82% of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) support paid to EU countries goes directly or indirectly to livestock farming, undermining the EU’s climate targets, according to a study in the scientific journal Nature Food published on Monday 1 April.
At a time when food systems account for almost a third of the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming, the CAP currently presents an “economic disincentive for transitions” towards more sustainable practices, according to this study.
“The CAP disproportionately supports animal-based products over plant-based alternatives” according to the study’s lead author, Anniek Kortleve (Leiden University, The Netherlands).
Direct payments to livestock farmers accounted for half of the subsidies - which totalled €57 billion in 2013 - thus funding high-emissions agriculture that is a major emitter of greenhouse gases, according to the researchers. The rest was largely made up by subsidies supporting livestock, particularly for animal feed production. For beef, subsidies of about €0.71 per kilogram swelled to €1.42 once feed was factored in.
The study focuses on 2013, the last year in which all the data analysed is available, but the aid figures show that “not much has changed” in the distribution of subsidies up until 2020, according to Paul Behrens, co-author of the study. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)