380 results found for "agriculture" ordered by most recent first
Governments have shown less political will to support biodiversity conservation targets than for climate targets, but the two are actually interdependent and should be tackled together to reach our 1.5°C goal. COP15 is a crucial opportunity for them to adopt a bold Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and achieve a nature-positive world by 2030.
After experiencing the worst summer drought in 500 years and an unusually warm October, EU policymakers should be determined to make the Green Deal a success. The only way to make this happen is to tackle – once and for all – our food system, which is economically, socially and environmentally unsustainable, from the sowing of the plants we eat or feed, to the animals we farm, to our consumption patterns.
The UN Climate Change Champion for COP27, Dr Mohieldin, is right to make agriculture and food system transition the focus of the COP in Egypt this week. So far, the role of industrial agriculture systems in driving global warming has been ominously absent from international climate fora. Yet the issue of reducing industrial meat production – critical for achieving Paris goals – is the big cow in the room at COP27.
For the EU to maintain credibility as a climate leader at COP27, its upcoming Fertiliser Strategy must advance the sustainable farming agenda, not subsidise its fertiliser industry.
The time for the EU to act and minimise its share of global deforestation is now. The Deforestation-free Supply Chains Regulation is vital to begin addressing the global spillovers of the EU’s unsustainable consumption patterns, and to achieve the SDGs. This briefing analyses the potential impact of the EU Deforestation-free supply chains Regulation on smallholder farms.
The report summarises the state of play with the development of biodiversity targets for habitats and species within the EU (including in the proposed Restoration Law) and the UK. It compares the EU’s proposals with the targets that have been proposed so far in England and Northern Ireland, and concludes that they are not as ambitious, comprehensive or coherent as most of those of the EU. Whilst the legal requirement in England to halt the decline in species abundance is potentially world leading, as currently formulated, the species and habitat targets could be met whilst major declines in biodiversity continue, including in natural and semi-natural habitats and particularly vulnerable species groups.
Material consumption in the European Union is high and rising, creating significant environmental and social impacts along the value chain from raw material extraction to treatment of waste both inside and outside the EU. Several circular economy initiatives have been put forward or are expected to be implemented to slow and reduce this material throughput and therefore to mitigate its environmental and social consequences. However, all circular economy policies can have positive as well as negative environmental and social spillovers, which should be carefully assessed in policy design.
In her plans for 2023 addressed to the EU Parliament, President of the EU Commission von der Leyen did not mention the proposal for a Sustainable Food System legislative framework (SFSF). This created speculation about the timeframe of this key proposal which has been put forward as a cornerstone of the EU Green Deal for the agri-food sector. This blogpost, co-signed by members of the Think Sustainable Europe network, underlines the importance of the SFSF to be proposed next year in order to drive a sustainable transition of the EU food system, given the urgency of such a transition.
The European Green Deal (EGD) implementation would make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 by reducing GHG emissions by 55% compared with the 1990 levels. The agriculture sector will have a key role to play to reach this objective as it is expected to become the single largest emission source in the EU by 2030.
For many foreign observers, and not a few UK citizens, the peculiarity of the British political system, where approximately 0.3% of the population gets to elect the leader of the political party in power (and thus indirectly elect the new Prime Minister) has been a source of puzzlement. Not surprisingly, the rights and wrongs of this have absorbed copious newspaper columns and articles and the debate feels far from settled.
In May 2022, IEEP announced an enhanced focus on UK environmental policy and the appointment of a new Director. The Institute hopes to play an increased role in the analysis, reflection and debate that will accompany the changes induced by Brexit.
On 29 and 30 June 2022, IEEP and IDDRI welcomed members of the Think2030 platform at Sciences Po, Paris to discuss the implementation status of the European Green Deal. This report is a summary of a two-day discussion among national and EU-level policymakers, experts, representatives of civil society and the private sector on how to make the Green Deal a reality.
The EU is moving ahead on its ambition to develop and implement a European circular economy, as ambitioned by the new Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) and its subsequent proposals. However, this objective is inherently intertwined with the rest of the global trading system, in addition to continuous geopolitical developments which risk complicating an already complex transition.
When Ursula von der Leyen presented one of the most ambitious political projects to date in EU history, aiming at making Europe the first climate-neutral continent, nobody could imagine that just a few months later, an unprecedented pandemic would lock down the whole EU. Yet, and despite strong pushes to derail the European Green Deal agenda as an immediate reply to the crisis, the Green Deal stayed afloat and was even slightly boosted through the national recovery and resilient plans.
This briefing provides support to the European Parliament delegation to the 10th session of the United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (5-15 July 2022).
An often-repeated slogan holds that the fight against climate change will be won or lost in cities. Cities drive many pioneering solutions at the local level; however, they face a number of challenges in advancing the progress on climate. The new EU mission Net Zero Cities has the potential to advance their role in the ecological transition but does not come without its challenges.
Co-organised by IEEP and IDDRI and hosted in Sciences Po in Paris, the Think2030 conference is back for its third edition with a special focus on the priorities for the implementation of the European Green Deal.
Organised during the EU Green Week, this event will look at the impact of the war in Ukraine on the implementation of the Green Deal.
This brief reviews how far EU Member States’ CAP Strategic Plans address dependence on fertilisers and animal feed, and how action in this area could be stepped up before the Plans are approved by the European Commission.
The Think2030 conference is back for its third edition! This in-person event, co-organised by IEEP and IDDRI, will centre the discussion on European Green Deal implementation by 2024 and beyond.