Land and spatial planning

Paul Speight

DHoU, ENV B1

Structure of presentation• 1) Why land is a resource under pressure

• 2) Why land use is crucial to the delivery of EU env policy

• 3) How what we do in the EU is inseparable from the rest of the world

• 4) What we know about land use and its likely evolution (EU and international)

• 5) Some possible solutions

• 6) Who should do what?

Population growth, diet change,30% food waste = more land or more intensification

The bioeconomy

• Traditional – wool, furniture, tallow...

• Or, the new competitors:

• Biofuels (Renewable Energy Directive)

• Biomass (Emission trading scheme)

• Green Chemistry (biorefineries)

Loss of land - urbanisation, sealing, fragmentation

Habitats where there are multiple uses, are those most under pressure

Conservation Status - Habitats

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

XX

U2

U1

FV

FV = Favourable

U1 & U2 = Unfavourable

XX = unknown

(But also, soil, climate, water quality, floods,

and droughts, etc...)

NO BIOFUELS

EU field growing crops for

food

WITH BIOFUELS

EU field growing crops for biofuels Extra

field growi

ng food

+

Impossible to separate EU actions and international impacts (direct and indirect)

Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) is caused by crop displacement:

…increased emissions to fill in the gap in the food market due to:

- Land expansion (into natural vegetation or set-aside land)- Emissions from intensification

Diverting 1 ton EU wheat from food to bioethanol will not change emissions from that EU farm

Modelling and other knowledge on land use and land use change now reliable enough for policy use (but not to predict land use change across the board)

Solutions? Integration, planning, reducing pressures…

Green Infrastructure: If we could join up the green dots more effectively and planned our infrastructure at the landscape level, we would get more from our existing protected areas

Consultation coming soon on this.

Development without sealing the soil – EU soil sealing guidelines:

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/soil/sealing_guidelines.htm

Clean up of brownfield land...

Better processes?

• SEA, EIA – proper assessment of what development, and major policy processes will lead to on the ground

• Especially for sensitive areas – Integrated Coastal Zone Management

• Best practice from Member States – green belt, DE no land take target...

Resource efficiency

• Land as a resource Communication –2014

• "By 2020, EU policies take into account their direct and indirect impact on land use in the EU and globally, and the rate of land take is on track with an aim to achieve no net land take by 2050;"

• Rio + 20: "we will strive to achieve a land-degradation neutral world"

Who does what?

• Most of the concrete measures will need to be taken at the Member State, regional or local level

• EU level – raise awareness, look at EU policies that affect land use, spread best practice