Submission to EAC inquiry on air pollution in the UK

Foodrise has submitted a response to the Environmental Audit Committee’s inquiry on air pollution – outlining how agricultural emissions are a significant source of air pollution in the UK, and what actions the government must take to tackle them.

• Read the submission

What’s the problem? 

Agricultural emissions are a significant source of air pollution in the UK. 

Agriculture causes 88% of UK emissions of ammonia (NH3), which is emitted during storage and spreading of manures and slurries and from the application of inorganic fertilisers. Agriculture is also estimated to be Europe’s biggest cause of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution – caused primarily by livestock manure and overapplication of fertilisers. 

This pollution is harming us and the planet.  

Ammonia damages sensitive natural habitats and contributes to particulate pollution in urban areas. 

Air pollution from agriculture is a major public health threat linked to high mortality. According to the EAT-Lancet report (2025), agriculture accounts for one-fifth of global mortality related to poor air quality, which is largely due to nitrogen pollution from fertilisers. 

Despite this, successive governments have failed to take effective measures to tackle them. In fact, we’ve seen unchecked expansion of intensive livestock units in recent years, with a 20% increase in megafarms since 2016. 

Solutions 

Research shows that reducing meat and dairy consumption is one of the best ways to reduce nitrogen pollution. 

A 2014 study estimated that halving European meat and dairy consumption could lead to 40% lower nitrogen emissions. A 2022 study estimated that shifting to the Planetary Health Diet would see an estimated 23.4% drop in EU and UK fertiliser use. 

A shift to lower meat and dairy consumption also has numerous potential co-benefits for public health and the environment. Low-meat diets have been shown to have approximately half the emissions and land use of high meat diets, whilst vegan diets have around a quarter of the emissions and land use of high meat diets. 

Policy recommendations 

There are several policy levers that the UK can use to achieve dietary change: 

1. Reform public procurement and the UK’s dietary guidelines: For recommendations on how the UK could reform its public procurement of food and dietary guidelines to support healthy sustainable diets, see Foodrise’s joint policy briefing ‘Serving Up’ – co-signed by 25 health and sustainability organisations. 
2. Reform farming subsidies and introduce a Plant Based Action Plan: Foodrise’s report ‘CAP at the Crosswords’ explores strategies for how subsidies could be reformed to support a just transition to healthy sustainable diets – with many transferable lessons for the UK.
3. Introduce a moratorium on new factory farms 

Read the submission: