Dr Jonathan Foot

Jonathan Foot is the Head of Environmental at the AHDB, and is one of our collaborators. He has over 15 years environmental experience from working in the energy industry where he integrated ‘net zero’ into the strategy to ensure that EDF Energy could lead the decarbonisation of the UK’s energy supply.

Prior to working in the energy sector, he held roles where agriculture and land management were central to the delivery of environmental improvements (i.e. control of ammonia emissions in agriculture, Tir Gofal agri-environment scheme). Jonathan is also an IEMA Fellow and Group Chair for the IEMA Climate Change and Energy Network.

Jonathan is now supporting farmers and growers to navigating their way through an economic and environmental landscape that is going through a period of unprecedented change. Priorities include protecting the environment and reducing the industry’s carbon footprint with a view to reaching Net Zero which are hugely important to the future success of UK farming in a Global market.

Climate change has made the leap from political rhetoric into policy reality. It’s an issue that will increasingly manifest itself in national and international policy decisions, as well as supply chain standards. At the same time, there is an industry commitment to a path towards Net Zero emissions. Farm businesses will have to balance environmental sustainability with the impact on production systems and financial viability. Jonathan is particularly interested in how biochar has the potential to enable farmers and growers to increase carbon stocks on their land, and he wishes to use AHDBs trusted and authoritative position in the knowledge exchange landscape to highlight this research and its outcomes