Public policy evidence summaries

Dr John Martin and Dr Adam Guy

"There is a strong local appetite to be involved in more nature restoration in England’s protected landscapes but lack of resource is cited as a significant hindrance. Monitoring is essential to track the progress of nature recovery outcomes and restoration interventions. This large-scale survey shows that in England’s protected landscapes local monitoring is limited, ad hoc, and not yet strongly linked to strategic outcomes frameworks."

"Humans have relied on soils for millennia but, globally, soil health is threatened, particularly by climate change. Such large quantities of soil ending up in landfill sites is an indication of the low interest value accorded to the soil by UK citizens, society, politicians and policy makers, even though soil has a key role to play in mitigating climate change."

Professor Sean Comber

"The UK is failing to achieve sufficient water quality. With improvements in sewage treatment technology, pollution generated by agriculture has become more significant. High levels of agricultural fertilisers entering water systems are a leading cause of eutrophication that lowers water quality. No other country in the world has a chemical source apportionment model of equivalent range of sources, chemicals or scale to the Source Apportionment-Geographical Information System (SAGIS) Water Quality model.”

Professor Steve Goodhew

Efforts to reduce the construction industry’s carbon footprint should focus not only on emissions from energy use during building occupancy, but also on emissions caused by the energy used or ‘embodied’ in the building’s construction.

Sarah Fear

"The challenge is encouraging smaller ports to decarbonise. Helping a hundred small harbours de-carbonise could potentially deliver the same impact as a large port de-carbonising.”

Dr Abigail McQuatters-Gollop

Human pressures are changing marine ecosystems. Information on the causes and impact of these pressures should be used to guide policy and conservation decisions.

Dr Paul Lunt

“Peatlands provide vital ecosystem services and more should be done to preserve and restore them. Greater consideration should be given to how peat is used, what can be done to prevent the deterioration of peat bogs and how they can be managed more carefully.”

Dr Paul Hardman

Universities are rooted in their respective city and regional networks and, as organisations where knowledge is gained, produced and exercised, they should play a key role at the forefront of leading the country’s action to achieve carbon net zero.

Schools should play a key role in providing future generations with the knowledge, skills and sense of agency they need to empower them to deal with the greatest challenge of our time. Developing young people’s understanding of how they can play a role in the green economy and wider society is essential.