In the fifth part in this series, Louise Kelleher works through the IEEP manifestos of the key European political parliament in the run-up to the elections to see how they meet their sustainability commitments. On the cards today: the EPP aka European People’s Party. […]
Last week saw the launch of the Agriculture Atlas, a collaboration between Heinrich Böll Foundation, Friends of the Earth Europe and BirdLife International on the state of play of EU farming policy. Including a contribution by ARC2020, this is a comprehensive, in-depth and timely resource. […]
There are cliches of what rural America is: white, conservative and climate change denying. As so often is the case, the truth is more complex. There are opportunities too in the difficulties climate change presents, for rural communities to engage with the topic – and with each other. […]
Behind closed doors the European Commission is negotiating about a massive trade-deal with the South-American block Mercosur. Talks continue despite increasing concerns for farmers and the environment. Part one of a two parter with Hans Wetzels. […]
Today, thirty-three food and farming organisations, including ARC2020, have published an open letter to the top candidates for the next European Commission President to push for the implementation of EU Common Food Policy. Read it in full here. […]
In the fourth part in this series, Louise Kelleher works through the IEEP manifestos of the key European political parliament in the run-up to the elections to see how they meet their sustainability commitments. On the cards today: the Party of the European Left. […]
In this third part, Louise Kelleher summarises the IEEP analysis of the manifesto of the European Green Party (EGP). How does it match up to their 2014 manifesto? How do their commitments score against the European Environment Agency’s red indicators and against their own Think 2030 report? […]
IEEP looks at how PES policies have evolved since its 2014 manifesto, and examines how they stack up against the recommendations of its own Think 2030 report. It checks for compliance with red indicators – the targets in the 7th Environmental Action Programme (EAP) considered unlikely to be met by 2020, as flagged in the EEA’s European Environment Agency’s 2018 Environmental Indicator Report. So what is PES promising? […]
What role does – or can – farming and food play in mitigating climate change? Retaining and storing carbon in the soils should be an obvious climate-change mitigation, improving soil fertility through the natural processes of grazing, returning animal manures, and using legumes to fix atmospheric nitrogen has the indirect benefit of reducing the farmer’s reliance on artificial nitrogen fertilisers manufactured using fossil fuels. […]
German agriculture will need a shake up to meet environmental targets and challenges. Here the platform of 20 food and farming organisations share their response to the proposed eco-schemes in the post-2020 CAP. […]
The food security of the British population and its following generations cannot be simplified into a policy founded on the erroneous principle that the global market will always provide. It is vital for the food security of the British people that a sizeable proportion of the nation’s food comes from accessible and reliable sources operating regenerative food systems. Chapter 1 by Stuart Meikle. […]
The Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) has combed through the manifestoes of the main groups in the European Parliament to weed out the empty promises and scrutinize the proposals. First up in the series is the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE). So how did ALDE do on agricultural policy? […]
With the recent election of a mayor keen to strengthen local democracy and serve up healthy, local food for all, Ixelles, in Brussels, is laying the groundwork for an exciting local food strategy. ARC2020’s Hannes Lorenzen is involved. […]
CAP has had a massive influence on British agriculture. No other industry will have been so greatly impacted by the United Kingdom’s EU membership, and no other industry will be as affected as Britain leaves the European Union. Leaving the EU now offers the UK the opportunity to create a new food and farming policy. […]
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. […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention