The Government has launched a major consultation on a new strategic approach to managing land use in England to give decision makers the data they need to protect the most productive agricultural land, boosting Britain’s food security in a time of global uncertainty and a changing climate.

A new Land Use Analysis Taskforce should be established to support decisions about how land in the UK is used, according to a new report from the Geospatial Commission.

The House of Lords Land Use Committee has held its first public evidence session with officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Three pilots in Devon, West Midlands and Northern Ireland will test how to identify and improve key data that helps inform decisions on whether land across the UK is used for housing, infrastructure or net zero.

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) is calling for a major shift in UK land use to deliver Net Zero emissions in its first ever in-depth advice to the Government on UK agricultural policies - and wants to see water companies mandated to restore peatland under their ownership.

Weather-related disasters could affect around two-thirds of the European population annually by the end of this century, according to a new study from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, the EC’s science and knowledge arm.