“We face all kinds of threats in our line of work, but few of them truly deserve to be called existential. The climate crisis does. Climate change is making the world more unsafe and we need to act.”

The United States Secretary of Defense, US Army Climate Strategy, February 2022

The big picture: security

Homeland Conservation (Registered Charity Number 1187541) was established in 2020 to accelerate action to minimise global heating.

This is not a philanthropic enterprise to benefit people in faraway lands sometime in the distant future.

Climate change and the degradation of soils and biodiversity are a clear and present danger to our lives, security and future.

No species can survive the destruction of its habitat. Humanity is no exception.

The main game: land, farming and food

The world’s main sources of greenhouse gas emissions are energy production (~70%) and agriculture, food and land use (~25%). Alongside the transition to renewable and low-carbon energy, the Trust believes that changing the way we farm is the most beneficial way to address climate change and protect the environment, safely and quickly.

Beneficial for farmers’ livelihoods and the value of their land.

Beneficial for human health, with better and more secure food supplies.

Beneficial for water and air quality.

Beneficial for nature and biodiversity.

Farming accounts for about one third of all land use. Farmers can not only help reduce GHG emissions. They can also draw carbon from the atmosphere into soil and vegetation. Healthy, living soil is full of life, and life is made of carbon. There are many different approaches, including regenerative and conservation agriculture.

The data challenge

One challenge is how we channel investment into regenerative agriculture. The main barrier is the cost and difficulty of reliably measuring natural capital, including Soil Organic Carbon. The Trust therefore funded research which has led to DownforceⓇ, a radical new approach to measuring natural capital (such as soil carbon) and ecosystem services (such as carbon sequestration), using modelling and remote data sources, such as satellite feeds. In February 2021, The Trust created Downforce Technologies Limited to develop and commercialise DownforceⓇ.

Rice: a big opportunity

In 2021, the Trust launched SRI-2030, a movement to promote the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) around the world. SRI is a set of practices for rice cultivation that increase the rice yield and returns for farmers while reducing GHG emissions and water consumption.

Rice is the staple food for half of the world, and its cultivation provides a livelihood to millions of households. SRI is a great example of how we can provide ourselves and others with a better life and a more secure future, while protecting the environment. There are no trade-offs.

Coming soon: save our soil

In 2024, the Trust will focus more on how to promote healthy soils in England. Watch this space.

Trustees

Merrick Denton-Thompson OBE has worked in local government and the voluntary sector throughout a career pursuing a passion for the environment and countryside. He has served as president of the Landscape Institute, and on the board of Natural England, and is the founding Trustee of the Learning Through Landscapes Trust.

Mungo Soggot studied law at the London School of Economics before embarking on an award-winning career as an investigative journalist in South Africa. He is the founder and chief executive of Scrolla, a new digital newspaper for Africa.

Adam Parr is a barrister and entrepreneur. He chairs Oxford Semantic Technologies Limited, an AI spin-out of the University of Oxford. Adam is also a Business Fellow and DPhil candidate at the Smith School for Enterprise & the Environment at the University of Oxford and a Research Associate of the John Porter Diplomacy Centre at Hertford College, Oxford.