Browsing by Author "Cain, Michelle"
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Item Open Access Agriculture's contribution to climate change and role in mitigation is distinct from predominantly fossil CO2-emitting sectors(Frontiers, 2021-02-03) Lynch, John; Cain, Michelle; Frame, David; Pierrehumbert, RaymondAgriculture is a significant contributor to anthropogenic global warming, and reducing agricultural emissions—largely methane and nitrous oxide—could play a significant role in climate change mitigation. However, there are important differences between carbon dioxide (CO2), which is a stock pollutant, and methane (CH4), which is predominantly a flow pollutant. These dynamics mean that conventional reporting of aggregated CO2-equivalent emission rates is highly ambiguous and does not straightforwardly reflect historical or anticipated contributions to global temperature change. As a result, the roles and responsibilities of different sectors emitting different gases are similarly obscured by the common means of communicating emission reduction scenarios using CO2-equivalence. We argue for a shift in how we report agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and think about their mitigation to better reflect the distinct roles of different greenhouse gases. Policy-makers, stakeholders, and society at large should also be reminded that the role of agriculture in climate mitigation is a much broader topic than climate science alone can inform, including considerations of economic and technical feasibility, preferences for food supply and land-use, and notions of fairness and justice. A more nuanced perspective on the impacts of different emissions could aid these conversationsItem Open Access AgriFoodPy: a package for modelling food systems(The Open Journal, 2024-05-27) Cordero, Juan P; Donkers, Kevin; Harrison, Ian; Bridle, Sarah L; Frankowska, Angelina; Cain, Michelle; Ward, Neil; Frendenburgh, Jez; Pope, Edward; Kluczkovski, Alana; Schmidt, Ximena; Silva, Jacqueline; Reynolds, Christian; Denby, Katherine; Doherty, Bob; Jones, AledAgriFoodPy is an open-source Python package for processing, simulation, and modeling of agrifood datasets and systems. By employing xarray (Hoyer & Hamman, 2017) as the primary data structure, AgriFoodPy provides methods to manipulate tabular data by extending xarray functionality via accessor classes. It acts as an accessibility and interoperability layer between data sources and external packages, and also bundles with a library of models for use without any additional requirements. A separate repository, agrifoodpy_data, is actively maintained in parallel to provide access to local and global agrifood datasets, including geospatial land use and classification data (Morton, 2022), food supply (FAO, 2023), life cycle assessment (Poore & Nemecek, 2018), and population data (United Nations, 2022). The AgriFoodPy framework is region-agnostic and provides facilities to model and simulate processes and intervention impacts regardless of their geographic origin.Item Open Access Are single global warming potential impact assessments adequate for carbon footprints of agri-food systems?(IOP Publishing, 2023-07-18) McAuliffe, Graham A.; Lynch, John; Cain, Michelle; Buckingham, Sarah; Rees, Robert M.; Collins, Adrian L.; Allen, Myles; Pierrehumbert, Raymond; Lee, Michael R. F.; Takahashi, TaroThe vast majority of agri-food climate-based sustainability analyses use GWP100 as an impact assessment, usually in isolation; however, in recent years, discussions have criticised the 'across-the-board' application of GWP100 in Life Cycle Assessments (LCA), particularly of food systems which generate large amounts of methane (CH4) and considered whether reporting additional and/or alternative metrics may be more applicable to certain circumstances or research questions. This paper reports a sensitivity analysis using a pasture-based beef production system (a producer of high CH4 emissions) as an exemplar to compare various climate impact assessments: CO2-equivalents using GWP100 and GTP100, and 'CO2-warming-equivalents' using 'GWP Star', or GWP*. The inventory for this system was compiled using data from the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) National Capability, the North Wyke Farm Platform, in Devon, SW England. LCAs can have an important bearing on: (i) policymakers' decisions; (ii) farmer management decisions; (iii) consumers' purchasing habits; and (iv) wider perceptions of whether certain activities can be considered 'sustainable' or not; it is, therefore, the responsibility