National governance strategies and initiatives for net zero
Contributors to the Horizon Scan identified strategic issues related to the overarching opportunities and challenges of energy policy and net zero.

Agricultural practices can reduce water quality, degrade soils and cause biodiversity loss. This in turn can disrupt natural processes that support food production. Environmentally sustainable agriculture seeks to reduce environmental damage and restore such processes. This POSTnote summarises associated land management options, agricultural policies and the constraints imposed by a new trading environment.
Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture (478 KB , PDF)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58248/PN557
CAP was conceived to address two main concerns: assuring an adequate domestic food supply and sustaining rural communities. The majority of land in the UK is farmed (70%) with farmers receiving direct payments based on the area of agricultural land they farm. On average, payments make up 50-60% of farm income. CAP reforms have made attempts to address environmental damage from agriculture by paying farmers to manage farmland for environmental benefits through voluntary agri-environment scheme (AES) agreements. More recently, famers have been required to implement environmental measures in order to receive a proportion of their direct payment.
Government has previously indicated that it is considering moving towards making payments for public goods. This would involve expanding UK agricultural policy to encompass a number of environmental targets. These may include measures to achieve targets on natural capital – the elements of nature that directly or indirectly produce value to people. Appropriately designed measures may also help farmers adapt to climate change, increase energy efficiency and reduce their exposure to volatility in prices of fertilisers, pesticides, labour, energy and other costs.
Key points in this POSTnote include:
Acknowledgements
POSTnotes are based on literature reviews and interviews with a range of stakeholders and are externally peer reviewed. POST would like to thank interviewees and peer reviewers for kindly giving up their time during the preparation of this briefing, including:
Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture (478 KB , PDF)
Contributors to the Horizon Scan identified strategic issues related to the overarching opportunities and challenges of energy policy and net zero.
Climate change has implications for the health of UK citizens. How prepared are health and care systems?
Applications are open for the 2025/2026 British Ecological Society (BES) Fellowship. Open to British Ecological Society members currently studying for a PhD in a UK university. Apply by 23:59 on Wednesday 11 June 2025.