Morning, Friday, 4th July 2025
Online
This conference will examine priorities for land use in England, looking at next steps for policy affecting food production, environmental and climate resilience, and the future for land management.
Addressing varying priorities for land use
The discussion will bring together key stakeholders and policymakers to assess potential outcomes, implications and next steps following the recent Land Use Framework for England consultation.
It comes with published responses from interested parties underscoring the challenge of reconciling food security and environmental ambitions, with concerns about the level of the proposed transition of agriculture land to nature restoration and the feasibility of maintaining food production through productivity gains alone.
Policy coordination
Delegates will assess the way forward for a coherent and forward-looking Land Use Framework that can set the best strategic balance to optimise food production, climate adaptation, infrastructure development, and nature restoration.
Coordination of land use with wider policy developments will be discussed, including the 30by30 commitment to improve UK biodiversity, as well as objectives in the new National Food Strategy which is expected later this year. Those attending will also consider the impact of new farming policy on land use, including the suspension of Sustainable Farming Incentive applications and the 25-year Farming Roadmap, which is currently in development.
Discussion is also expected on the longer-term structure of the land use framework, including how it can best support joined-up decisions across planning, farming, environmental, and climate policy, looking also at what governance, review, and evaluation mechanisms are required.
Regulation, clarity, funding and key issues for land managers
Delegates will consider the potential direction of future schemes and regulatory powers, with discussion on the potential impact of new approaches to spatial data and environmental assessments at both national and local levels.
Approaches to improving policy clarity will be considered. Areas for discussion include implications of changes to the financial framework following delinking of payments, and options for providing greater certainty for land managers around funding for the short and long-term.
Evolving expectations for the role of land managers will also be considered, looking at the balance of voluntary and regulatory approaches to land use change. Delegates will also explore the role of national and local stakeholders in ensuring that land use decisions are transparent, evidence-based, and adaptable to emerging challenges and priorities.
Food security, targets, incentives and wider policy objectives
With the conference taking place following calls for national targets for food production to help address long-term concerns around food security, supply chain stability, and the resilience of domestic farming, the way forward as work on the Agricultural Transition continues will be discussed. Areas for discussion include how such targets might work in practice, their potential impact, and their interaction with broader environmental and trade objectives, as well as with the development of new strategic food policy.
Further sessions will consider opportunities and challenges of cross-sector coordination in aligning the Land Use Framework for England with wider policy objectives, including key considerations for improving land conservation and biodiversity, approaches to climate adaptation, and the prospect of incentivising multifunctional land use.
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates. As well as key stakeholders, those due to attend include officials from Defra; DESNZ; MHCLG; DBT; HM Treasury; OEP; Ofwat; NAO; and The Scottish Government.
