Impact case study database

Working with both public and private sector organisations, Day and the LEEP team applied innovative NCA methods that have: (i) accelerated the application of natural capital values into decision-making through the creation of freely-available decision-support tools ( ORVal and NEVO) recommended and used by government, and directly benefiting business practices; (ii) helped to solve strategic, investment and operational challenges linked to natural capital issues; and (iii) designed and helped deliver pioneering ‘Payments for Ecosystem Services’ (PES) schemes, bringing about environmental change and millions of pounds of cost savings, to business and their customers. This work has been developed within the context of the UK Government’s ambition to improve the environment, and recognition of the investment potential of adopting a NCA [3.1], as set out by the Government's advisory Natural Capital Committee in its 2020 Progress Report on the implementation of the UK government’s ‘25 Year Environment Plan’ [5.1a].

Accelerating the adoption and application of the NCA in decision-making

Day and Binner’s development of two ground-breaking tools, ORVal [3.2] and NEVO **[**developed from 3.4], have benefitted business and accelerated both the adoption and application of the NCA. Both tools were powerfully endorsed by the UK Government’s Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra), in its highly influential 2020 guidance ‘Enabling a Natural Capital Approach’ [5.1b, c]. The uptake of both tools has had a major impact on decision-making across national and local government, businesses and the third sector, generating significant benefits for society.

Built as a front-end interface to the Outdoor Recreation Valuation (ORVal) model [3.2], the ORVal website is a game-changing online and open-access valuation tool. The UK government’s landmark 25 Year Environment Plan described ORVal as “ ground-breaking” and “ world-leading” [5.2]. Other examples of government endorsement include: HM Treasury 2018 Green Book [5.2]; Department for Communities and Local Government’s 2017 Housing White Paper [5.2]; and Public Health England’s 2020 guidance to local authority public health and planning teams [5.3].

Through these endorsements and open-access, online accessibility, ORVal has been widely adopted in many contexts. Examples include: (i) calculating ‘public realm welfare values’ in a successful GBP250 million business case for Forward Funding made to the Housing Infrastructure Fund in 2018 for the ‘Old Oak’ regeneration development delivering 25,500 new homes; (ii) supporting Kent County Council’s business case to fund its Rights of Way Improvement Plan (2018-2028) and as evidence in a related Public Enquiry; and (iii) preparing the first set of Natural Capital Accounts for greenspace in London’s public parks in 2017; where ORVal-derived recreation value accounted for over GBP17 billion, some 19% of the total gross asset value ( GBP91 billion), supporting the case for continued or improved public funding of the parks [5.3].

Survey evidence demonstrates that use of ORVal has also delivered improvements to practitioner’s working practices in terms of improved quality, efficiency, flexibility and productivity and has led to better evidenced decision-making [5.4]. Additionally, ORVal has become the ‘go-to’ tool for a range of private sector businesses, including Mott MacDonald, AECOM, JBA Consulting and Eftec [5.4]. Director of environmental consultancy Eftec, said it had “ inspired” them and was “ a game-changer” [5.4].

In writing to personally thank Prof. Day and the LEEP team for their work developing ORVal, Defra’s Deputy Director of the Environment Analysis Unit wrote:

“*ORVal has, without precedent…. been uniquely empowering in the way it enables non-specialists rapidly to access and to understand the substantial public value provided by accessible natural environments, and how this varies spatially.*” [5.2]

Funded by Defra (2016-19), LEEP also developed NEVO, an open-access, online version of the Natural Environment Valuation (NEV) suite of models [3.4]. A unique application, NEVO is unprecedented in bringing the power of integrated modelling to the fingertips of practitioners needing to assess a diverse range of environmental costs and benefits arising from changes in land-use in the UK.

Launched in October 2019, NEVO was recommended by the Committee on Climate Change [5.3], an independent, statutory body advising government on building a low-carbon economy and preparing for climate change, and the National Infrastructure Commission for the natural capital analysis of the ‘Rail Needs Assessment’ [5.3]. NEVO is being used by the Environment Agency for a variety of different purposes, including a judicial review of Diffuse Water Pollution Plans [5.4]. A diverse range of local organisations, such as Shropshire Council, The Rivers Trust and a National Park, are using it to assess the effect of potential land-use change on, for example, carbon sequestration, river water quality and biodiversity [5.4].

