Policy interventions overview

Policy interventions are implemented in components and affects the results of other components. The overview displays policy interventions per policy theme, their description, components implementing the intervention and affected components.

• Access to drinking water (Water)
• Agricultural land use (Land use)
• Air quality (Air pollution)
• Animal husbandry (Food)
• Aquatic biodiversity (NB)
• Climate mitigation (Climate)
• Crop production (Food)
• Eco goods and services (NB)
• Energy demand (Energy)
• Energy emissions (Energy)
• Energy system (Energy)
• Flood risk (Water)
• Food demand (Food)
• Forestry (Land use)
• GHG emissions (Climate)
• Irrigation (Water)
• Land cover (NB)
• Land use system (Land use)
• Natural vegetation (Land use)
• Nutrition and diet (Food)
• Other climate (Climate)
• Other energy (Energy)
• Other land use (Land use)
• Other nature and biodiversity (NB)
• Precipitation (Water)
• Terrestrial biodiversity (NB)
• Trade (Food)

Theme Climate

Climate mitigation (Climate)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Apply emission and energy intensity standards	Apply emission intensity standards for e.g. cars (gCO2/km), power plants (gCO2/kWh) or appliances (kWh/hour).	Energy conversion, Energy demand	Emissions
Energy tax or subsidiy	Changing the prices through energy tax or subsidy for the various energy carriers influences the choice of technology and thus the level of emissions.	Energy supply
Implementation of biofuel targets	Policies to enhance the use of biofuels, especially in the transport sector. In the Agricultural economy component only 'first generation' crops are taken into account. The policy is implemented as a budget-neutral policy from government perspective, e.g. a subsidy is implemented to achieve a certain share of biofuels in fuel production and an end-user tax is applied to counterfinance the implemented subsidy.	Agricultural economy	Agricultural economy Emissions Energy supply Land-use allocation Terrestrial biodiversity
REDD policies	The objective of REDD policies it to reduce land-use related emissions by protecting existing forests in the world; The implementation of REDD includes also costs of policies.	Agricultural economy	Agricultural economy Carbon cycle and natural vegetation Emissions

GHG emissions (Climate)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Apply emission and energy intensity standards	Apply emission intensity standards for e.g. cars (gCO2/km), power plants (gCO2/kWh) or appliances (kWh/hour).	Energy conversion, Energy demand	Emissions
Changes in consumption and diet preferences	Interventions that target consumption changes or changes in dietary preferences	Agricultural economy	Agricultural economy Aquatic biodiversity Ecosystem services Land-use allocation Livestock systems Nutrients Terrestrial biodiversity
Energy tax or subsidiy	Changing the prices through energy tax or subsidy for the various energy carriers influences the choice of technology and thus the level of emissions.	Energy supply

Other climate (Climate)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Financing climate policy	Developed countries could provide financial resources to assist developing countries by implementation of mitigation and adaptation policies. To mobilise these funds, several mechanisms exist, of which the effect can be analysed	Climate policy	Climate policy

Theme Air pollution

Air quality (Air pollution)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Energy tax or subsidiy	Changing the prices through energy tax or subsidy for the various energy carriers influences the choice of technology and thus the level of emissions.	Energy supply

Theme Food

Animal husbandry (Food)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Change in grazing intensity	Change in grazing intensity, usually more intensive. This would require better management of grasslands, including for example the use of grass-clover mixtures and fertilisers, bringing the length of the grazing season in tune with the period of grass production, and rotations.	Land-use allocation	Land-use allocation Livestock systems Terrestrial biodiversity
Changes in consumption and diet preferences	Interventions that target consumption changes or changes in dietary preferences	Agricultural economy	Agricultural economy Aquatic biodiversity Ecosystem services Land-use allocation Livestock systems Nutrients Terrestrial biodiversity
Improvement of feed conversion	Improvement of feed conversion ratio of small ruminants, such as sheep and goats. This means other breeds will be used that need less grass to produce the same amount of meat.	Livestock systems	Livestock systems Nutrients
Increased livestock productivity	A change in production characteristics, such as milk production per animal, carcass weight and off-take rates, which will also have an impact on the feed conversion ratio; in general, this will be lower in more productive animals	Livestock systems	Land-use allocation Livestock systems
Intensification or extensification of livestock systems	A change in the distribution of the production over pastoral and mixed systems; usually to a larger share of the production in mixed systems, which inherently changes the overall feed conversion ratios of ruminants.	Livestock systems	Agricultural economy Land-use allocation Nutrients
Intensification/extensification of livestock systems	A change in the distribution of the production over pastoral and mixed systems; usually to a larger share of the production in mixed systems, which inherently changes the overall feed conversion ratios of ruminants.	Livestock systems	Agricultural economy Land-use allocation Nutrients

