Written evidence from the Nature Matters NI (AGR0006)

Nature Matters NI is a campaign led by a coalition of environmental organisations in Northern Ireland (NI). We’re on a mission to protect nature in NI so that we can secure the best future for our environment after we leave the European Union (EU). Nature Matters NI is the public facing campaign of the Northern Ireland Environment Link (NIEL) Brexit Coalition, representing circa 100,000 members in NI. Specifically we are campaigning for;

• A sustainable agriculture and land use policy that is fair to farmers, good for nature and benefits society[1]

• Nature and environmental protection to ensure our most treasured species and habitats can thrive.

• A nature–friendly marine and fisheries policy to protect our seas and marine biodiversity.

• Funding for nature conservation to replace existing EU funding programmes such as LIFE+ and INTERREG
• The island of Ireland to be considered as a single biogeographic unit with effective mechanisms in place to resolve and manage cross border environmental issues

In light of this, we have previously engaged with NIAC on inquiries such as; the Implications of Brexit for Northern Ireland’s environment with specific regard to shared cross-border issues; Devolution and democracy in Northern Ireland – dealing with the deficit; and Fisheries, through our partner organisation the Northern Ireland Marine Taskforce. We wish to thank the NI Affairs Committee for the opportunity to respond to this important inquiry which is considering ‘opportunities and challenges for Northern Ireland’s agricultural sector in the light of the UK’s decision to leave the EU’.

Leaving the EU will have substantial implications for farming and our environment. There are significant risks, but it also creates an opportunity to renew farming and land management policy across the UK and, through that, to revitalise our countryside in a way that meets the needs of people and nature, for generations to come. Agriculture and land management has helped to create much of what we value today in the countryside. It contributes to our wider economy and provides employment in rural areas. Changes to agricultural management in recent decades however have led to significant declines in wildlife, alongside wider environmental degradation, and agriculture remains one of the biggest causes of biodiversity decline in the UK[2].

Evidence suggests that much of this has been driven by inappropriate public policy, particularly the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which encouraged over production and associated environmental degradation. Whilst recent reforms have addressed the worst excesses of the CAP, much of the expenditure is still directed toward inefficient and ineffective subsidies[3]. There is a strong consensus around the need for change, and we believe that farming and land management can, and should, sustain and restore farmland nature whilst producing safe, healthy food, and protecting the natural resources of soil, air and water that farming itself depends on. We currently invest £3.1 billion in agriculture policies each year across the UK[4] (£300m+ in NI). We now have the opportunity to repurpose this funding, and secure stable policies for farming, that deliver real added value for the public by driving environmental restoration across the UK.

We are working with our partner UK Environment Links in England, Scotland and Wales, and the principles set out by the Greener UK[5] paper ‘Agriculture at a crossroads: the need for sustainable farming and land use policies’. We will continue to collaborate with UK colleagues on a range of issues relevant to our goal of realising a nature friendly Brexit for NI.

QUESTIONS

Are potential challenges and opportunities for Northern Ireland’s agricultural sector post-Brexit properly reflected in DEFRA's consultation on ‘The future for food, farming and the environment?’

No. Defra’s consultation on the future of agriculture policy post Brexit is primarily focused on options for England, with some, still to be decided UK relevance. Defra identify a guiding principle of ‘public money for public goods’, building from a regulatory baseline informed by the polluter pays principle. At its simplest, this means a reorientation of policy towards securing the things that society needs, but which the market does not provide – wildlife, clean water, beautiful landscapes – and toward a basic framework of ‘polluter pays, provider gets’. Compared to the untargeted subsidies that dominate the CAP, this should point to a radical shift in shape and purpose of future agriculture policy in England.

Defra have been clear on their ambition to ensure that environmental enhancement should be the primary focus, at least of public money. This could take the form of a future environmental land management system making up the ‘cornerstone’ of a future agriculture policy in England, something that is very much needed in Northern Ireland. Alongside the environment, Defra have identified improving animal welfare as a key job for public policy, through a mix of targeted payments, and further scope to raise the ‘regulatory baseline’.

The Command Paper is clear that the proposals set out in policy terms are for England only, with a short section towards the end on ‘Devolution: maintaining cohesion and flexibility’. Agriculture remains a devolved competency throughout the UK. The devolution section lists some principles agreed by the Joint Ministerial Council (JMC), some of which are to ‘enable the management of common resources’ and ‘ensure compliance with international obligations’, which Nature Matters would support.

This section also makes reference to the economic and social linkages with Northern Ireland and Ireland, as NI is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with the EU. It also notes the importance of the Belfast (‘Good Friday’) Agreement and its establishing treaty of North-South Cooperation, of which the UK committed to protecting in the Joint UK-EU Report in December 2017. The other key uncertainties that remain, for the UK as a whole, include duration of any transition to a new policy and most importantly the UK budget to be allocated to fund future policy interventions.

Northern Ireland has its own set of unique challenges that are not reflected in this consultation document, however Defra are clear, to a certain extent, that this is not the purpose of ‘Health and Harmony, and that agriculture, as a devolved competency is the responsibility of devolved governments. This however presents a unique challenge for Northern Ireland given the current political impasse, and Defra have not yet been clear on where the Agriculture Bill, following the Command Paper, will apply.

Although powers relating to most environmental matters are devolved, the vast majority of our agricultural and environmental standards are currently set at EU level: of the 142 areas that have been identified where EU law currently intersects with devolved powers across Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, the greatest number of these relate to the environment.

Operating within this set of common frameworks, with oversight by EU institutions, has helped to support environmental cooperation across the four nations and ensure a relatively coordinated and consistent set of approaches to managing shared environmental challenges. As many environmental issues – as well as many of the key drivers of environmental decline – do not respect borders, we believe that there are strong reasons for maintaining these common frameworks in domestic law to ensure the effective protection of our shared environment post-Brexit.[6] Respecting the devolved nature of environmental matters, decisions regarding what happens to these common frameworks will need to be jointly agreed, subject to the outcome of the negotiations regarding the future UK-EU relationship. A key consideration in such processes should be the question of how to secure the best possible environmental outcomes.

Our aim of wanting farming to be good for people and nature applies everywhere across the UK. It is imperative that Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England work together on an ambitious common framework for Agriculture that prevents a deregulatory race to the bottom. This must include an appropriate degree of flexibility so as to allow implementation to be tailored to the specific environmental and legislative context in each nation. This must also include robust shared governance arrangements (e.g. clear monitoring and reporting obligations and associated enforcement mechanisms) as a means of holding all four nations to account and resolving disputes following the loss of the functions currently carried out by the EU institutions in this respect.

For those working in the sector; what have been your main concerns about the current system (e.g. on funding, regulations, policies etc.) and how could post-Brexit policy make improvements?

In Northern Ireland, the Common Agricultural Policy’s (CAP)’s dominant focus on delivering area based payments in the form of the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) has ultimately failed to deliver the benefits expected of a publicly funded policy. In particular, this is evidenced by the degradation of our natural environment and the erosion of the many public goods that it provides. For example, intensive agriculture is recognised as playing a key role in the decline of farmland nature[7], poor water quality[8] and the loss of stored carbon from valuable habitats such as lowland blanket bog. In the current system, the protection and provision of essential environmental public goods has been largely neglected. This biodiversity loss is not a failing or a criticism of farmers, but of the farming system and farming policy that they are dependent on for their livelihoods.

One of the main aims of the CAP is to help build a resilient agricultural industry. Again, the policy has largely failed to meet this outcome. Farming in NI is heavily reliant on EU subsidies to survive, with 87% of farm income being derived from this source[9]. Without this financial support most farming in NI is uneconomically viable, and as a result is subject to high levels of risk and uncertainty as we prepare to leave the EU.

With an overriding focus on providing Pillar I direct payments, the CAP represents a largely inefficient, ineffective and inequitable policy[10] often failing to deliver for farmers, the environment and broader society. However, where the CAP has been able to deliver some public benefits, it has been through the implementation of agri-environment funded through Rural Development Programmes (RDPs).

In NI this has been demonstrated through the successful implementation of a number of targeted, outcome based agri-environment schemes. These have helped to protect priority species and habitats, improve water quality, store carbon, improve soil function and build resilience to flooding, whilst rewarding farmers for providing these valuable public goods. However, despite these successes, with significantly less attention and funding allocated to them in comparison to Basic Payments, RDPs have ultimately been ineffective in providing these societal benefits at a necessary scale.

