Agriculture & Land Management

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Our Work

In recent years concerns about food and energy security, coupled with continued losses of biodiversity and related ecosystem services have served to make questions around the sustainable use of land particularly pertinent.

We need joined up and coordinated policies that can help optimise our use of land to deliver food and fuel while also ensuring the sustainable provision of multiple ecosystem services in the future. The 2013 reform of the CAP and national reviews of land use provide important opportunities for a more holistic approach to land use.

IEEP’s experts on agriculture, land management, biodiversity, water, soils and energy are well placed to assess the multiple environmental implications of land use change. Indeed, IEEP has been involved in land use issues since its inception and has had a significant influence on related EU policies.

Key to our work has been the role of EU intervention in maintaining and enhancing the provision of environmental services through the CAP, as well as mitigating the impacts of abandonment and intensification. More recently, we have contributed to the development of sustainable bioenergy policies and undertaken research looking at how future land use demands will evolve.

Our work on the future of land use includes:

Land Use Futures in the UK - IEEP supported the Foresight project on Land Use Futures in the UK, with country case studies intended to create an evidence base to help government and other policy makers to understand whether existing land use patterns and practices are fit for the future. IEEP conducted an international perspectives study as part of the evidence gathering phase, including analysis of the situation in Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Sweden.

Under the project Biomass Futures we explore how sustainable bioenergy solutions can best be supported by policy in Europe. Within the study we are looking at demand and supply dynamics from a stakeholder perspective. We are also producing specific briefings to explain important issues.

Bioenergy and land use impacts – focusing on the question of the expanding use of bioenergy to deliver renewable energy in Europe, IEEP has carried out detailed work assessing the potential implications for highly biodiverse grasslands under the Renewable Energy Directive.

Our work on land degradation and conservation includes:

Conserving Europe’s Soils – IEEP contributed to the major EU SoCo initiative, looking at Soil Conservation within agricultural systems. Requested by MEPs and funded by the Commission, this work carried out a series of case studies on soil degradation challenges associated with farming across Europe, and identified possible technological and policy solutions.

Land degradation in Europe. The loss of land function and the degradation of Europe’s soils have been widely documented, and have broad environmental impacts, for example on water quality and availability. They also inhibit Europe’s future options both in terms of adapting to climate change and delivering sufficient production of food. This study for the European Parliament examined the question of land degradation in Europe, its extent, consequences and possible policy solutions.

More about our work in this area...

Latest in Sustainable Land Use

Land as an Environmental Resource

How can we meet the different and often conflicting demands we make on our limited supply of rural land in Europe? A more strategic approach to the way in which land is used is needed than has been the case in the past. This report for DG Environment looks at the data, the challenges and the policy options for Europe.
A greener CAP: still within reach?

The greening of the CAP hangs in the balance in the final negotiations; a synthesis of key issues and requirements.
Land Stewardship in England post 2013: CAP greening and agri-environment

What will the introduction of environmental measures in Pillar 1 mean for agri-environment schemes in the future? A topic of much debate as part of the CAP reform negotiations, this new report explores the potential impacts of greening Pillar 1 on England’s entry-level agri-environment scheme and how a future scheme could be designed to deliver more for the environment and ensure the long term sustainability of farming.
Designing RDPs fit for the environment

Substantial changes to rural development regulation have been proposed which provide significant opportunities for Member States to deliver more for the environment. This report highlights some of these opportunities and sets out a series of principles and environmental priorities to help guide Member States in designing their future rural development programmes.
Systemic approach to adaptation to climate change and renewable energy harnessing (Biomass and Mini-hydro)

Biochar has the potential to both mitigate greenhouse gases, and to act as an adaptation measure in terms of responding to the impacts of climate change. Based on its compatibility with the appropriate soil properties, it could increase the resilience of soil to erosion.
Maximising environmental benefits through Ecological Focus Areas

Of the three measures proposed to 'green' Pillar 1 direct payments, Ecological Focus Areas have the greatest potential to address a range of environmental concerns. How much of this potential is realised depends on a number of key factors discussed in this new IEEP report prepared at the request of the Land Use Policy Group.
European Parliament report on sustainable competitiveness and innovation

The CAP could, and should, be primarily to assist EU agriculture to become more internationally competitive and sustainable and to achieve this by innovation. It already has many instruments to do this, and the reforms could further assist. However the resources deployed could be far better used.
Mobilising Cereal Straw in the EU to Feed Advanced Biofuel Production

This IEEP report, commissioned by Novozymes, considers the existing barriers, environmental risks and opportunities and the potential agricultural policy stimuli needed in order to mobilise cereal straw for advanced biofuel production in the EU.
Addressing the EU’s biodiversity goals through the CAP

What is the relationship between the management of agricultural land and biodiversity? To what extent are the EU’s biodiversity goals addressed through the CAP?
Delivering environmental benefits through entry-level agri-environment schemes in the EU

A new study of the 2007-13 agri-environment schemes across the whole of EU-27 provides the first typology of ‘entry-level’ agri-environment management and environmental objectives, plus a detailed insight into the design of entry-level agri-environment schemes and calculation of payment rates in seven Member States.
Delivering Environmental Benefits through Ecological Focus Areas

IEEP workshop on 6 March brought together a range of stakeholders to discuss possible environmental benefits through Ecological Focus Areas.
MEACAP: The Convention on Biodiversity and its Potential Implications for the Agricultural Sector in Europe

This paper introduces the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and aims at presenting commitments of the Parties to the Convention, which relate to agricultural activities and resources ...
Europe's Rural Futures: The Nature of Rural Development II, Rural Development in an Enlarging European Union

A study on the planning and implementation of rural development programmes under the Rural Development Regulation and SAPARD, drawing on eight national reports and a European Round table. ...
Preparing for the Implementation of Agri Environment Schemes in Central and Eastern Europe: Seminar Proceedings of 8th/9th December 2000, Bratislava

Agri-environment schemes have become a key part of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), covering about 20% of utilisable agricultural area (UAA) in the EU. Their development has been quite ...