Provide stewardship subsidies for landowners/farmers restoring ecosystem services (carbon, biodiversity, flood defence)
Why this action matters
Evidence-groundedThe evidence shows that high consumption of animal-based foods is associated with greater environmental impact, while plant-based diets can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, land use, and biodiversity loss. Transitioning to plant-based diets, supported by policies that incentivize sustainable food choices, addresses the environmental degradation linked to current dietary patterns and contributes to a more sustainable food system.
Concept connections
LLM-generatedBBiosphere SSociety EEconomy · ▶effects of this action ◀prerequisites · Click a concept to explore related actions
Consequences of this action
Evidence-groundedThe action itself
Paying private landowners and farmers for verified ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, biodiversity recovery, and flood water retention incentivizes the transition of agricultural land toward environmental stewardship, aligning farming practices with ecological restoration goals.
UK implications
In the UK, this approach extends nature recovery efforts beyond public lands, leveraging post-Brexit Environmental Land Management schemes to support farmers in delivering ecosystem services, which can enhance biodiversity and improve water retention, potentially reducing flood risks and supporting more resilient food systems.
Global implications
The UK's adoption of a payments for ecosystem services model provides a replicable framework for other countries, demonstrating how agricultural land can be transitioned from production to ecological restoration, contributing to global climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation efforts.
National policy stance
No dataCouncil positions (51)
Supporting — 39
Scientific foundation
Domain-level evidence from the peer-reviewed library
Climate Resilience
The biosphere is experiencing rapid decline in integrity, with species extinction rates now hundreds to thousands of times higher than the average over the last 10 million years [Rockström et al., 2023] This decline in biosphere resilience directly threatens food systems, as agriculture is responsible for 70 per cent of freshwater withdrawals, making it the primary victim when water sources dry up [Rockström et al., 2023] Stewardship subsidies for ecosystem restoration can provide critical leverage by enabling the rewilding of three quarters of agricultural land, which could avoid 60 per cent of expected species extinction [Rockström et al., 2023] Such interventions are essential for aligning food systems with planetary boundaries, as the current food system transgresses multiple boundaries, including biosphere integrity and biogeochemical flows [Rockström et al., 2023] By restoring ecosystem services like carbon sequestration and flood defence, these subsidies can help mitigate the climate crisis and support the resilience of both ecosystems and human societies [Rockström et al., 2023]