of LCA practitioners and scientists to ensure that subjective decisions are tested as robustly as possible through appropriate sensitivity and uncertainty analyses. We demonstrate herein that the choice of climate impact assessment has dramatic effects on interpretation, with GWP100 and GTP100 producing substantially different results due to their different treatments of CH4 in the context of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalents. Given its dynamic nature and previously proven strong correspondence with climate models, out of the three assessments covered, GWP* provides the most complete coverage of the temporal evolution of temperature change for different GHG emissions. We extend previous discussions on the limitations of static emission metrics and encourage LCA practitioners to consider due care and attention where additional information or dynamic approaches may prove superior, scientifically speaking, particularly in cases of decision support.Item Open Access Data supporting 'Methane and the Paris Agreement temperature goals'(Cranfield University, 2023-02-15 16:12) Cain, MichelleZip file of code and data required to produce the figures in the following publication: Cain M, Jenkins S, Allen MR, Lynch J, Frame DJ, Macey AH, Peters GP. 2021 Methane and the Paris Agreement temperature goals. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 380: 20200456. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2020.0456 Uses Python 3 in a Jupyter Notebook, an early version of FaIR2.0.0 (included in the zip file), see Leach et al, 2021: https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/14/3007/2021/gmd-14-3007-2021.html for details of the model. Scenario data has been used from Huppmann et al. (2018) and is available at https://data.ene.iiasa.ac.at/iamc-1.5c-explorer.Item Open Access Defining national net zero goals is critical for food and land use policy(Springer Nature, 2024-02-28) Bishop, George; Duffy, Colm; Prudhomme, Rémi; Cowie, Annette; O’Donoghue, Cathal; Cain, Michelle; Lanigan, Gary J.; Styles, David; This research was supported by EPA Research 2030, funded by Ireland’s Environment Protection Agency under grant number EPA-CCRP-MS.57, and by Ireland’s Department of Environment, Climate and Communications under FORESIGHT land use modelling services contract.The identification of agriculture and land use configurations that achieve net zero (NZ) greenhouse gas emissions is critical to inform appropriate land use and food policy, yet national NZ targets lack consistent definitions. Here, 3000 randomised scenarios projecting future agricultural production and compatible land use combinations in Ireland were screened using ten NZ definitions. When aggregating carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions using various methods, 1–85% of scenarios met NZ criteria. Despite considerable variation, common actions emerged across definitions, including high rates of afforestation, organic soil re-wetting, and cattle destocking. Ambitious technical abatement of agricultural emissions moderated, but could not substitute, these actions. With abatement, 95th percentile milk output varied from 11–91% of 2021 output, but was associated with reductions of up to 98% in suckler-beef production, and a 47–387% increase in forest cover. Achieving NZ will thus require transformation of Ireland’s land sector. Lagging land use change effects require urgent action, but sustaining a just transition will require visioning of future NZ land use combinations supporting a sustainable and resilient food system, alongside an expanding circular bioeconomy. We provide new insight into the sensitivity of such visioning to NZ definitions, pointing to an urgent need for international consensus on the accounting of methane emissions in NZ targets.Item Open Access Ensuring that offsets and other internationally transferred mitigation outcomes contribute effectively to limiting global warming(IOP, 2021-06-23) Allen, Myles R.; Tanaka, Katsumasa; Macey, Adrian; Cain, Michelle; Jenkins, Stuart; Lynch, John; Smith, MatthewEnsuring the environmental integrity of internationally transferred mitigation outcomes, whether through offset arrangements, a market mechanism or non-market approaches, is a priority for the implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Any conventional transferred mitigation outcome, such as an offset agreement, that involves exchanging greenhouse gases with different lifetimes can increase global warming on some timescales. We show that a simple "do no harm" principle regarding