Crop production (Food)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Changes in consumption and diet preferences	Interventions that target consumption changes or changes in dietary preferences	Agricultural economy	Agricultural economy Aquatic biodiversity Ecosystem services Land-use allocation Livestock systems Nutrients Terrestrial biodiversity
Improved rainwater management	Improved rainwater management assumes a decrease in the evaporative losses from rainfed agriculture and the creation of small scale reservoirs to harvest rainwater during the wet period and use it during a dryer period. Both measures lead to more efficient use of water and increased yields on rainfed fields.	Water	Water

Food demand (Food)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Changes in consumption and diet preferences	Interventions that target consumption changes or changes in dietary preferences	Agricultural economy	Agricultural economy Aquatic biodiversity Ecosystem services Land-use allocation Livestock systems Nutrients Terrestrial biodiversity
Reduction of waste/losses	Reduction of losses in the agro-food chain and waste after consumption.	Agricultural economy	Agricultural economy Land-use allocation Terrestrial biodiversity

Nutrition and diet (Food)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Changes in consumption and diet preferences	Interventions that target consumption changes or changes in dietary preferences	Agricultural economy	Agricultural economy Aquatic biodiversity Ecosystem services Land-use allocation Livestock systems Nutrients Terrestrial biodiversity

Trade (Food)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Agricultural trade policies	Changes in agricultural trade policies are applied to the corresponding quota (export or import quota) or border taxes.	Agricultural economy	Agricultural economy Ecosystem services Land-use allocation Terrestrial biodiversity

Theme Nature and biodiversity

Aquatic biodiversity (NB)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Enlarge protected areas	Increase in areas with protected status, as well the size of the areas as the numer of parks.	Land-use allocation	Agricultural economy Aquatic biodiversity Ecosystem services Land-use allocation Terrestrial biodiversity

Eco goods and services (NB)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Enlarge protected areas	Increase in areas with protected status, as well the size of the areas as the numer of parks.	Land-use allocation	Agricultural economy Aquatic biodiversity Ecosystem services Land-use allocation Terrestrial biodiversity
Implementation of biofuel targets	Policies to enhance the use of biofuels, especially in the transport sector. In the Agricultural economy component only 'first generation' crops are taken into account. The policy is implemented as a budget-neutral policy from government perspective, e.g. a subsidy is implemented to achieve a certain share of biofuels in fuel production and an end-user tax is applied to counterfinance the implemented subsidy.	Agricultural economy	Agricultural economy Emissions Energy supply Land-use allocation Terrestrial biodiversity

Land cover (NB)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Enlarge protected areas	Increase in areas with protected status, as well the size of the areas as the numer of parks.	Land-use allocation	Agricultural economy Aquatic biodiversity Ecosystem services Land-use allocation Terrestrial biodiversity
Implementation of biofuel targets	Policies to enhance the use of biofuels, especially in the transport sector. In the Agricultural economy component only 'first generation' crops are taken into account. The policy is implemented as a budget-neutral policy from government perspective, e.g. a subsidy is implemented to achieve a certain share of biofuels in fuel production and an end-user tax is applied to counterfinance the implemented subsidy.	Agricultural economy	Agricultural economy Emissions Energy supply Land-use allocation Terrestrial biodiversity

Other nature and biodiversity (NB)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Implementation of biofuel targets	Policies to enhance the use of biofuels, especially in the transport sector. In the Agricultural economy component only 'first generation' crops are taken into account. The policy is implemented as a budget-neutral policy from government perspective, e.g. a subsidy is implemented to achieve a certain share of biofuels in fuel production and an end-user tax is applied to counterfinance the implemented subsidy.	Agricultural economy	Agricultural economy Emissions Energy supply Land-use allocation Terrestrial biodiversity

