8m
5 Aug 2019

Northern Ireland’s environment threatened to meet China’s demand for pork

Chief Correspondent

A major trade deal with China to sell meat and dairy products may seem like a great thing.

In fact, UK exports of pork to China have increased 50% in the last six months alone and much of that from Northern Ireland, where there could soon be nearly as many pigs as people.

But more animals equals more slurry being spread on the land at unsustainable levels.

In the latest in our Emergency on Planet Earth series, we investigate how the demand to feed China is threatening an already degraded environment not only in Northern Ireland, but in England and Wales too.