6
Accepted
Government policy lacks leadership and focus on soil health and its integration.
Conclusion
There is a lack of leadership and focus on soil health in Government policy. The awaited land use framework could certainly help but, given that the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) and the Environment Act targets are already the central focus of policy and scrutiny, we believe that it would be better to also focus these targets on soils, giving them equal status to air and water and therefore encouraging better integration of these interdependent elements of the environment. The next update of the EIP is due by 2028, a date by which a baseline map of soil health should be ready. This presents a perfect opportunity to update the EIP and the Environment Act targets to better incorporate soils; and for the Government to refine its target to get more soils under “sustainable management.”
Government Response Summary
The government states the current EIP already links soil health to other goals and includes an existing commitment to bring 40% of agricultural soil into sustainable management by 2028, increasing to 60% by 2030. They will review the EIP in 2028, but did not commit to giving soil health equal status to air and water in targets.
Paragraph Reference
37
Government Response
Accepted
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Government agrees that soil health contributes to goals in vital areas such as biodiversity, waste management, food security, land use, and net zero. The current EIP sets out these interlinkages, along with the actions we must take to restore nature, tackle environmental pollution, and address climate change. The current EIP also includes the commitment to bring at least 40% of England’s agricultural soil into sustainable management through our new farming schemes by 2028, increasing this to 60% by 2030. We are developing a delivery pathway for this commitment. We will work towards a review and revision of the EIP in 2028, informed using an evidence- based approach as well as appropriate stakeholder engagement. This will consider how the current EIP23 may need to be revised to best drive action against the 10 goals included within the plan. By 2028, we plan to cover 70% of farmed land and 70% of farms in our Environmental Land Management schemes. Farmers can choose the combination of actions that works for their farm setting to achieve a range of environmental outcomes. We want to continue to be flexible, fair, and pragmatic, and adapt our schemes to enable as many farmers and land managers as possible to deliver, alongside food production, significant and important outcomes for the climate and environment. Incentivising sustainable soil management
Timeline
Recommendation age
2.5 yrs
Report published
05 Dec 2023