Terrestrial biodiversity (NB)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Enlarge protected areas	Increase in areas with protected status, as well the size of the areas as the numer of parks.	Land-use allocation	Agricultural economy Aquatic biodiversity Ecosystem services Land-use allocation Terrestrial biodiversity
Increase forest plantations	Increase the use of wood from highly productive wood plantations instead of wood from (semi-) natural forests.	Forest management	Carbon cycle and natural vegetation Forest management Terrestrial biodiversity

Theme Land use

Agricultural land use (Land use)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Agricultural trade policies	Changes in agricultural trade policies are applied to the corresponding quota (export or import quota) or border taxes.	Agricultural economy	Agricultural economy Ecosystem services Land-use allocation Terrestrial biodiversity
Change in grazing intensity	Change in grazing intensity, usually more intensive. This would require better management of grasslands, including for example the use of grass-clover mixtures and fertilisers, bringing the length of the grazing season in tune with the period of grass production, and rotations.	Land-use allocation	Land-use allocation Livestock systems Terrestrial biodiversity
Changes in consumption and diet preferences	Interventions that target consumption changes or changes in dietary preferences	Agricultural economy	Agricultural economy Aquatic biodiversity Ecosystem services Land-use allocation Livestock systems Nutrients Terrestrial biodiversity
Enlarge protected areas	Increase in areas with protected status, as well the size of the areas as the numer of parks.	Land-use allocation	Agricultural economy Aquatic biodiversity Ecosystem services Land-use allocation Terrestrial biodiversity
Implementation of biofuel targets	Policies to enhance the use of biofuels, especially in the transport sector. In the Agricultural economy component only 'first generation' crops are taken into account. The policy is implemented as a budget-neutral policy from government perspective, e.g. a subsidy is implemented to achieve a certain share of biofuels in fuel production and an end-user tax is applied to counterfinance the implemented subsidy.	Agricultural economy	Agricultural economy Emissions Energy supply Land-use allocation Terrestrial biodiversity
Implementation of land use planning	Application of zoning laws or cadastres, assigning areas to certain land uses.	Land-use allocation	Agricultural economy Ecosystem services Land-use allocation
Improvement of feed conversion	Improvement of feed conversion ratio of small ruminants, such as sheep and goats. This means other breeds will be used that need less grass to produce the same amount of meat.	Livestock systems	Livestock systems Nutrients
Increased livestock productivity	A change in production characteristics, such as milk production per animal, carcass weight and off-take rates, which will also have an impact on the feed conversion ratio; in general, this will be lower in more productive animals	Livestock systems	Land-use allocation Livestock systems
Reduction of waste/losses	Reduction of losses in the agro-food chain and waste after consumption.	Agricultural economy	Agricultural economy Land-use allocation Terrestrial biodiversity

Forestry (Land use)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Expanding Reduced Impact Logging	Increasing the share of produced wood yielded with Reduced Impact Logging (RIL) practices instead of conventional logging practices.	Forest management	Carbon cycle and natural vegetation Forest management Terrestrial biodiversity
Increase forest plantations	Increase the use of wood from highly productive wood plantations instead of wood from (semi-) natural forests.	Forest management	Carbon cycle and natural vegetation Forest management Terrestrial biodiversity

Land use system (Land use)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Change in grazing intensity	Change in grazing intensity, usually more intensive. This would require better management of grasslands, including for example the use of grass-clover mixtures and fertilisers, bringing the length of the grazing season in tune with the period of grass production, and rotations.	Land-use allocation	Land-use allocation Livestock systems Terrestrial biodiversity

Natural vegetation (Land use)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Change in grazing intensity	Change in grazing intensity, usually more intensive. This would require better management of grasslands, including for example the use of grass-clover mixtures and fertilisers, bringing the length of the grazing season in tune with the period of grass production, and rotations.	Land-use allocation	Land-use allocation Livestock systems Terrestrial biodiversity

