Environment Archives - Page 6 of 11 - Agricultural and Rural Convention

Pesticides under Pressure | EU Parliament and Progressive Places Putting Biodiversity First

March 20, 2019 Louise Kelleher

With insect Armageddon and biodiversity collapse making the headlines, pesticides are public enemy No. 1. Scientists are now naming and shaming pesticides as a key driver of biodiversity loss. Even the European Parliament has caught the bug. MEPs insist that the new CAP must do more to shrug off our dependency on agrochemicals. Meanwhile farmers are showing that – with the right supports – instead of scapegoats for biodiversity loss, they can be part of the solution. […]

CAP | The Key Areas Environment Committee Put Forward

February 28, 2019 ARC

The Environment Committee (ENVI) voted on the 14th February on CAP proposals (Strategic Plans). With the Agriculture Committee voting in the coming weeks, before a full Parliament plenary, what were the key areas ENVI emphasised? […]

Organic Agriculture and the SDGs – Scientific Evidence from Comparative Research

February 25, 2019 ARC

Organic agriculture is a productive form of agriculture delivering significantly higher public goods like soil fertility, biodiversity and better quality of surface and drinking water than conventional agriculture. Consequently, organic farming and other agro-ecological approaches have great potential to contribute to the achievement of sustainability goals at both domestic and international levels. […]

Environmental Committee Gives Valentine’s Day Gift to Nature

February 14, 2019 ARC

Today (14th February) a vote was held in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. For the first time, the Environment Committee (ENVI) had some shared powers (‘competencies’) with the Agriculture committee (AGRI). Voting to dedicate E15 billion in cash for biodiversity, while also moving it away from intensive ‘factory’ farms are two of the main takeaways. Its not over yet, however, as more votes will take place. […]

Czech Republic | Chances with Wolves

January 22, 2019 Louise Kelleher

Wolves are recolonizing the Czech Republic in leaps and bounds. Farmers in affected areas have been hit by attacks on livestock and are resentful of what they see as toothless protections and unpaid compensation from the state. Conservationists welcome the wolf as a much needed predator in the ecosystem. Louise Kelleher tells us more. […]

Ammonia Pollution | The role of CAP and Northern Ireland’s State Funders

January 11, 2019 ARC

94% of all the EU’s ammonia pollution comes from farming, with nitrogen fertilizer use (both mineral and slurry) and increasing animal numbers seen as drivers. Human respiratory health, soil and water quality are just some of the concerns with excessive ammonia pollution. Here we point to some ammonia troubles in the EU. […]

Counting Apples or Oranges? | Climate Change Stats vs Food Systems Thinking

January 8, 2019 ARC

What do we count, when we count greenhouse gas emissions? What’s anthropogenic and what’s not? And how does this all relate to the food system? Gunnar Rundgren explores. […]

Palm oil – A Global Obsession With Consequences

November 28, 2018 Stuart Meikle

A UK supermarket chain’s anti-palm oil advert has been banned, it’s focus habitat destruction caused by deforestation deemed too political for public television. Stuart Meikle reports on the past and present global obsession with palm oil and whether a plea to changing Western food habits is really the way forward. […]

Beyond Agroforestry? An Introduction to Syntropic Farming

November 26, 2018 Julia Ruff

Swiss farmer Ernst Götsch has developed a variant of agroforestry called syntropic farming. So what is it – what’s different about it – and can it be part of the regenerative agriculture movement? Julia Ruff attended a workshop in Spain with Götsch and tells us about it. […]

EU | Provisional Agreement on Cadmium Limit of 60 Mg/Kg Agreed

November 20, 2018 Oliver Moore

After years of debates and wrangling, provisional agreement has been reached between European Parliament and Council to place limits on cadmium in fertilizers. The agreement places a 60 mg/kg limit on the toxin and carcinogen, to apply three years after entry into force of the new rules – most likely in 2022. […]

“Batting Away the Baddies” – Organic Food, Cancer, Herbicides and History

November 6, 2018 Oliver Moore

Cancer is an emotive topic, so when a team of French researchers say a higher frequency of organic food consumption was associated with a reduced risk of cancer people will inevitably take note – and try to take apart the study. Meanwhile, Roundup, a tool of conventional farming and land management is in the dock – and loosing – over it relationship with cancer. Oliver Moore reports, adding some broader and historical context. […]

If Not Meat Then What? Climate Change, Regenerative Ag and Viable Rural Areas

November 4, 2018 Oliver Moore

The starkness of the IPCC’s most recent climate change warnings – of 12 year window before runaway impacts – has focused the minds of many. What role – if any – for livestock in this brave new herd? […]

Ensuring an environmentally aware CAP: A battle of measures

October 22, 2018 ARC

Payment for Environmental Services (PES) is an oft-mentioned concept in post-2020 CAP debates. But it tends to overshadow the agri-environment-climate measures (AECMs) which have played an important role in the CAP for the past 2 decades. Which is the best way of integrating environmental concern? Frédéric Courleux weighs up the debate. […]

Recharging Soils with Carbon Could Make Farms More Productive

September 30, 2018 ARC

‘Farm land could work as carbon sinks,’ said Dr Jan Mumme, an agricultural engineer at the University of Edinburgh in the UK. ‘This probably wouldn’t work with intensive livestock farming, but sustainable crop production and integrated farm systems (a balance between crops and livestock) could do it – and biochar is one way to help.’ […]

Biochar – the Ultimate Tool to Make Farming More Sustainable?

August 28, 2018 Oliver Moore

Imagine there was a soil amendment that could be produced from waste biomass and could do the following: draw down carbon, increase soil fertility in acidic soils, increase yield and productivity – especially for the poorest farmers with the worst soil, reduce nutrient run off, improve water retention in soil, while also protecting against soil borne diseases? Say hello to biochar…. […]