the choice of metrics to use in such transactions can be used to guard against this, noting that it may also be applicable in other contexts such as voluntary and compliance carbon markets. We also show that both approximate and exact "warming equivalent" exchanges are possible, but present challenges of implementation in any conventional market. Warming-equivalent emissions may, however, be useful in formulating warming budgets in a two-basket approach to mitigation and in reporting contributions to warming in the context of the global stocktake.Item Open Access Further improvement of warming-equivalent emissions calculation(Nature Research (part of Springer Nature), 2021-03-19) Smith, M. A.; Cain, Michelle; Allen, Myles R.GWP* was recently proposed1 as a simple metric for calculating warming-equivalent emissions by equating a change in the rate of emission of a short-lived climate pollutant (SLCP) to a pulse emission of carbon dioxide. Other metrics aiming to account for the time-dependent impact of SLCP emissions, such as CGWP, have also been proposed2. In 2019 an improvement to GWP* was proposed by Cain et al.3, hereafter CLA, combining both the rate and change in rate of SLCP emission, justified by the rate of forcing decline required to stabilise temperatures following a recent multi-decade emissions increase. Here we provide a more direct justification of the coefficients used in this definition of GWP*, with a small revision to their absolute values, by equating CO2 and SLCP forcing directly, without reference to the temperature response. This provides a more direct link to the impulse-response model used to calculate GWP values and improves consistency with CGWP values.Item Open Access Indicate separate contributions of long-lived and short-lived greenhouse gases in emission targets(Springer Nature, 2022-01-28) Allen, Myles R.; Peters, Glen P.; Shine, Keith P.; Azar, Christian; Balcombe, Paul; Boucher, Olivier; Cain, Michelle; Ciais, Philippe; Collins, William; Forster, Piers M.; Frame, Dave J.; Friedlingstein, Pierre; Fyson, Claire; Gasser, Thomas; Hare, Bill; Jenkins, Stuart; Hamburg, Steven P.; Johansson, Daniel J. A.; Lynch, John; Macey, Adrian; Morfeldt, Johannes; Nauels, Alexander; Ocko, Ilissa; Oppenheimer, Michael; Pacala, Stephen W.; Pierrehumbert, Raymond; Rogelj, Joeri; Schaeffer, Michiel; Schleussner, Carl F.; Shindell, Drew; Skeie, Ragnhild B.; Smith, Stephen M.; Tanaka, KatsumasaItem Open Access Isoprene hotspots at the Western Coast of Antarctic Peninsula during MASEC′16(Elsevier, 2018-12-28) Nadzir, M. S. M.; Cain, Michelle; Robinson, A. D.; Bolas, C.; Harris, Neil R. P.; Parnikoza, I.; Salimun, E.; Mustafa, E. M.; Alhasa, K. M.; Zainuddin, M. H. M.; Ghee, O. C.; Morris, K.; Khan, M. F.; Latif, M. T.; Wallis, B. M.; Cheah, W.; Zainudin, S. K.; Yusop, N.; Ahmad, M. R; Hussin, W. M. R. W.; Salleh, S. M.; Hamid, H. H. A.; Lai, G. T.; Uning, R.; Bakar, M. A. A.; Ariff, N. M.; Tuah, Z.; Wahab, M. I. A.; Foong, S. Y.; Samah, Azizan Abu; Chenoli, S. N.; Wan Johari, W. L.; Zain, C. R. C. M.; Rahman, N. A.; Rosenstiel, T. N.; Yusof, A. H.; Sabuti, A. A.; Alias, S. A.; Noor, A. Y. M.Isoprene (C5H8) plays an important role in the formation of surface ozone (O3) and the secondary organic aerosol (SOA) which contributed to the climate change. This study aims to determine hourly distribution of tropospheric isoprene over the Western Coast of Antarctic Peninsula (WCAP) during the Malaysian Antarctic Scientific Expedition Cruise 2016 (MASEC′16). In-situ measurements of isoprene were taken using a custom-built gas chromatography with photoionization detector, known as iDirac. Biological parameters such as chlorophyll a (chl-a) and particulate organic carbon (POC) were compared to the in-situ isoprene measurements. Significant positive correlation was observed between isoprene and POC concentrations (r2 = 0.67, p < 0.001), but not between isoprene and chl-a. The hotspots of isoprene over maritime Antarctic were then were investigated using NAME dispersion model reanalysis. Measurements showed that isoprene mixing ratio were the highest over region of King George Island, Deception Island and Booth Island with values of ∼5.0, ∼0.9 and ∼5.2 ppb, respectively. Backward trajectory analysis showed that air masses may have lifted the isoprene emitted by marine algae. We believe our findings provide valuable data set of isoprene estimation over the under sampled WCAP.Item Open Access Isotopic signatures of methane emissions from tropical fires, agriculture and wetlands: the MOYA and ZWAMPS flights(The Royal Society, 2021-12-06) MOYA/ZWAMPS Team; Nisbet, Euan; Allen, Grant; Fisher, Rebecca E.; France, James L.; Lee, James D.; Lowry, David; Andrade, Marcos F.; Bannan, Thomas J.; Barker, Patrick; Bateson, Prudence; Bauguitte, Stéphane J.