Leaving the European Union offers a once in a lifetime opportunity to truly transform our agricultural sector for the better. A post Brexit sustainable farming and land management policy needs to transition from the current model, which provides basic payments that provide little public benefit and often cause environmental harm. We must develop a robust policy that protects and restores the natural environment on which farming depends. Where farmers are sufficiently rewarded for providing goods to society that are not reflected by the market. In focusing on the delivery of environmental public goods we can create a farming and land management system that is productive, resilient and sustainable in the long term.   

Do smaller farms in Northern Ireland have different requirements post-Brexit to large farms?

Under the current area based system in the UK, larger landowners reap the biggest rewards, with 64% of direct payments going to just 20% of farmers and farm businesses[11].  This represents a wholly inequitable system, in which those with the most land benefit primarily on the basis of the size of their farm[12]. This creates further problems, as larger farm businesses can often be more intensive in nature, which often contributes to further processes of environmental degradation. However, the flipside of this is that non-economic farming systems tend to be extensive, managing larger proportions of land under rough and common grazing and, as a result, are generally low income or non-economic operations. However, they also tend to be environmentally valuable given the large tracts of land under less intensive management.[13]

Under a new system of public goods payments, landowners and farm businesses would not be subsidised purely on the size of their landholdings. Instead, payments would be related to the amount of unmarketable goods and services (public goods) that the farm and/or landscape can provide through sustainable agricultural practises. This could help to create a more level playing field, in which large and small farms must provide demonstrable benefits to society to receive public support.

This is particularly relevant to the agricultural sector in Northern Ireland, where the vast majority of farm businesses are classified as small or very small,[14] and exist in economically marginal areas[15]. These small businesses often find it difficult to compete within the marketplace and often lose out due to smaller economies of scale, difficulty accessing markets and a lack of effective infrastructure such as high speed broadband etc. This has led to a significant reliance on subsidies for survival, which poses a real threat to the nature of our countryside post Brexit. Without adequate support, these areas could be at risk of abandonment[16]. This would spell disaster for our rural communities and would have severe ramifications for farmland biodiversity in the long term.

Government has an integral role in ensuring that these small rural businesses and their communities have a future. A sustainable farming and land management policy can contribute towards this by adequately rewarding farmers for providing societal benefits. This has significant potential in marginal areas such as the uplands, where farming systems have the potential to provide a multitude of public goods if managed in an appropriate manner. Additionally, adopting widespread measures for environmental enhancement will create further opportunities for rural communities to boost their economies through activities such as outdoor recreation and tourism[17].

Research commissioned by the Land Use Policy Group in 2011 concentrating on England and Scotland suggests that moving to a new forms of payment would benefit small farms/marginal areas much better than existing mechanisms and still be within World Trade Organisation rules, however further work is required to test the approach[18].

How important is the EU as an export market for Northern Ireland agricultural produce?

Agriculture is more significant in Northern Ireland than any other part of the UK in terms of employment and economic contribution and as such anything that affects the sector, either negatively or positively, will have significant impacts.

The Northern Ireland Food and Drink Association report on ‘Brexit: Challenges and Opportunities for Northern Ireland Food and Drink’[19] states that in 2014, total sales from the NI Food & Drinks Processing Sector amounted to £4,543m. With sales of £1.15bn, (25% of total NI sales) the EU is the largest export market for NI; £700m of this relates to trade with Ireland. Clearly the EU and Ireland in particular are important markets for Agri-Food in Northern Ireland and post Brexit, £1.3bn or 28% of our sales will be subject to trade agreements that have yet to be agreed. Conversely the UK as a whole is a net importer of food and therefore does not suffer the same exposure to the international markets as Northern Ireland.

How can future UK trade policy best support Northern Ireland’s agricultural sector?

UK trade policy will play a significant role in determining the economic context and regulatory environment in which the agriculture sector in Northern Ireland operates post-Brexit. Trade has the potential to impact on environmental protections and standards due to the wide reaching nature of many trade agreements. In order to secure a world-class environment, it is vital that a UK trade policy does not result in a reduction in environmental standards and protections or in an unacceptable global sustainability footprint. It is vitally important that any future trade deal does not undermine the environmental public goods produced by agriculture as a result of a refocused UK agri-policy.

