Agriculture & Land Management

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.