Growers, nursery owners, compost manufacturers, retailers and environmental charities have joined forces to tell Keir Starmer and his cabinet that we want legislation to #EndPeatSales now. Read everything you need to know about the letter below.
Our open letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer calls for a legislative end to peat sales as soon as possible. The letter has been signed by over 100 signatories including B&Q and Co-op, celebrities such as Chris Packham, and many other supporters.
The Peat-free Partnership is funded by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and hosted by the wild plant conservation charity Plantlife. We are a broad coalition of horticultural businesses and environmental NGOs across the UK with the overarching goal of ending the commercial trade in peat across the UK. Despite the widely recognised environmental damage caused by the use of peat in horticulture and progress towards using alternatives, the trade in peat is still ongoing.
For the open letter text and full list of signatories, see the PDF here.
Our open letter has a simple ask: legislate without delay to end the sale of peat.
There is established public support for an end to peat sales, and it has been a government pledge since 2022 – but the promise to legislate remains unfulfilled. The longer we wait, the more precious peatlands are exploited for use in horticulture, releasing hundreds of thousands of tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and contributing directly to climate change.
With this legislation, we are asking to ensure a just transition to peat-free growing, a fair marketplace for professional peat-free growers and peace of mind for consumers to know that their purchases aren’t hurting the planet.
Peat bogs are unique ecosystems that support amazing biodiversity. These wetland habitats make up around 12% of the UK land area and are extremely valuable in helping to tackle climate change due to their amazing capability for carbon storage. It is estimated that over 3 billion tonnes of carbon is stored in UK peatlands alone. However, the process of creating peat and storing carbon takes a long time. Generally, peat grows at a rate of 1mm per year, meaning that digging up just a metre of peat can release a thousand years’ worth of stored carbon that would have otherwise stayed in the ground.
Peatlands have been continuously dug up for peat to be used in horticulture for years. If you’re not aware of it, it’s likely that peat is in your garden, your houseplants, and was probably even used to grow some of the vegetables in your kitchen. But the use of peat for these purposes has caused severe damage to our environment and will continue to do so until we stop extracting peat.
This is why we need legislation. We need a law that will ensure that peat stays in the ground where it belongs.
This is the first time that key players from the horticultural industry, eNGOs and other supporters have come together at this capacity to call for legislation to end peat sales.
This letter is evidence that there is good industry backing for a legal transition to peat-free, as well as widespread public support. The majority of the signatories of the open letter are horticultural organisations who have experience growing peat-free and have proven that peat is not necessary to grow successfully. All are in support of legislation and believe that an end to peat sales would support their business in transitioning away from using peat.
Isn’t peat already banned?
It’s a common misconception that peat has been banned in the UK already, but this isn’t the case. DEFRA announced in 2022 that peat would be banned by 2024. Similarly, a ban has been discussed in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. However, a legal ban is yet to be put in place in any of the four nations of the UK.
I use peat in my garden- how do I start growing peat-free?
Our Partners have some fantastic resources on peat-free growing! Have a look here to get started.
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