-B.; Bower, Keith N.; Broderick, Tim J.; Chibesakunda, Francis; Cain, Michelle; Cozens, Alice E.; Daly, Michael C.; Ganesan, Anita L.; Jones, Anna E.; Lambakasa, Musa; Lunt, Mark F.; Mehra, Archit; Moreno, Isabel; Pasternak, Dominika; Palmer, Paul I.; Percival, Carl J.; Pitt, Joseph R.; Riddle, Amber J.; Rigby, Matthew; Shaw, Jacob T.; Stell, Angharad C.; Vaughan, Adam R.; Warwick, Nicola J.; Wilde, Shona E.We report methane isotopologue data from aircraft and ground measurements in Africa and South America. Aircraft campaigns sampled strong methane fluxes over tropical papyrus wetlands in the Nile, Congo and Zambezi basins, herbaceous wetlands in Bolivian southern Amazonia, and over fires in African woodland, cropland and savannah grassland. Measured methane δ13CCH4 isotopic signatures were in the range −55 to −49‰ for emissions from equatorial Nile wetlands and agricultural areas, but widely −60 ± 1‰ from Upper Congo and Zambezi wetlands. Very similar δ13CCH4 signatures were measured over the Amazonian wetlands of NE Bolivia (around −59‰) and the overall δ13CCH4 signature from outer tropical wetlands in the southern Upper Congo and Upper Amazon drainage plotted together was −59 ± 2‰. These results were more negative than expected. For African cattle, δ13CCH4 values were around −60 to −50‰. Isotopic ratios in methane emitted by tropical fires depended on the C3 : C4 ratio of the biomass fuel. In smoke from tropical C3 dry forest fires in Senegal, δ13CCH4 values were around −28‰. By contrast, African C4 tropical grass fire δ13CCH4 values were −16 to −12‰. Methane from urban landfills in Zambia and Zimbabwe, which have frequent waste fires, had δ13CCH4 around −37 to −36‰. These new isotopic values help improve isotopic constraints on global methane budget models because atmospheric δ13CCH4 values predicted by global atmospheric models are highly sensitive to the δ13CCH4 isotopic signatures applied to tropical wetland emissions. Field and aircraft campaigns also observed widespread regional smoke pollution over Africa, in both the wet and dry seasons, and large urban pollution plumes. The work highlights the need to understand tropical greenhouse gas emissions in order to meet the goals of the UNFCCC Paris Agreement, and to help reduce air pollution over wide regions of Africa. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Rising methane: is warming feeding warming? (part 2)'.Item Open Access Methane and the Paris Agreement temperature goals(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2021-12-06) Cain, Michelle; Jenkins, Stuart; Allen, Myles R.; Lynch, John; Frame, David J.; Macey, Adrian H.; Peters, Glen P.Meeting the Paris Agreement temperature goal necessitates limiting methane (CH4)-induced warming, in addition to achieving net-zero or (net-negative) carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. In our model, for the median 1.5°C scenario between 2020 and 2050, CH4 mitigation lowers temperatures by 0.1°C; CO2 increases it by 0.2°C. CO2 emissions continue increasing global mean temperature until net-zero emissions are reached, with potential for lowering temperatures with net-negative emissions. By contrast, reducing CH4 emissions starts to reverse CH4-induced warming within a few decades. These differences are hidden when framing climate mitigation using annual ‘CO2-equivalent’ emissions, including targets based on aggregated annual emission rates. We show how the different warming responses to CO2 and CH4 emissions can be accurately aggregated to estimate warming by using ‘warming-equivalent emissions', which provide a transparent and convenient method to inform policies and measures for mitigation, or demonstrate progress towards a temperature goal. The method presented (GWP*) uses well-established climate science concepts to relate GWP100 to temperature, as a simple proxy for a climate model. The use of warming-equivalent emissions for nationally determined contributions and long-term strategies would enhance the transparency of stocktakes of progress towards a long-term temperature goal, compared to the use of standard equivalence methods. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Rising methane: is warming feeding warming? (part 2)’.Item Open Access Quantifying non-CO2 contributions to remaining carbon budgets(Nature Publishing Group, 2021-10-14) Jenkins, Stuart; Cain, Michelle; Friedlingstein, Pierre; Gillett, Nathan; Walsh, Tristram; Allen, Myles R.The IPCC Special Report on 1.5 °C concluded that anthropogenic global warming is determined by cumulative anthropogenic CO2 emissions and the non-CO2 radiative forcing level in the decades prior to peak warming. We quantify this using CO2-forcing-equivalent (CO2-fe) emissions. We produce an observationally constrained estimate of the Transient Climate Response to cumulative carbon Emissions (TCRE), giving a 90% confidence interval of 0.26–0.78 °C/TtCO2, implying a remaining total CO2-fe budget from 2020 to 1.5 °C of 350–1040 GtCO2-fe, where non-CO2 forcing changes take up 50 to 300 GtCO2-fe. Using a central non-CO2 forcing estimate, the remaining CO2 budgets are 640, 545, 455 GtCO2 for a 33, 50 or 66% chance of limiting warming to 1.5 °C. We discuss the impact of GMST revisions and the contribution of non-CO2 mitigation to remaining budgets, determining that reporting budgets in CO2-fe for alternative definitions of GMST, displaying CO2 and non-CO2 contributions using a two-dimensional presentation, offers the most transparent approach.Item Open Access The Regenerative Lens: a conceptual framework for regenerative social-ecological systems(Elsevier, 2023-07-21) Buckton, Sam J.; Fazey, Ioan; Sharpe, Bill; Om, Eugyen Suzanne; Doherty, Bob; Ball, Peter; Denby, Katherine; Bryant, Maria; Lait, Rebecca; Bridle, Sarah; Cain, Michelle; Carmen, Esther; Collins, Lisa; Nixon, Nicola; Yap, Christopher; Connolly, Annie; Fletcher, Ben; Frankowska, Angelina; Gardner, Grace; James, Anthonia; Kendrick, Ian; Kluczkovski, Alana; Mair, Simon; Morris, Belinda; Sinclair, MaddieSocieties must transform their dynamics to support the flourishing of life. There is increasing interest in regeneration and regenerative practice as a solution, but also limited cohered understanding of what constitutes regenerative systems at social-ecological scales. In this perspective we present a conceptual, cross-disciplinary, and action-oriented regenerative systems framework, the Regenerative Lens, informed by a wide literature review. The framework emphasizes that regenerative systems maintain positive reinforcing cycles of wellbeing within and beyond themselves, especially between humans and wider nature, such that “life begets life.” We identify five key qualities needed in systems to encourage such dynamics: an ecological worldview embodied in human action; mutualism; high diversity; agency for humans and non-humans to act regeneratively; and continuous reflexivity. We apply the Lens to an envisioned future food system to illustrate its utility as a reflexive tool and for stretching ambition. We hope that the conceptual clarity provided here will aid the necessary acceleration of learning and action toward regenerative systems.Item Open Access Towards net zero in agriculture: future challenges and opportunities for arable, livestock and protected cropping systems in the UK(SAGE, 2023-06-12) Sakrabani, Ruben; Garnett, Kenisha; Knox, Jerry W.; Rickson, R. Jane; Pawlett, Mark; Falagán Sama, Natalia; Girkin, Nicholas T.; Cain, Michelle; Alamar, M Carmen; Burgess, Paul; Harris, Jim A.; Patchigolla, Kumar; Sandars, Daniel; Graves, Anil; Hannam, Jacqueline A.; Simmons, RobertThe agricultural sector faces multiple challenges linked to increased climate uncertainty, causing severe shocks including increased frequency of extreme weather events, new pest and disease risks, soil degradation, and pre and postharvest food losses. This situation is further exacerbated by geopolitical instability and volatility in energy prices impacting on fertiliser supplies and production costs. Net zero strategies are vital to achieve both food security and address negative environmental impacts. This perspective paper reviews and assesses the most viable options (actions) to achieve net zero with a focus on the arable/livestock and protected cropping sectors in the UK. The methodology was based on a synthesis of relevant literature, coupled with expert opinions using the holistic PESTLE (Political, Environmental, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental) approach to categorise actions, leading to formulation of a roadmap to achieve net zero. The PESTLE analysis indicated that there are technically and economically viable actions available which need to be prioritised depending on the ease of their implementation within the two crop sectors investigated. These actions include (i) policy changes that are better aligned to net zero; (ii) circular economy approaches; (iii) connectivity and