Environmental consultancies also use NEVO in their commercial practices as a knowledge-gathering, high-level screening and analysis tool [5.4]. Mott MacDonald’s Environmental Scientists [5.4] found that NEVO’s accessible interface enabled them to upskill staff, routinely introduce welfare values into environmental assessments (which would previously have been impossible) and boost their commercial capability, stating that:

“being… an early adopter of these tools [NEVO & ORVal] provides a large reputational benefit… and with that a commercial advantage.” [5.4]

Furthermore, Eftec consultancy reported that 33% of their annual turnover related to work on projects which incorporate values derived from NEVO and ORVal [5.4].

Using the NCA to solve strategic, investment and operational challenges In partnership with numerous businesses, organisations and public bodies, LEEP has developed tailored evidence and advice through natural capital valuation and application of the NCA [3.1-3.4].

Day and team worked with South West Water (SWW) on the natural capital evidence that underpinned their Price Review 2019 (PR19) submission to the Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat). SWW's ‘Upstream Thinking’ Environmental Programme Manager credited this work with enabling SWW to adopt a ‘natural capital approach’ to their investments, which helped them convey their PR19 submission more effectively to Ofwat [5.5a]. Furthermore, he states that the success of adopting this approach “ was reflected” in their achieving ‘Fast Track Status’ (with a cost saving to SWW of GBP 200 million), in addition to securing funding of GBP 15 million for natural capital investments [5.5a, b]. LEEP’s partnership with SWW, in collaboration with others at University of Exeter, led SWW to commit £21M co-funding in their 2020-25 business plan to establish a dedicated research centre at the University of Exeter, the Centre for Resilience in the Environment, Water and Waste (CREWW).

[5.5a, b].

Advice and evidence provided by LEEP to consultants AECOM on the public benefits of river quality improvements, underpinned by LEEP methodological advances [3.2; 3.3; 3.4], also supported Yorkshire Water’s (YW) PR19 Business Case for investment in waste water treatment and 5 year Asset Management Plan. These contributions enabled YW to adopt a NCA and more effectively evaluate how the GBP772 million of customer money allocated by Ofwat for environmental improvements could be spent, for example, on improving sewage infrastructure or enhancing river water quality [5.6].

LEEP’s engagement with diverse non-academic partners has underpinned a number of other major investments. The Natural Environment Research Council funded GBP5 million South West Partnership for Environment and Economic Prosperity (SWEEP) programme (2017-2022), led by Bateman, with partners in the University of Plymouth and Plymouth Marine Laboratory, is delivering NCA solutions to over 200 businesses, public and third sector bodies in the South West, across a wide range of sectors. It has contributed to, or informed, 23 different private and public sector policies, strategies, business or management plans, including the Environment Agency’s GBP140 million ‘Coastal Modelling and Forecasting Strategy’ and Cornwall Council’s GBP30 million ‘Forest for Cornwall’. [5.7a]. Likewise LEEP’s new ‘Dragon Capital Chair in Biodiversity Economics’ (set up in May 2020) is a GBP1.6 million investment by the Dragon Capital Group focused on delivering natural capital solutions to problems of global biodiversity loss [5.7b].

‘Payments for Ecosystem Services’ schemes - incentivising environmental improvements

LEEP has also pioneered the application of ‘Payments for Ecosystem Services’ (PES) schemes [3.5; 3.6], in both public and private sector organisations, incentivising landowners to deliver environmental services through changes in land management.

Working with Anglian Water in 2016-17, LEEP designed the first PES scheme to eliminate pollution from the pesticide Metaldehyde in the catchments of strategic water supply reservoirs. The highly innovative scheme encouraged complete within-catchment participation and was described by Anglian’s Head of Environmental Quality as a “real game-changer”, explaining that it saved Anglian Water GBP 500 million in avoided costs; “a bill that customers would somehow have borne all or part of” [5.8].

From 2017 to present, LEEP has worked with EnTrade, a company implementing PES auctions for a variety of clients in the UK. Responding to various issues with EnTrade’s auction implementations, LEEP proposed a first-of-its-kind, uniform-price design. This was adopted by EnTrade and implemented on behalf of Wessex Water (WW) in a scheme seeking to reduce agricultural nitrate pollution in Poole Harbour. The new design delivered a 30% fall in the price the water company had to pay to land owners for each tonne of nitrate removal activity. As reported by Entrade’s Production Manager, this saving convinced WW to expand the size of the scheme doubling nitrate removals from Poole harbour and delivering a GBP 6 million saving to the water company and, as a consequence, the water company’s customers [5.9].

