Lord Montagu issues climate change warning at estate dinner

He welcomed ExxonMobil's decision to scrap controversial plans for an underground pipeline that would have transported emissions from Fawley refinery to a CO2 dump west of The Needles.

But he said the scale of the climate emergency meant it might be necessary to build schemes of that magnitude in the future.

The peer was speaking at the annual Beaulieu Estate Dinner.

Lord Montagu issued a climate change warning during his speech at the annual Beaulieu Estate Dinner (Image: Stephen)

"Last winter was the wettest for nearly 200 years and England suffered its second worst harvest on record. The production of key crops, including wheat and oats, dropped to their lowest volume in some 40 years," he said.

"Scientists believe that climate change is making incidents of this kind twice as likely and this will inevitably have implications for food security.

"We hear much about the target of net zero carbon by 2050, but even if that is achieved, which appears unlikely, it seems we have to start adapting to a warmer, wetter climate.

"What we have seen so far may be the least of what we will have to worry about in the future."

Lord Montagu said more parts of the family's ancestral home, Palace House, would be opened to the public (Image: Newsquest)

Plans to build a CO2 pipeline from Fawley prompted petitions signed by thousands of objectors on both sides of the Solent.

Last month ExxonMobil confirmed it had ditched the project, blaming what it described as "continuing uncertainty" surrounding government policy and timelines.

READ MORE: Objectors launch petition against gas pipeline plan put forward by ExxonMobil

Lord Montagu said he had been appalled at the prospect of a huge trench being dug across part of the New Forest National Park.

But he added: "We may have to submit to measures of this magnitude in the future, either because the government decides it shall be so or the climate decides for us."

Lord Montagu criticised some of the measures outlined in the Budget by the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves (Image: PA)

The peer also criticised the new Labour government, saying policies presented in the Budget would increase the pressure on rural enterprises.

"The prospect of significantly increased National Insurance contributions for employers and higher than inflation increases to the minimum wage will be an additional strain on all businesses in the years ahead.

"The continued business rate relief for the retail, hospitality and leisure sector in 2025 is welcome.

"But other statements in the Budget make me feel that this government really doesn’t understand the rural economy, where capital values are high but yields are low - typically a one per cent return on agricultural land."

"The trade bodies we're a member of have all expressed great concerns about the effects of the Budget, including the threat to UK food security."

The peer also said that more rooms at the Montagu family's ancestral home, Palace House, would be opened to the public.