Brussels, 07/05/2010 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament, meeting in Brussels on Wednesday 5 May said that EU agriculture and forestry can “contribute to achieving the Union's climate change mitigation objectives”, by finding ways and providing support to help reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, promoting CO2 sequestration in the soil, developing the production of sustainable renewable energies and maximising the photosynthesis function.
With its adoption (without amendment) of the report by) of the report by Stéphane Le Foll (S&D, France) on agriculture in the EU and climate change, the EP said, too, that organic farming, extensive grazing and integrated pest management practices were among the “ecologically effective systems needing further development”. The EP called for the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP to encourage practices that contribute to improving the efficiency of agriculture and its potential to reduce GHG emissions, and to improving carbon sequestration, (crop rotation, preservation and development of afforestation, better management of soil and of minerals, farm modernisation, use of biomass energy integrated into food production, planting of woody and herbaceous energy crops in floodplains, areas which are wet or sandy and areas less suitable for agriculture. The EP suggested introducing a common European forestry policy “that promotes sustainable forestry management and production and does more to tap the potential and the economic development of this industry, which is the one that makes the greatest contribution to carbon capture, as this sector makes the greatest contribution to carbon capture”.
Measures to help EU agriculture adapt to the effects of global warming. The EP emphasised that EU agriculture must adapt, and must continue to adapt, to the effects of climate change. It said that the CAP must focus on more sustainable and more efficient management of resources, including, for example: - optimising water resource management (more efficient irrigation systems, use of recycled water, economical use of water on the land, hillside reservoirs, etc.), making users responsible; - choosing crop varieties, particularly those selected for their ability to resist extreme weather events, and practising crop rotation according to considerations such as drought and disease; - protecting the soil from water and wind erosion by ensuring organic matter content; - planting rows of trees, hedges or wooded areas on the edges of farmland to retain water, limit runoff, act as windbreaks and provide shelter for crop auxiliaries such as pollinating insects; - preserving pastureland and promoting animal production on pastureland; - monitoring and controlling disease; - undertaking monitoring and control of insects; - restoring damaged areas; - maintaining forests which can adapt to climate change and managing forests in such a way as to limit the risk of fire.
Implications for the European agricultural model. MEPs emphasised that the CAP must “contribute to a more sustainable agricultural policy, whilst at the same time increasing yields and bearing in mind that global warming may jeopardise world food production capacity, including in Europe”. Parliament took the view that “climate change is forcing the EU to adapt the agricultural policy model”. It called on the Commission, in its communication on CAP reform after 2013, to promote “a more sustainable and efficient agricultural model in line with all the aims of the CAP, geared to producing sufficient, safe food and more respectful of environmental balance”. MEPs felt that, to enable European agriculture to contribute in future to food security and climate protection, “an ambitious CAP must be maintained, including in particular the system of direct payments from the Community budget and simplified and fair payments for the EU as a whole”. They also recommended strengthening risk and crisis management instruments and adapting them to increasing market volatility and growing climatic risks.
The EP asked the Commission to give thought to new support systems that support the contribution which farming makes to reducing CO2, such as carbon fixing in farm soil and biomass. (L.C./transl.rt)