Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

132 Chapter 5: Land The EU Biodiversity Strategy, the Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan (including the €1.5 billion ACRES agri-environment scheme) and Food Vision 2030 all set targets for space for nature within agricultural land. Food Vision 2030 recognises the significant pressure on water quality and biodiversity exerted by agriculture (as the predominant land use). Food Vision 2030 outlines a sustainable food systems approach that recognises how fundamental a healthy environment is to food production. Such an approach requires food producers to also be engaged in sustainability measures (e.g. cutting GHG emissions, managing water resources, storing carbon, protecting soil health and supporting biodiversity). Food Vision 2030 calls for more to be done at EU and national levels to incentivise the delivery of ecosystem services by food producers. Initiatives such as the Farming for Nature programme provide tangible examples of farms that are productive and have a positive impact on biodiversity. While some policies have a very clear land use implication – they will either conserve or expand particular land uses – other potential consequences are not clear, as they depend on how policies are implemented. For example, whether the Fifth Nitrates Action Plan, and any changes to Ireland’s Nitrates Derogation, have an impact on land use demands depends on the response to reduced stocking rates and whether they are achieved by expanding the area of land farmed or by managing the number of livestock. Similarly, renewable energy targets incur demands for onshore wind and solar installations. The impact of this demand on land use depends on the type of land the energy installations occupy and the potential for energy generation to co-exist with other land uses. Solar and wind energy infrastructure can co-exist with other land uses (e.g. agrivoltaics is the dual use of land for agriculture and solar power generation). The revised Renewable Energy Directive ((EU) 2023/2413) entered into force in October 2023. It requires the existing share of renewable energy in the EU to double. In identifying where renewable generation can be accelerated, Member States must map the domestic potential for renewable energy generation and the associated infrastructure required by May 2025. The revised Renewable Energy Directive proposes that the permit-granting procedures may need to be further streamlined to enable the acceleration of renewable energy delivery. Renewable energy generation can be achieved through wind energy, solar energy and bioenergy (Figure 5.10). The specific effects of the acceleration of energy generation on Ireland’s land use depends on how these energy sources are implemented. Figure 5.10  Solar array, Hilltown Solar Farm, Co. Meath Credit: David Dodd, DECC