An Unavoidable Step after Paris: Cutting Emissions from Farming

In order to create a forward-looking agriculture sector that makes a significant contribution to the EU’s climate mitigation efforts, a solid knowledge base is needed as well as knowledge sharing and inclusive stakeholders’ dialogue. This includes a national and EU-wide evidence-based set of data on farming potential towards climate mitigation including socio-economic components, but also a policy analysis assessing to which extent this potential is currently achieved or underachieved and what role the current farming policy (CAP) plays in it and should play in the future. This study and policy assessments fed into dialogues between key stakeholders (farmers, NGOs, scientists, industry, etc.) at national and pan-European levels on climate friendly practices in order to facilitate the sharing of experiences. Through national and European workshops and subsequent communication work, an increased public and political awareness around the need for an ambitious legislative framework on climate and agriculture (national plans, governance and CAP) was created.

Although agriculture accounts for around 10% of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions and is one of the first sectors to bear the costs of devastating climate events, it is considered in the current debate as a sector with limited climate mitigation potential. Therefore, agriculture has so far been only called upon to do more to combat climate change to a limited extent. While EU climate legislation is currently in the co-decision procedure, the debate on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has only just begun: in November 2017, a European Commission Communication on the CAP after 2020 was published. The CAP uses a large part of the European budget and has shaped farming practices in Europe over the past decades. It can therefore play a crucial role in facilitating the transition to more sustainable and climate-friendly agriculture. However, this will only be possible if the next CAP is debated together with the farming community, if attention is paid to the environment, consumers, health issues, etc., and if it is aligned with European climate objectives and other common policy goals.

• More climate-friendly policies: Targeted information and sensitisation of more than 70 high-level decision-makers at national and EU level did much to raise awareness of the importance of an ambitious legal framework to promote climate-friendly agriculture. This laid the foundation for more climate-friendly policy decisions in the future. 
• Promoting climate-smart practices: In five member states, 19 effective and socially compatible climate change mitigation measures in agriculture were identified, discussed and shared as good practices. These measures can now be used in national and European programmes to support the implementation of more sustainable agricultural strategies. 
• Policy recommendations based on comprehensive analyses of national CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) plans and EU climate and agricultural policies. The resulting reports and policy briefings now serve as a guide for policy measures and strategic decisions at member state and EU level. 
• Networking: Finally, the project promoted dialogue and networking between civil society, science, agriculture and industry through more than 170 workshops, webinars and working groups. This resulted in new alliances and collaborations that make a sustainable contribution to enhancing the exchange of experience and the joint development of climate-friendly solutions.