COP26 Voices

Mike Green, Agricultural Sustainability Manager, UK & Ireland

My journey to sustainability
My Dad worked for a Swedish company in the mid-seventies, working on how to recover heat from the air to heat houses and businesses. That’s where my interest in the climate started. Since then, I’ve worked in government and research organisations to join up land use, climate issues and agriculture. Now, at BASF, I’m working alongside colleagues to bring it all together and implement practical sustainability with farmers and customers.

Tackling climate change
BASF’s Agricultural Solutions team has a new and ambitious strategy to help achieve the UK sustainability targets. We have a very holistic view, meaning there is not just one specific product that helps us. It is important to look at the wider picture and combine different solutions and agricultural practices to improve farmers’ climate efficiency.

BASF has recently introduced xarvio® SCOUTING and FIELD MANAGER. Such digital tools help farmers to variably apply products to their crops according to their precise needs. It also helps users to identify the least productive areas of their farms and makes recommendations on what alternative environmental land use options might be adopted instead. This is just one example of how we are helping farmers. We also have an ongoing five-year project looking at how farmers’ can improve their soil health and maximise their carbon storage whilst continuing to produce high yielding crops.

We all have our part to play
Understanding where your food comes from and how it is produced is critical to ethical consumption. Food waste and unnecessary packaging have a huge impact on individuals’ carbon footprints, so buying and eating what you need and minimising waste can immediately help.

In Agricultural Solutions, we are lucky enough to work with farmers across the UK who are committed to producing crops in an environmentally sustainable manner. It is important that as consumers, we support these local growers in order to reduce unnecessary food miles. I would encourage everyone to ‘look behind the sound bites’ and understand the real story of how sustainable food production can be part of the climate solution.