Ireland’s use of land does not support climate action, fulfil nature-protection commitments, or safeguard water resources, according to the findings of a report for Government.The current model of usage does not provide security for the majority of its owners, with 67 per cent of all land used for farming that is subject to recurring income volatility. It does not support climate action because the main land use is high-emission agriculture, while ageing forests, clear-felling practices and degraded peatlands emit more carbon than they capture. It is not fulfilling nature-protection commitments as only 13 per cent has protected status compared to the minimum 30 per cent required. It is also not safeguarding water resources with half of rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters so polluted they do not even achieve a minimum “satisfactory” condition. The study is titled the Land Use Review – A Living Land. It warns of unresolved competing demands for land intensifying as requirements grow for more housing, more forestry and more solar and wind farms.At the same time, Government policy aims to further increase agricultural production and expand recreational space and greenways. The report recommends development of a national land-use governance framework for “sustainable multifunctional land use”.“Delivering multiple public good objectives implies considerable land-use change,” it says. “The pace of land-use change is limited and could be outpaced by increasingly volatile markets and climate, risking an entrenchment of poor socio-economic, environmental and economic outcomes.” The study, involving multiple state agencies, is the second phase of the Land Use Review after a 2023 phase-one report mapped out the basic components of land use in the country. Phase two was completed and presented to the lead ministers – for environment, agriculture and housing – in April 2025, but has only been published now after what they said was “consideration at broader Government level”. They stressed the review had not been adopted by Government and was “not an articulation of Government policy”. “Its purpose is to inform an evidence base for Government, with a view to supporting policymakers and landholders in complex decision-making regarding competing demands for future land-use in the context of achieving Ireland’s agricultural, socio-economic, climate, water quality and environmental objectives.” Minister for the Environment Darragh O’Brien said: “This report makes an important contribution to the national conversation on the optimal use of land in Ireland.”The report looks at potential different land-use configurations, exploring pathways that include reducing beef and dairy to free land for forestry, diverting land to growing energy crops for biofuels or giving the land devoted to beef to protein-rich crops instead. It does not recommend any pathway but says the exercise illustrates the trade-offs involved in potential changes.