In 2020, the Forestry Commission (FC) launched its GBP50 million Woodland Carbon Guarantee (WCG) to support woodland planting over 5 years by offering guaranteed prices for carbon sequestered in growing trees through a series of auctions. LEEP worked with the FC to design an auction which encouraged competitive applications [5.10]. The Head of Economics at Scottish Forestry explained that it “would have been difficult … to design the auction effectively without [LEEP] input”, which was “instrumental” and allowed the FC to support woodland planting, which would not have otherwise happened, by incentivising future CO₂ removals at a carbon price of about one third of the government’s estimated values required to meet climate change targets. The FC considered this “a very successful outcome” that had “impressed” H.M. Treasury [5.10].

Better understanding and measurement of the Tax Gap is a top priority for all revenue agencies. TARC research has delivered impact to national government tax and revenue collection agencies in four different countries – the UK, Greece, Bulgaria, and Rwanda - generated through collaborative working approaches with national agencies: UK’s HMRC, the Independent Authority for Public Revenue of the Hellenic Republic (IAPR), Bulgarian National Revenue Agency (BRNA) and Rwanda Revenue Agency (RRA). TARC research has provided robust confirmation of existing estimates of Tax Gaps; helped identify the economic sectors which are more prone to under-declaring their tax liabilities; and contributed to national reforms including the restructuring of tax auditing and planning. The research also contributed to the international tax and revenue community through work with the prominent European Commission’s Tax Gap Project Group and through leading an influential International Monetary Fund review of their TADAT tool.

Informing UK Government Tax Policy: The underpinning research [3.1] confirmed HMRC estimates of Tax Gap magnitudes relating to self-employed income in the UK, providing them with “external assurance” [5.1] and a powerful measure of the robustness of their own analytical approach. The research was the “outcome of longstanding collaboration” [5.1], co-developed by TARC and the HMRC’s Tax Gap team between 2014 and 2016, along with contributions from HMRC’s Knowledge, Analytics and Investigations Team and Hidden Economy Team. It was driven by HMRC’s strategy around the validation of its approaches by obtaining alternative measurements of the UK’s Tax Gap, to deepen its understanding of that gap, and provide “ the foundation for HMRC’s strategies which are most effective at reducing the gap” [5.1]. .

The TARC Programme Manager for HMRC explained: “ *Professor Kotsogiannis provided work which supported HMRC’s understanding of the self-employed income Tax Gap. This has been a valuable contribution to HMRC. Estimating the Tax Gap…is an important tool for understanding the relative size and nature of non-compliance.*” [5.1]. As the research also identifies ‘risky sectors’ (i.e. those most prone to tax under-reporting), she further confirmed that HMRC was able to more efficiently target their auditing and tax investigation resources towards these sectors [5.1]: “the research developed the approach to explore under-declaration of second/additional incomes, which are part of the moonlighting hidden economy” and therefore “provided valuable external insight into the key sectors in which this took place” [5.1]. Between 2014 and 2018, Kotsogiannis’ team delivered six presentations (based on **[3.1, 3.2]**) to HMRC’s Tax Gap team which “helped to build shared understanding on the range of analytical approaches” available to HMRC [5.1].

Informing International Tax Policies

European Commission Tax Gap Project Group: The impact of the research [3.1] was extended through Kotsogiannis being invited to present findings to the prominent Tax Gap Project Group, established under the EU’s FISCALIS 2020 programme. Coordinated by the EC’s Directorate General for Taxation and Customs Union, this Group was established to pool knowledge and share experience in existing Tax Gap estimations across the EU-28. In Nov 2015, Kotsogiannis presented to representatives of EU member states’ National Revenue Authorities working on the Tax Gap and the Hidden Economy, and the research was cited in, and contributed, to the Tax Gap Project Group’s 2016 report: ‘The Concept of Tax Gaps. Report on VAT Gap Estimations’ [5.2].

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International Monetary Fund (IMF): As a further measure of the global significance and impact reach of TARC’s work, Kotsogiannis was approached by the IMF to work collaboratively with a team of experts, to evaluate the impact of their world-leading TADAT tool – the International Tax Administration Diagnostic Assessment Tool. This tool assesses the speed of tax administration reforms and intends to improve performance of tax assessment globally.

Led to profound shifts in UK environmental and agricultural policy

From 2015 to 2020, LEEP research directly shaped the transformation of the UK Government’s approach to environmental and agricultural policy. Through influencing policy principles, developing the content of core policy materials and delivering policy-critical evidence, LEEP has helped guide a profound shift in the policy landscape towards reversing environmental decline, tackling climate change and bringing enduring benefits to society.

