‘environmental land management‘ (to borrow a term used by the UK Government), is these do not adequately recognise the importance of food security. This and other objections are addressed in a recent article on the Sustainable Food Trust website – Understanding the farmer protests – which considers how the re-direction of farming subsidies have led to tractor protests in the UK and across Europe.

Farming and Natural Resilience

Meanwhile, according to the Guardian newspaper in late February: “flooding top of agenda at NFU conference after extreme weather ruins thousands of acres of crops.” Whilst the National Union of Farmers has been quick to blame the UK government and Environment Agency for flood damage, unsustainable land management for agriculture and urban development are key factors in flood risk, along with climate change. This blog has previously discussed the Severn Valley Water Management Scheme (SVWMS) and the need to integrate landscape regeneration with the built environment. (2) The SVWMS “aim to develop and deliver a catchment wide programme of water management interventions to help communities not only survive, but also thrive” is most welcome. However, 3 years after the launch of a consultation on the scheme, following rejection of a controversial Severn dam proposal near Shrewsbury, landscape-scale ‘interventions’ still appear some way off.

The latest ‘progress report’ from the Office for Environmental Protection(OEP) on how the UK government is generally failing to meet targets on biodiversity, climate, pollution and other sustainability criteria recommends urgent action is needed to “speed up and scale up its efforts in order to achieve them.” (3) Lack of progress in four key areas is highlighted: ‘managing exposure to chemicals/pesticides’; ‘using resources from nature sustainably’; ‘climate change mitigation;’ and ‘climate change adaptation.’ Changes to farming and land use practices are essential to meeting UK environmental targets and it should be emphasised that many farmers and land managers are adopting more sustainable pathways through initiatives like the Nature Friendly Farming Network, Natural Flood Management Programme, Landscape Recovery Scheme and Peatland Restoration Programme. Integrating Nature-based Solutions to climate change with mainstream farming is one of the most cost-effective ways of creating greater resilience.

Beyond ‘Management’ of Crises

In the Sustainable Food Trust article cited above, SFT CEO Patrick Holder critiques ‘the old model of extractive industrial farming’ and expresses support for agricultural subsidy regime change, as well as wider transformation of modern food systems:

The issue is of enormous importance, because if the subsidies can be correctly redirected, farmers could move from being part of the problem to becoming part of the solution, rebuilding the lost soil carbon, reinstating in-field biodiversity and improving the social and cultural impacts of food systems throughout the world. To achieve this, will require the introduction of new forms of agricultural support, not just from governments, but from businesses, banks, investors, insurance companies, utility companies, and of course, food companies, all of whom need to collaborate on redesigning the financial framework on which farmers operate.(4)

The Global Food Security Index covers this subject across 4 main themes – affordability, availability, quality and safety, sustainability and adaptation – in 113 countries. Overall, the UK is ranked 9th among the world’s top nations for food security but, like most other countries, scores least well on sustainability and adaptation. The 2024 World Economic Forum Global Risks Report sets out a ‘current risk landscape’ dominated by the threat of ‘extreme weather.’ Moving forward to 2034, the projected risk landscape is increasingly over-shadowed by ‘extreme weather events,’ plus ‘critical changes to Earth systems,’ ‘biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse’ and ‘natural resource shortages.’ Without a transformational change of course towards sustainability and adaptation to natural processes and planetary systems, human ‘management’ of crises as we know it could soon no longer be an option.

For anyone interested in learning about sustainability and adaptation, the Centre for Alternative Technology in Mid Wales runs various courses on the subject.(5)

References

1. https://www.ids.ac.uk/opinions/are-we-in-the-age-of-the-polycrisis
2. https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/west-midlands/svwms
3. https://www.theoep.org.uk/report/government-remains-largely-track-meet-its-environmental-ambitions-finds-oep-annual-progress
4. https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/news-views/understanding-the-farmer-protests
5. https://cat.org.uk/courses-and-training/graduate-school/courses/sustainability-and-adaptation