UK Megafarms Dodge Climate Rules in Planning ‘Emissions Scandal’

Local councils across the UK are approving massive pig and poultry farms without proper assessment of their climate impacts, according to new revelations that expose a major gap in environmental oversight.

These industrial-scale “megafarms” are being greenlit despite providing incomplete or entirely missing data about their greenhouse gas emissions during the planning process. The findings highlight a concerning disconnect between environmental regulations and their enforcement at the local level.

The issue has taken on new urgency following last year’s landmark Finch Supreme Court ruling, which clarified that planning applications for major developments must account for all significant direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions. Environmental campaigners hailed the decision as potentially marking the “beginning of the end” for polluting factory farming operations. The ruling, originally concerning a Surrey oil well project, established clearer legal requirements for climate impact assessments.

However, despite this legal precedent, intensive livestock operations continue to receive planning approval without meeting these environmental standards. The revelation exposes what critics are calling an “emissions scandal” in agricultural planning, where facilities housing thousands of animals—known for producing substantial methane and other greenhouse gases—are escaping proper climate scrutiny. This regulatory gap undermines the UK’s climate commitments and suggests that local planning authorities may lack the resources or expertise to properly evaluate the environmental impacts of large-scale farming operations.