The European Commission will present its legislative proposal on the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) post 2013 in October 2011. Subsequently hearings will take place in the European Parliament. The new CAP will be adopted by the European Council in the second half of 2012. Two important new goals of the CAP will be to assist agriculture in its effort to cope with climate change and to preserve biodiversity. However, contrary positions exist with regard to how to implement these goals. Whereas agricultural Commissioner Ciolos favours a “Greening” of direct payments, for instance many governments are sceptical because of additional administration costs and bureaucracy.
The topic “Agriculture and climate protection” is receiving a lot of public awareness in the context of reforming the CAP and suggested distribution of subsidies. The public discussion was also stimulated by the FAO report “Livestock’s long shadow” and Anita Idel’s publication “The cow is not a climate killer”. Nevertheless, an information deficit among political decision makers and journalists can be observed regarding the best agricultural and animal keeping practices for climate change mitigation. These practices could serve as the basis for a CAP that does not damage our climate. Concerning cattle raising, one solution offered by the feed industry is to intensify production with increased use of feed concentrates so as to reduce methane per kilo of meat or litre of milk. The other opinion is to implement a more extensive cattle management based on feed with increased roughage, with the aim to re-integrate cattleraising in farm operating and regional cycles, with the result to diminish the emissions of the whole system. By fostering the debate on agriculture and climate protection, the event will raise awareness on the vast untapped potential of agriculture in relation to climate protection.
The Aims of the Conference:
- to discuss the forms of agriculture that can efficiently and continuously contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions.
- to discuss how different ways of forage production, feeding and dairy husbandry influence biological diversity and climate change.
- to elaborate policy recommendations for the new CAP concerning agriculture and climate protection
Languages: English and German
Further information
Contact
Contact at FiBL: Urs Niggli
Details
Organiser: Demeter International und Fördergemeinschaft für Umwelt, Bildung und Arbeit (FUBA)
Date: 18. October 2011, 8:30 to 12:00
Location: Europäisches Parlament, Rue Wiertz 60, B-1047 Brüssel
Invitation/ Registration (332.7 KB)