As noted by the House of Commons Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs Committee: “The UK has an international reputation for high animal welfare, environmental and food standards. These must not be sacrificed on the altar of cheap imports.”[20]

In order to support the sustainability of Northern Ireland’s agricultural sector, it is vital that there is “no compromise” on environmental standards in any post-Brexit trade agreements and that importers are required to meet the same high standards as domestic producers. As such, any new trade agreements should be subject to robust sustainability impact assessments and robust parliamentary scrutiny, as well as meaningful consultation with the devolved administrations.

What funding will Northern Ireland’s agricultural sector require post-Brexit? What should future agricultural support in Northern Ireland look like, and what goals should it seek to achieve?

In order to meet our environmental objectives the UK Government and devolved administrations must allocate more resources in the management and restoration of habitats, landscape features and the historic environment, and to support land management practises that maintain and enhance soil and water resources and contribute towards the mitigation of climate change. An environmental focus presents an opportunity for farming to continue to receive significant public support, whilst delivering clear public benefits and demonstrable added value.

There is a definite need to better integrate environmental targets, and farming and land management policies and payments. At present, CAP payments are not driven by the EU’s environmental commitments, meaning that agri-environment schemes are not resourced at the scale necessary to meet them. Future policy and payments must be more clearly connected to the environmental targets that we are seeking to meet. Public payments for land management should be targeted to achieve international and domestic environmental commitments as set out in existing legislation. This principle should apply to any relevant future legislation both at a national and devolved level.

A recent report Assessing the Costs of Environmental Land Management in the UK estimates that In Northern Ireland, the level of funding needed to achieve our environmental objectives requires an eight fold increase based on current costs.  These costs are focused on land management interventions, and do not reflect the total costs associated with either future farming or environmental objectives.In addition to costs associated with land management, there will be a need to invest in support activities including advice, research and monitoring and evaluation. Such investment, should work alongside rural development funding and support to foster innovation.

To ensure sufficient investment towards achieving our environmental goals, existing levels of funding associated with the CAP should be maintained, particularly for an initial 10-year period[21]. Within this, the proportion of funding associated with environmental farming and land management policies should be significantly increased. As stated previously, a transition towards a public goods payment system provides the strongest rationale for long term public investment, and the best chance for a stable and certain policy post-Brexit.

Budget allocation across the four countries of the UK should be based on need and not the Barnett Formula. If the Barnett Formula were to be applied, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales would experience a severe shortfall in funding in comparison to England. The devolved nations would also run the risk of having their budgets squeezed in the event that the UK government cuts their own agriculture budget[22]. This would significantly reduce the UK’s ability to meet its international and domestic environmental objectives and commitments.

What particular challenges does the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland create in terms of future agricultural policy, regulation and trade? How can these challenges best be resolved?

The vast majority of environmental issues on the island of Ireland are currently governed under the umbrella of EU-wide legal frameworks. These shared frameworks and associated governance structures play a central role in supporting environmental cooperation, driving environmental improvements, and providing the level playing field necessary to support frictionless and sustainable trade. It is increasingly clear that future regulatory divergence in relation to the environment (including in agricultural standards) could pose a substantial risk to environmental protection across the island and to the continuation and future development of effective environmental cooperation and sustainable trade. As such, it is vital that a satisfactory solution is found.

Based on the unpublished results of their joint mapping exercise, the EU and the UK have agreed on three possible routes to avoiding a hard border and preserving North-South cooperation: the overall EU/UK relationship; a set of specific solutions to be proposed by the UK; or, a backstop solution of full alignment with all relevant EU rules. In terms of the future EU/UK relationship, and despite the welcome emphasis in the EU’s negotiating guidelines on the importance of avoiding unfair competition through weaker environmental regulation, it remains unclear the extent to which the UK and the EU will align their environmental standards post-Brexit.

Similarly, in terms of specific solutions, the UK Government has yet to set out any clear proposals and has expressed a clear desire to diverge from the EU in at least some areas of relevance post-Brexit. As such, we support the recommendation made by this committee in its report on ‘The land border between Northern Ireland and Ireland the border’ calling on the UK Government to “publish the mapping exercise and put forward targeted proposals for how cross-border cooperation in in policy areas dominated by EU law will continue after the UK leaves the EU”.[23]

Lastly, in terms of the backstop solution, we remain concerned regarding the extremely limited treatment of environmental issues in the draft protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland put forwards by the EU in February 2018. As it stands, it fails to provide a firm guarantee that the necessary conditions for North-South environmental cooperation and sustainable cross-border trade will be maintained post-Brexit. 

