Agriculture & Land Management

Our Work

The concept of public goods provides a means of describing the environmental and social goods and services from agriculture and forestry that are not delivered through the market and therefore need alternative forms of support if they are demanded by society. IEEP created a framework to identify the main environmental public goods that are provided by agriculture in the EU (farmland biodiversity, cultural landscapes, high quality water, air and soil, a stable climate and resilience to fire and flooding). This has been used to demonstrate why it is necessary to integrate environmental objectives into policies influencing farming, forestry and rural development and to provide sufficient funding to deliver these polices on the scale required in the EU.

IEEP’s work explores the relationships between different farming systems, their associated practices and the provision of different types of public goods. We examine which CAP measures support public goods, and look at the ways in which the public goods provided may change under various future policy scenarios. Conceptually we are exploring the interactions between the concept of public goods and that of ecosystem services to provide a more integrated and holistic framework to inform policy design and implementation.

More about our work in this area...

Latest in Delivering Public Goods

  • Improving environmental financing via result-based agri-environment measures

    A new article by IEEP explores the use of result-based agri-environment measures in the region of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The study shows that result-based schemes can increase the environmental effectiveness and conditionality of the EU Common Agricultural Policy.

  • New PEGASUS website

    Project website for EU research project PEGASUS goes live!

  • EU research project PEGASUS - new thinking on sustainable land management

    EU research project PEGASUS kicked off in London on 29-30 April. The three-year project, led by IEEP, is focused on transforming land management approaches in the EU to improve the delivery of public goods and ecosystem services from rural areas.

  • Sustainable intensification of European agriculture

    The concept of sustainable intensification has come into prominence in the context of global food security. This report defines what we mean by sustainable intensification, explains its global logic, discusses what it means for EU agriculture and exemplifies this in three case studies for soil performance, nutrient recycling and biodiversity.

  • New report: High Nature Value Farming in the EU

    Member States need to make the most of the opportunities under the new Common Agricultural Policy if the declines in HNV farming, critical for meeting our 2020 biodiversity targets, are to be halted.

  • Environment undermined in CAP deal

    An attempt by the European Commission to place the environment more centrally within agricultural policy has been comprehensively watered down in the final agreement.

  • 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.

  • Principles of Double Funding

    This briefing explores the issue of double funding in relation to the CAP reform debate and considers the implications for delivering added value for the environment.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.