Environment Archives - Page 3 of 11 - Agricultural and Rural Convention

The Myth of Climate Smart Agriculture – Why Less Bad Isn’t Good

June 1, 2020 Andrea Beste

The “modern” intensive agricultural system does the climate more harm than good. That’s a fact, no matter how much Big Data or precision farming you throw at it. We need to look outside that system for solutions. In this excerpt from an evidence-based study commissioned by Martin Häusling MEP, Dr Andrea Beste and Dr Anita Idel question the climate potential of precision agriculture and the demonization of cattle, and make the case for grazing animals, organic farming, agroforestry and permaculture. […]

Reforesting Portugal: Taking Communites From Extraction to Regeneration

May 29, 2020 Antonieta Lopes

From the ashes of Portugal’s devastating wildfires in 2017 rose Reflorestar Portugal, a national network for forest and ecosystem regeneration. In this interview for ARC2020, Susana Guimarães, coordinator of Reflorestar Portugal, speaks to Antonieta Lopes about empowering local communities to be guardians of the forest, moving from an extractive to a regenerative economy, and letting go of what has proven to be of no use to us. […]

EU Pesticide Risk Assessment Practices Slammed in New Study

May 10, 2020 ARC

A new peer-reviewed paper has identified systemic failings in Europe’s pesticide risk assessment process. Written by Claire Robinson and a group of experts in law, policy, and toxicology, our paper outlines how these failings could seriously undermine ambitions for sustainable agriculture and a “green recovery” from the COVID-19 pandemic – and proposes a comprehensive agenda for reform. […]

IPES-Food on Covid-19: Protect the Vulnerable, Build Resilience, Stay Vigilant

April 17, 2020 Louise Kelleher

The Covid-19 pandemic has put our food systems to the test, exposing the vulnerabilities of an unsustainable status quo. In a communiqué released on Tuesday, IPES-Food slams shortsighted solutions to the crisis. Calling for a paradigm shift to agroecological farming, it says now is the time to transform the seeds of change into the foundations of a resilient new food system. Industrial food systems are being peddled as solutions when in fact they are the problem. Louise Kelleher reports. […]

Winning the Battle with the Agri-Giant Next Door

April 9, 2020 Louise Kelleher

Czech organic farmer Libor Kožnar has won his yearlong battle with Agrofert, the agribusiness empire operating next to his small holding. He lost the organic certification for his wheat due to fertiliser drift from an Agrofert sprayer. Agrofert is a multimillion euro conglomerate with ties to the Czech prime minister, currently under investigation in a conflict of interest case by the European Commission. […]

For the Sake of Nature and the Climate, Europe must not CAP its Ambitions

April 9, 2020 ARC

The European Commission continues to describe the Common Agricultural Policy as “ambitious”, yet its own evaluation of the CAP’s impact reveals that the farm subsidy scheme is inflicting massive damage on Europe’s biodiversity, water resources and nature. In this in-depth feature, Célia Nyssens of the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) explains why the CAP is not fit for purpose and outlines how it can be reformed. […]

Poking Holes in Farm to Fork: Environmental Groups Seek a Coherent Vision

March 24, 2020 Louise Kelleher

Healthy ecosystems are the foundation for food production, but they are pushed to breaking point by the current system. In the face of existential threats, Farm to Fork needs a coherent vision. Friends of the Earth Europe, WWF, Birdlife Europe, Greenpeace, ClientEarth and Pesticides Action Network weigh in on the European Commission’s Roadmap to food sustainability. […]

The CAP and Climate Ambition – Myth vs Reality

March 10, 2020 Joost de Jong

CAP supposedly is climate ambitious, but it fails to really deliver. So what could be done differently? Joost de Jong of the Dutch Transition Coalition of Food Systems gives us some suggestions. […]

3,600 Scientists Call For CAP Overhaul

March 9, 2020 Helene Schulze

Today, over 3,600 scientists from all EU countries have together declared that the post-2020 CAP fails to reverse damage to the environment and restore nature and must be “drastically improved.” Addressing the European Parliament, Council and Commission they argue for a future-proof, evidence-based CAP, proposing ten action points, to ensure biodiversity conservation, climate mitigation and sustainable food production. […]

Commission’s Dodgy Calculations Improve CAP’s Climate Impact

February 27, 2020 Louise Kelleher

The “Green Deal” Commission promises big spending on climate. If climate markers are to be believed, the current CAP accounts for 22% of the EU’s climate spending. The post-2020 CAP is poised to take even more climate credit. But the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) claims the Commission’s climate markers miss the mark. In a report released earlier this month the IEEP sounds the alarm on faulty climate accounting and greenwashing of direct payments. […]

350,000 Tonnes of Pesticides Sold in EU Each Year – Still No Clear Picture of the Risks

February 10, 2020 Louise Kelleher

The European Commission needs to pull up its socks on pesticides says the European Court of Auditors. More than 10 years since the directive on the sustainable use of pesticides, it still isn’t doing enough to measure and reduce the risks, finds a report released last week. Louise Kelleher has more. […]

For Peat’s Sake – Paludiculture and a Wetter, Better CAP

February 3, 2020 Jan Peters

Fully functional, healthy peatlands are the most effective long-term carbon store and sink on the planet. But what sort of state are they in, and what role for agriculture and CAP. And just what is Paludiculture? Jan Peters and colleagues assess the terrain. […]

COP25 climate summit: Action must include divestment, decolonization and resistance

December 12, 2019 ARC

We are in the midst of a global environmental crisis and the sense of urgency becomes ever more evident with each additional story of climate disasters, ecological tipping points and climate records being shattered somewhere in the world. How deep do our adjustments really have to be? […]

Less is More: Upland Farming Economics

December 2, 2019 ARC

A new report using economic research from 46 farms aims to improve understanding of the underlying economics of upland farming, and how this can be improved to both benefit the environment and increase the financial resilience of these businesses. […]

What would really happen to GHG Emissions if England and Wales went Organic?

November 26, 2019 ARC

A recent study from Cranfield University, published in Nature Communications, claims that Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions would increase in England and Wales, were these two countries to convert to 100% organic. This is because without dietary change, imports into England and Wales would increase. But is this the whole story? […]