What future cooperation with Ireland will be necessary in relation to agricultural regulation and management of the environment across the island of Ireland?

Yes. Given that environmental issues do not respect borders, effective management of the environment across the island of Ireland post-Brexit will continue to depend on close North-South cooperation. In addition to the role played by common EU rules in supporting North-South cooperation (see above), funding for cross-border environmental projects via EU programmes (INTERREG and LIFE) has also played an important role. As such, we would welcome a firm commitment to the continued provision of funding streams to support environmental cooperation and resolve and manage cross-border environmental issues post-Brexit.

As mentioned in previous evidence submitted in March 2017 on the impact of Brexit in Northern Ireland, the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC) was established under the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement (1998), to develop consultation, co-operation and action within the island of Ireland. Environmental issues were and continue to be deemed of enough importance to warrant being one of the six Areas of Co-operation, whereby common policies and approaches are agreed in the North South Ministerial Council but implemented separately in each jurisdiction. The Council makes decisions on common policies and approaches in areas such as environmental protection, pollution, water quality management and waste management in a cross-border context. Whatever form Brexit takes, NIEL believes an on-going commitment is required for the provision of an all-island forum to maximise the opportunities and minimise the threats to our natural environment.

Another important institution created under the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement was the British-Irish Council (BIC). Its objectives are to: further promote positive, practical relationships among the people of the islands; and, to provide a forum for consultation and co-operation. Membership of the Council comprises representatives of the Irish and British governments and of the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, together with representatives of the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey. The Environment ‘work programme’ was established at the first British-Irish Council Summit in 1999 where it was agreed that the UK Government would lead. Topics addressed include: Sustainable Development, Marine, Waste, Natural Capital, Climate Change Adaptation, Biodiversity and Invasive Species. As highlighted earlier, provision of a ‘level playing field’ can help to facilitate compliance by avoiding inconsistencies and fragmentation. If not, there is a risk of a potential ‘race to the bottom’ with individual administrations lowering their standards in order to secure a competitive advantage. We believe that the role and contribution of the British-Irish Council could be central to the achievement of common good environmental standards.

How important are non-UK workers to Northern Ireland’s agricultural sector? How can the labour needs of Northern Ireland’s agricultural sector best be met in post-Brexit immigration policy?

No comments at this stage

In the absence of an Executive how can the UK Government best engage with local communities and farmers to develop a post-Brexit agricultural policy? To what extent does current intergovernmental machinery provide for this, and how might this machinery need to be improved?

First and foremost it is important to state that the NIEL Brexit Coalition supports the devolution agreement as set out by the UK government and it would be our preference to see the NI Assembly restored. As time goes on, the risk of NI being left behind other parts of the UK increases. The collapse of the local institutions, including the Northern Ireland Executive undermines the longer term durability of devolution and has created a perceived lack of confidence in the political process and participatory democracy. The current situation of ‘political limbo’ means that in effect we have no political representation at a crucial time when other devolved nations are discussing common frameworks, impacts and possible mitigations to Brexit.

A key test of this could be around the development of future legislation for agriculture. Secretary of State Michael Gove has stated his intention to put an Agriculture Bill, with some yet to be decided UK relevance on common frameworks, before the commons in 2018 (following the command paper consultation) to pave the way for widespread reform of agriculture policy. Agriculture remains a devolved issue, therefore the other devolved administrations would be expected to bring through their own legislation in this regard. The current situation leaves the agri-food industry in NI vulnerable due to the increased levels of uncertainty regarding future policy direction and legislation.

That said, the NIEL Brexit Coalition has been involved with the Department of Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and other stakeholders on a range of different sub-groups set up in response to assessing the impact of Brexit in NI. The Trade and Agriculture Committee subgroup, made up of agri-food and environment stakeholders, has been working positively together to provide input to a position paper on what stakeholders would like to see from a new agriculture policy, post Brexit. This has reached final draft, however with no NI Assembly to sign off on the work to date, progress has stalled at a critical time.     

26 April 2018

For further information contact: John Martin Conservation Team Leader RSPB Northern Ireland: email: john.martin@rspb.org.uk Tel: 02890690836