{"id":26510,"date":"2020-03-13T00:01:38","date_gmt":"2020-03-13T04:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=26510"},"modified":"2020-03-12T23:17:27","modified_gmt":"2020-03-13T03:17:27","slug":"european-commissions-agricultural-policy-clashes-with-its-green-deal-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2020\/03\/european-commissions-agricultural-policy-clashes-with-its-green-deal-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"European Commission’s Agricultural Policy Clashes with Its ‘Green Deal’ Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

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(Beyond Pesticides<\/em>, March 13, 2020) The European Commission\u2019s proposed (post-2020) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a failure and must be dramatically changed to embrace organic practices and support small farmers, according to a paper written by 21 scientists and published in the British Ecological Society\u2019s journal, People and Nature<\/em><\/a>. The authors point to provisions that permit anemic implementation of critical sustainability goals, and say that as it stands, the CAP fails \u201cwith respect to biodiversity, climate, soil, [and] land degradation as well as socio\u2010economic challenges.\u201d The authors call on the European Parliament, Council, and Commission to adopt 10 urgent action points<\/a> that advance a goal that \u201call CAP elements, without exception, should be aligned with the principles of sustainability, multi\u2010functionality and public payments for public goods.\u201d The paper\u2019s authors say<\/a> that the CAP continues, in fact, to support practices that exacerbate the climate emergency, soil erosion, land degradation, and biodiversity loss, and fails to fund initiatives that could address climate and other critical issues.<\/p>\n

Happening concurrently with the CAP is development of the European Commission\u2019s (EC\u2019s) \u201cEuropean Green Deal<\/a>,\u201d which the EC describes as a roadmap for\u00a0making the EU\u2019s economy sustainable, and making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. The European Green Deal website<\/a> further says: \u201cThis will happen\u00a0<\/strong>by turning climate and environmental challenges into opportunities across all policy areas and making the transition just and inclusive for all.\u201d The European Commission (EC) recently announced \u200bplans to make the deal\u00a0legally binding for all member states<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The sentiments of the paper \u2014 Action needed for the EU Common Agricultural Policy to address sustainability challenges<\/em><\/a> \u2014 are endorsed by 3600 scientists from 63 countries, as reported by BirdLife International<\/a>. Beyond Pesticides has pointed, for years, to the need for a shift to organic and regenerative agricultural<\/a> practices that do achieve gains<\/a> for soil health, climate mitigation, ecosystem health, and biodiversity. The rise in demand for organics is one sign of progress<\/a> because organic agriculture is not only a solution to the global food crisis, but also, to the health and ecological risks of conventional, chemically intensive farming.<\/p>\n

As reported by The New York Times<\/em><\/a>, the planned overhaul of Europe\u2019s farm policy and plan for 2021\u20132027, and its funding \u2014 to be negotiated during 2020 \u2014 is largely \u201cbusiness as usual\u201d in new, \u201cclimate friendly\u201d packaging, according to these critics, who say it does not do nearly enough to protect the environment or support small farmers. The plan receives particular scorn because: (1) farmers would continue to be paid subsidies on the basis of the acreage they cultivate, rather than for implementing environmentally sound practices (such as organic farming and agro-forestry), and (2) subsidies would continue to be paid for livestock farming, which worsens greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n

Birdlife.org writes<\/a>: \u201cThe scientists express concern that national governments and the Agriculture Committee of the European Parliament are diluting the environmental ambitions of the CAP \u2018to defend the interests of a few at the expense of the many.\u2019 At present, the main factor determining how much \u2018income support\u2019 a CAP recipient gets is the size of their farm: 80% of these payments goes to 20% of farmers. This means that farmers are stuck in a system where those with the most land receive most of the money \u2014 regardless of the environmental quality of their farming. A recent\u00a0New York Times investigation<\/a>\u00a0has already exposed how the CAP serves narrow, national, oligarchical and agro-industry interests, even directly benefiting Czech Prime Minister, billionaire Andrej Babi\u0161.\u201d To boot, the authors charge<\/a> that the CAP would continue to waste taxpayer funds on measures that are ineffective: \u201c\u2018Billions of euros of taxpayers\u2019 money are about to be poured down the drain,\u2019 the scientists said in a statement.\u201d<\/p>\n

A 2019 New York Times<\/em> article<\/a> covered the contrast between Europe\u2019s \u201cgreen\u201d reputation and the reality of its current farm policy, the ongoing damage from which includes dead zones in the Baltic Sea from agricultural runoff and increased farm emissions of greenhouse gases. In addition, the NYT<\/em> has reported on the extensive corruption, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, in the system of agricultural subsidies, which comprise nearly 40% of Europe\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n

The chief concerns the paper cites about the CAP<\/a> are that it would:<\/p>\n