Through his eminent position on the Government’s independent Natural Capital Committee (NCC), reporting to H.M. Treasury and advising Defra, Bateman advised government (2015-2020; **[5.1]**) on the valuation and efficient allocation of environmental resources [3.1, 3.2, 3.4]. This advice was delivered through more than twenty official papers to government and Ministers, a series of personal ministerial briefings with the Secretary of State for the Environment and through reports to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Through these routes, LEEP research findings and advice were directly incorporated into the seminal 25 Year Environment Plan (25YEP; [5.2]), initially proposed by Bateman and NCC colleagues in 2016. Widely regarded as pioneering, the 25YEP laid out a long-term plan for improving the environment based on natural capital principles and, as such, became “ the cornerstone of environmental improvement” [5.1].

In writing to thank Bateman for his “ ground-breaking” [5.1] work with other NCC members proposing the 25YEP, the Head of the Defra NCC Secretariat, stated:

“Professor Bateman led the work on land use and agriculture in the initial (25YEP) proposal. (His) advice was therefore pivotal in both proposing and shaping the 25 YEP”. [5.1]

In 2017, the Secretary of State for the Environment accepted the 25YEP proposal and formally requested advice from the NCC on how to “ enshrine the 25YEP in legislation and ensure it is implemented effectively” [5.1]. Bateman was subsequently lead author of the NCC’s influential response, [5.1], the 2017 report ‘Advice to Government on the 25YEP’ [5.3]. Of the 14 policy recommendations set out in this report [5.3, p.6-7], 11 were subsequently adopted by government into the new Environment Bill [5.1; 5.3]. This included advice on the requirement for statutory targets for environmental improvement and creation of the Office for Environmental Protection designed to uphold environmental legislation [5.1], as confirmed in the UK government Spending Review 2020.

Guiding “ the biggest change in agricultural policy in half a century” [5.4], LEEP research and advice additionally laid out the case for replacement of the inefficient allocation of farm support payments under the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), with a new system based on the principle of ‘public money for public goods’. This system was formally adopted into the new Agriculture Act 2020 and LEEP’s impact acknowledged [5.1]:

“Professor Bateman’s advice … directly influenced Defra’s post-Brexit agricultural policy. Specifically … research findings as set out in Bateman & Balmford (2018) [3.2] , resulted in the adoption of the concept ‘public money for public goods’ as the central and transformative principle of the new Agriculture Bill”. [5.1]

Enabled the design of UK agricultural policy implementation post-Brexit

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Embedded environmental value requirements into H.M. Treasury public spending guidelines

The 2018 revision of the H.M. Treasury ‘Central Government Guidance on Appraisal and Evaluation’, better known as the ‘Green Book’ – the official guidelines used by all government departments and agencies to prepare government spending business cases – provides further evidence of the recent paradigm shift in government decision-making around environmental policy and valuation [5.7].

Bateman, in his pivotal role on the NCC, co-authored ground-breaking sections of the revised 2018 Green Book guidance [5.7; 5.8, 3.4], namely Chapter 6 “Valuation of Costs and Benefits” and Appendix A2: “Non-market Valuation and Unmonetisable Values”. Based on LEEP research and advice, this revision - the first in 15 years [5.8] - updated guidance on appraising environmental values in response to the UK’s adoption of the 25YEP and introduced the notion of ensuring that natural capital stocks did not fall below crucial tipping points [3.5]. These changes elevated the value of ecosystem services to a position of parity with the financial costs and benefits routinely evaluated in project and policy appraisal. Application of Green Book guidance will deliver enduring benefits to society, through the sustainable provision of critical environmental services, such as clean air and water, the fertility of soils, mitigation of floods, climate stability, and the space to connect with nature.

Bateman was subsequently asked by H.M. Treasury [5.7] to deliver a unique cross-government event to present methods for applying the new Green Book guidance on environmental values. This event (April 2019) was attended by economists from no less than 12 of the 24 ministerial government departments, and 7 further government agencies and public bodies [5.7].