accessibility of information; (iv) increased resilience to shocks; (v) changing diets, nutrition and lifestyles; (vi) target setting and attainment; and (vii) farm economics and livelihoods. The outputs can be used by stakeholders and decision makers to inform policy and drive meaningful changes in global food and environmental security.Item Open Access Transformations to regenerative food systems - an outline of the FixOurFood project(Wiley, 2021-12-12) Doherty, Bob; Bryant, Maria; Denby, Katherine; Fazey, Ioan; Bridle, Sarah; Hawkes, Corinna; Cain, Michelle; Banwart, Steven; Collins, Lisa; Pickett, Kate; Allen, Myles R.; Ball, Peter; Gardner, Grace; Carmen, Esther; Sinclair, Maddie; Kluczkovski, Alana; Ehgartner, Ulrike; Morris, Belinda; James, Anthonia; Yap, Christopher; Om, Eugyen Suzanne; Connolly, AnnieThis paper provides an outline of a new interdisciplinary project called FixOurFood, funded through UKRI’s ‘Transforming UK food systems’ programme. FixOurFood aims to transform the Yorkshire food system to a regenerative food system and will work to answer two main questions: (1) What do regenerative food systems look like? (2) How can transformations be enabled so that we can achieve a regenerative food system? To answer these questions, FixOurFood will work with diverse stakeholders to change the Yorkshire food system and use the learning to inform change efforts in other parts of the UK and beyond. Our work will focus on shifting trajectories towards regenerative dynamics in three inter-related systems of: healthy eating for young children, hybrid food economies and regenerative farming. We do this by a set of action-orientated interventions in schools and the food economy, metrics, policies and deliverables that can be applied in Yorkshire and across the UK. This article introduces the FixOurFood project and concludes by assessing the potential impact of these interventions and the importance we attach to working with stakeholders in government, business, third sector and civil society.Item Open Access Transformative action towards regenerative food systems: a large-scale case study(Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2024-11-21) Buckton, Sam J.; Fazey, Ioan; Doherty, Bob; Bryant, Maria; Banwart, Steven A.; Carmen, Esther; Connolly, Annie; Denby, Katherine; Kendrick, Ian; Sharpe, Bill; Wade, Ruth N.; Ball, Peter; Bridle, Sarah; Gardner, Grace; James, Anthonia; Morris, Belinda; Stewart, Sophie; Bremner, Myles; Chapman, Pippa J.; Cordero, Juan Pablo; Geertsema, Henk; Nixon, Nicola; Om, Eugyen Suzanne; Sinclair, Maddie; Thornton, Jan; Yap, Christopher; Arnott, Dave; Cain, Michelle; Ehgartner, Ulrike; Fletcher, Ben; Garry, Jack; Hawkes, Corinna; Kluczkovski, Alana; Lait, Rebecca; Lovett, Adrian; Pickett, Kate E.; Reed, Melanie; Atkinson, Nathan; Black, Fiona; Blakeston, Mark; Burton, Wendy; Defeyter, Margaret Anne; Duncan, Naomi; Eastwood, Glynn; Everson, Ruth; Frankowska, Angelina; Frenneux, Tim; Gledhill, Dave; Goodwin, Sian; Holden, Harry; Ingle, Helen; Kane, Allison; Newman, Rebecca; Parry, Christine; Robertshaw, Victoria; Scrope, Tom; Sellstrom, Phillippa; Slater, Stephanie; Smith, Kim; Stacey, Ruth; Stott, Gary; Trickett, Alastair; Wilson, Jessica; Ashardiono, FitrioWe urgently need to foster regenerative food systems that mutually reinforce human and ecological health. However, we have limited understanding of the action pathways that could encourage the emergence of such systems. Here we report on an extensive Three Horizons futures process, conducted with diverse participation from food system researchers and practitioners, to identify core domains of action for transforming the food system of Yorkshire, UK, towards a regenerative future. After establishing the contrast between the current degenerative and envisioned future regenerative food system, six core action domains were identified that require support to enable transformation: 1) enhancing supply chain connectivity and innovation to support diverse hybrid business ecosystems; 2) scaling environmentally beneficial and regenerative farming; 3) empowering citizens to reshape food demand; 4) providing trusted, accessible knowledge support for standards and incentives; 5) supporting schools and young people as drivers of long-term change; and 6) ensuring coordination and mutual support across domains. Our results highlight the importance of efforts to cohere synergic action, ambitious visioning, and addressing issues of power. Overall, our study sets an ambitious standard for co-developing action priorities to encourage regenerative futures.