As part of the European Green Deal, the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 aims to protect nature and to reverse the degradation of ecosystems (European Commission, 2020). This strategy states that ‘… nature is in a state of crisis’ and land take is among the main direct drivers of biodiversity loss. All EU Member States and partner states experience problems with increasing pressure on soil and land, and research has shown that more than 60 % of EU soils are in an unhealthy state. The European Commission aims to improve this situation with a soil strategy and a proposal for a soil monitoring law. One of the long-term objectives laid down by the soil strategy is for the continent to achieve no net land take (NNLT) by 2050.

This policy brief aims to contribute to the achievement of the NNLT objective by discussing the need for an operational definition of land take, how different countries are implementing measures to achieve the NNLT objective and the various discourses that take place in these countries around NNLT. In addition, it sets out to inspire stakeholders at different levels of governance by presenting the implemented approaches in various regions and Member States to address potential challenges.