In thanking Bateman for his contributions to the 2018 revised Green Book, Head of the Economics Branch, HM Treasury and Editor of the Green Book) wrote:

“My colleagues and I are very grateful for your invaluable advice and input ...[to] the new Green Book. … The resulting guidance is likely to be both enduring and provide a lasting legacy. Your contribution will therefore have a considerable and lasting impact upon the public policy and spending appraisal for many years to come.” [5.7]

Since publication in March 2018, the revised Green Book has been actively used to appraise Government projects and policies. In 2019, a NCC-commissioned review of the official appraisals of over 200 government spending decisions with significant natural capital effects confirmed that the new Green Book guidance had been applied, and so shaped government spending decisions worth many billions of pounds [5.9]. An example is provided by the Defra ‘Biodiversity net gain and local nature recovery strategies’ programme [5.10] which aims to deliver benefits to the environment and society through habitat creation and avoided habitat loss. Approved by the Regulatory Policy Committee’s Impact Assessment in 2019, it conforms to the guidance in sections of the new Green Book guidelines, that were co-authored and based on LEEP research, and delivers a net present value of approximately GBP 8.2 billion [5.10]. All government spending now has to conform to these guidelines, affecting GPB127 billion of public sector investments (to Dec 2020), since the 2018 Green Book revision was published [5.7].

McCorriston and Davidson’s research developed the UK Government’s internal capacity to better understand, analyse and model food price and food trade issues. At the time of the Brexit referendum, it underpinned public and ministerial debate around the potential impact of Brexit on UK food prices. Furthermore, McCorriston’s research highlighted the importance of competition issues in the context of global economic reform of food and agricultural sectors, leading to national and international food policy and food trade reform.

Boosting the UK government food price forecasting capabilities; and informing strategic approaches to food policy

McCorriston, Davidson and colleagues developed the UK Food Price Forecasting Tool for the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in 2011, based on research outlined in [3.4], in response to the global commodity crises of 2007 and 2011 affecting UK food price inflation at the time.

The Tool continued to be used by Defra staff from Aug 2013 onwards, to produce 6-monthly forecasts of UK food price inflation, where none had previously been available. Results were used to brief senior Defra ministers, notably the Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (2015-19) and cross-departmental collaborations, notably with HM Treasury (HMT) [5.1]. They also routinely underpinned Defra’s monthly Food Price Inflation Note, providing context to Office for National Statistics (ONS) monthly inflation reports, and which are sent to the ministerial team [5.1]. Additionally, results from the Tool directly underpinned the hugely influential Methodology Note, co-ordinated by Defra and HMT, entitled ‘ How Defra has estimated the potential effect of import tariffs on UK food prices, May 2016’. This Note provided the only publicly available assessment of the potential impact of Brexit on UK food prices and was used to inform public debate and government ministers, alike, at the time of the Brexit Referendum [5.1].

A Defra Economist also credited McCorriston with embedding understanding of food price inflation drivers into Defra’s wider, strategic thinking:

“it is impossible to overstate the… enormous influence of your ideas, concepts and work around the drivers and forecasting of food price inflation… without (this), *we would have none of the rich, complexity of understanding about these issues that we have today.*” [5.1]

In 2020, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) updated its in-house econometric model used to forecast different subsets of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), drawing directly on research in [3.4]. A Senior OBR Economist directly credits McCorriston’s research and advice with enabling them to become “ more confident in forecasting UK food price inflation” and having “ *enhanced an important aspect of the OBR’s forecasting capability.*” [5.2].

Further contributions to strategic review and policy change are evidenced by other uses of the research [3.3; 3.4]. Specifically, findings informed: (1) oral and written evidence presented by McCorriston on food price issues to the House of Lords Sub-Committee on ‘Responding to price volatility: creating a more resilient agricultural sector’ in 2015 [5.3]; and (2) Contributions to Chapter 7 ‘International Dimensions of Climate Change’ of the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 2017 Report, specifically on the potential impact on UK food prices due to climate change impact on the global food system [5.4].

In recognition of his field-leading research, McCorriston was appointed to Defra’s Economic Advisory Panel (EAP) in 2018 for a 5-year term to advise on food chain issues and assessments of food and agricultural trade issues.

Recognition of ‘Competition in the Food Chain’ issues within OECD countries, leading to international policy reform

In the aftermath of the world commodity crises of 2007-08 and 2011, international policy makers were increasingly concerned with competition issues in the food chain. For example, there were concerns about the impact of increasing market concentration in all stages of the food chain and the transmission of shocks from world to domestic retail markets, and their effect on agricultural producers, firms in the food sector and ultimately domestic consumers.

