Land use is central to many of the environmental and socio-economic issues facing society. Globally, greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural and land-use sectors account for 23% of anthropogenic emissions, and the loss and degradation of terrestrial ecosystems threatens 25% of animal and plant species with extinction. With global population projected to grow to nearly 10 billion people by 2050, food production will need to increase significantly. Additionally, global action on climate change will likely include substantial increases in energy production from biomass – further increasing the pressures on global land-use systems. Given the inter-connected nature of these biodiversity, climate, land and food-related challenges, co-ordination and coherence between different government policies affecting the land-use nexus is crucial.

Global land use is currently unsustainable. Land-use change has resulted in widespread declines in biodiversity, with around 25% of animal and plant species now threatened with extinction and the degradation of 74% of the world’s terrestrial surface. OECD new report provides good practice insights on how governments can transition to more sustainable land-use systems. This report examines challenges for aligning land-use policy with climate, biodiversity and food objectives, and the opportunities to enhance the sustainability of land use systems. It examines six countries: Brazil, France, Indonesia, Ireland, Mexico and New Zealand, with relatively large agricultural and forestry sectors and associated greenhouse gas emissions, many of which host globally important biodiversity

Land use is central to many of the environmental and socio-economic issues facing society today. Understanding how to feed global populations, while tackling the twin challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change is, therefore, a key question for policy makers.

- How can governments align national strategies to achieve sustainable land use?
- What institutional arrangements foster coherent policy making in the nexus of land use, climate, biodiversity and food?
- What policy instruments can be used to create sustainable land use systems?
The range of policy instruments utilised in the land-use nexus is broad and their interactions with each other and wider governance systems are multifaceted. Despite this variety, there are common themes. Firstly, the effective implementation of policy instruments for sustainable land use requires clearly defined and enforced land tenure. Secondly, across the case study countries, the negative externalities associated with certain types of land use remain largely unpriced or under-priced – meaning the benefits provided by ecosystems to society, except food production, are generally not reflected in land-use policy.