Other land use (Land use)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Enlarge protected areas	Increase in areas with protected status, as well the size of the areas as the numer of parks.	Land-use allocation	Agricultural economy Aquatic biodiversity Ecosystem services Land-use allocation Terrestrial biodiversity
Implementation of land use planning	Application of zoning laws or cadastres, assigning areas to certain land uses.	Land-use allocation	Agricultural economy Ecosystem services Land-use allocation
Increase forest plantations	Increase the use of wood from highly productive wood plantations instead of wood from (semi-) natural forests.	Forest management	Carbon cycle and natural vegetation Forest management Terrestrial biodiversity

Theme Energy

Energy demand (Energy)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Apply emission and energy intensity standards	Apply emission intensity standards for e.g. cars (gCO2/km), power plants (gCO2/kWh) or appliances (kWh/hour).	Energy conversion, Energy demand	Emissions
Implementation of biofuel targets	Policies to enhance the use of biofuels, especially in the transport sector. In the Agricultural economy component only 'first generation' crops are taken into account. The policy is implemented as a budget-neutral policy from government perspective, e.g. a subsidy is implemented to achieve a certain share of biofuels in fuel production and an end-user tax is applied to counterfinance the implemented subsidy.	Agricultural economy	Agricultural economy Emissions Energy supply Land-use allocation Terrestrial biodiversity

Energy emissions (Energy)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Apply emission and energy intensity standards	Apply emission intensity standards for e.g. cars (gCO2/km), power plants (gCO2/kWh) or appliances (kWh/hour).	Energy conversion, Energy demand	Emissions
Energy tax or subsidiy	Changing the prices through energy tax or subsidy for the various energy carriers influences the choice of technology and thus the level of emissions.	Energy supply

Energy system (Energy)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Apply emission and energy intensity standards	Apply emission intensity standards for e.g. cars (gCO2/km), power plants (gCO2/kWh) or appliances (kWh/hour).	Energy conversion, Energy demand	Emissions
Energy tax or subsidiy	Changing the prices through energy tax or subsidy for the various energy carriers influences the choice of technology and thus the level of emissions.	Energy supply
Implementation of biofuel targets	Policies to enhance the use of biofuels, especially in the transport sector. In the Agricultural economy component only 'first generation' crops are taken into account. The policy is implemented as a budget-neutral policy from government perspective, e.g. a subsidy is implemented to achieve a certain share of biofuels in fuel production and an end-user tax is applied to counterfinance the implemented subsidy.	Agricultural economy	Agricultural economy Emissions Energy supply Land-use allocation Terrestrial biodiversity

Other energy (Energy)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Hydropower	Construction of dams and reservoirs in rivers	Aquatic biodiversity	Aquatic biodiversity
Implementation of biofuel targets	Policies to enhance the use of biofuels, especially in the transport sector. In the Agricultural economy component only 'first generation' crops are taken into account. The policy is implemented as a budget-neutral policy from government perspective, e.g. a subsidy is implemented to achieve a certain share of biofuels in fuel production and an end-user tax is applied to counterfinance the implemented subsidy.	Agricultural economy	Agricultural economy Emissions Energy supply Land-use allocation Terrestrial biodiversity

Theme Water

Access to drinking water (Water)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Sanitation measures	Increase the access to improved sanitation, and connection to sewage systems; institution of wastewater treatment installations; recycling of human waste for substitution of synthetic fertilisers.	Nutrients	Nutrients

Flood risk (Water)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Increased storage capacity	Increasing storage capacity assumes that the total water volume stored in large reservoirs will increase. This can either be established by an increase of the capacity of existing reservoirs, or by building new reservoirs.	Water	Water

Irrigation (Water)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Improved irrigation efficiency	Improved irrigation efficiency assumes an increase in the irrigation project efficiency and irrigation conveyance efficiency.	Water	Water
Increased storage capacity	Increasing storage capacity assumes that the total water volume stored in large reservoirs will increase. This can either be established by an increase of the capacity of existing reservoirs, or by building new reservoirs.	Water	Water

Precipitation (Water)

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Improved rainwater management	Improved rainwater management assumes a decrease in the evaporative losses from rainfed agriculture and the creation of small scale reservoirs to harvest rainwater during the wet period and use it during a dryer period. Both measures lead to more efficient use of water and increased yields on rainfed fields.	Water	Water

Theme Human development

Related overviews

• Key policy issues overview
• Policy interventions and components overview