Based on his profile and research on these issues [3.1, 3.3], McCorriston was personally invited by the OECD Competition Directorate in 2013 to define the policy agenda for the OECD Roundtable in Paris (Oct 2013) on ‘Competition in the Food Chain’, by: (i) preparing a letter to delegates, on behalf of the Chair of the OECD Competition Committee, describing the competition issues and problems to be addressed at the Roundtable event [5.5a]; and, (ii) supplying a landmark report ‘Competition Issues in Food Chain’ [5.5b] for OECD publication which summarised the main competition concerns in the food sector across OECD countries. The Roundtable event was attended by anti-trust authorities (that promote fair competition in markets for the benefit of consumers and businesses) from all OECD member countries as well as national and international stakeholder groups,

In response to the event, submissions were received from 31 OECD member countries, detailing their country-specific issues and outlining their policy responses [5.5c]. The event raised international awareness of buyer power issues in the food chain and developed a shared understanding of actual and potential policy responses and comparative experiences of food sector competition issues amongst OECD member countries.

The highly influential OECD Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) subsequently advised that competition in the food supply chain industry should receive equal weight in enforcement, as compared to other sectors, e.g. financial markets or high-tech industries. They also advised that policies designed to address distributional or protectionist concerns, may have unintended consequences, and so should not be addressed within competition law, but rather through non-competition law or codes of practice [5.5d].

Furthermore, the event and OECD report authored by McCorriston [5.5b] directly contributed to:

• Creation of the EU Directive (2019/633) on ‘unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships in the agricultural and food supply chain’, through highlighting the range of complex concerns that farmers in OECD countries face when dealing with firms in a highly concentrated food sector [5.6a].

• OECD review of ‘Competition Policy in the Mexican Grocery Retail Industry’, through providing the context of competition issues across different food sector environments [5.6b].

Underpinning global acceptance of the links between competition policy and food security, leading to international policy reform

McCorriston’s research underpinned an international acceptance of the importance of competition policy as an instrument of government in promoting food security in developing countries. In 2015, McCorriston was invited by the United Nations (UN) Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) to prepare an influential technical paper on ‘Competition and Food Security’ [5.7a], in part due to his 2013 commission from the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID) to conduct a systematic review on the links between trade reforms and food security in developing countries. The technical paper contributed directly to the FAO’s flagship 2015-2016 ‘State of Agricultural Commodity Markets’ report, on the links between trade and food security [5.7b].

The Director of the Food Systems and Food Safety Division, FAO described the FAO flagship report as “ highly influential in bridging the gap between economic research and national policies” [5.8] and the significance of the 2015-16 report’s focus as:

“a crucial issue for the FAO and policymakers to address, as many developing countries are highly dependent on agricultural exports for a significant proportion of their total export earnings while many others are highly dependent on imports for the provision of food staples… therefore key to the development of appropriate policies in many developing countries.” [5.8]

The flagship report [5.7b] and McCorriston’s underpinning technical paper [5.7a] were presented to an FAO ‘expert group’ and attributed, by the Director of Food Systems & Safety, as being an “ important influence” leading to the following “ international impacts”:

1. FAO support provided to countries involved in renegotiation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Agriculture and developing the understanding of WTO negotiators;

2. “instrumental” in developing the FAO work programme within the Trade and Markets Division, “ particularly in guiding deliberations of the FAO Committee on Commodity Problems in October 2016”;

3. “informing the allocation of resources (staff and financial) to trade related work in support of FAOs Strategic Objective on ‘Enabling more efficient and inclusive agricultural and food systems”.

4. “influential in recognising the… priority that should be given to competition policy as an instrument of government in promoting food security … (and) *that issues around market competition need to be integral to the development of actionable solutions developed in the process towards the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit.*” [5.8]

The impact of McCorriston’s research on competition issues in developing countries extends further. The 2016 World Bank Report ‘Breaking down Barriers: Unlocking Africa’s Potential through Vigorous Competition Policy’ [5.9] cites McCorriston’s underpinning research [3.3] reflecting the importance and widespread reach of this research. McCorriston also played a leading role in preparing a 2015 report recommending wide-scale reforms to Liberia’s agricultural sector; it being one of the world’s poorest countries and recovering from civil conflict. The report, coordinated by the International Growth Centre (IGC), was delivered to the Liberian Cabinet. Concerns, highlighting priorities for reform in the rice market, were subsequently incorporated into the Government of Liberia’s strategy document “Food and Agriculture Policy and Strategy: From Subsistence to Sufficiency” [5.10].