The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has welcomed a new report calling for targets to reduce the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The report from the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), published on May 2, called for measures to reduce the nation’s emissions to net-zero by 2050.

Tom Fyans, deputy chief executive at the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), said: “Climate change is the greatest threat facing the countryside. From prolonged heatwaves and moorland wildfires, to severe and more frequent flooding, our countryside is under severe pressure from the impact of climate breakdown – but it will also provide many of the solutions.

“By prioritising policies and funding that will see better land use, dramatically reduce emissions from agriculture, increase the planting of hedgerows and trees, and restore our peatlands, we can drive carbon back into the ground.

“Our transition to renewable energy must intensify and a deadline set for the phasing out of fossil fuels. The government’s pro-fracking agenda must be dropped altogether.”

Ideas that the CPRE endorse include prioritising brownfield land over greenfield land for housing development, implementing new policies to reduce greenhouse emissions from the farming sector and a new strategy for the restoration of peat.

It also welcomes the recommendation for a 40% extension of the current network of hedgerows, which would help with carbon capture, alleviate floods, create habitats for wildlife and improve air quality.

The Dorset CPRE has expressed its intention to work with the newly elected councillors and organisations such as the NFU to help protect the Dorset Countryside.