EU Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies: a new path for a greener, more sustainable and resilient Europe
Brussels, 20 May 2020 – Agroecology Europe welcomes today the publication of the EU Commission Farm to Fork (F2F) and Biodiversity strategies as two positive signals of changes and improvements towards a greener, more sustainable and resilient Europe.
Regardless of huge lobby pressures from all sides and recognising that “There is an urgent need to reduce dependency on pesticides and antimicrobials, reduce excess fertilisation, increase organic farming, improve animal welfare, and reverse biodiversity loss”1 and that “Protecting and restoring biodiversity and well-functioning ecosystems is therefore key to boost our resilience and prevent the emergence and spread of future diseases”2, the EU Commission has paved the way for a great environmental transition.
Even better, the EU Commission Biodiversity Strategy recognises that “Agroecology can provide healthy food while maintaining productivity, increase soil fertility and biodiversity, and reduce the footprint of food production”!
More concretely, actions will be taken at EU level to achieve the following targets:
• Reduction by 50% of the use of and risk from chemical and more hazardous pesticides by 2030;
• Replacing pesticides with agroecological practices;
• Reduction of nutrient losses by at least 50%, while ensuring no deterioration on soil fertility and reduction of fertilizer use by at least 20% by 2030;
Reduction by 50% of antimicrobials for farmed animals and in aquaculture by 2030;
• Achieving 25% of total farmland under organic farming by 2030;
• Achieving at least 10% of agricultural area under high-diversity landscape features.
All these targets can of course not be achieved without the support of the CAP that focuses on the Green Deal, nor without the full cooperation of the Member States and the farmers. As Commissioner Kyriakides stated this afternoon at the live press conference: “Without a healthy planet, farmers will have nowhere to farm”.
Like many, Agroecology Europe still considers these targets far from what would be needed to restore biodiversity. But let us be positive today and consider these strategies as a milestone, a turning point, the beginning of a shift of paradigm where sustainability, resilience and the environment will be at the centre of every future policy and legislation.
1 COM(2020)381 final
2 COM(2020)380 final
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