Rur@l news

European Commission Directorate-General For Agriculture And Rural Development

Description

Newsletter for the EN RD2, March 2009
Regional policy and regional economies
Agricultural policy
Target audience: Specialised/Technical

Informations

• Publié par: EUROPEAN-COMMISSION-DIRECTORATE-GENERAL-FOR-AGRICULTURE-AND-RURAL-DEVELOPMENT
• Nombre de lectures: 24
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

R U R @ L N E W S 2 N E W S L E T T E RF O RT H EE NRDM a r c h2 0 0 9

European Commission

SUMMARY F O C U S Fighting against climate change Climate change is one of the greatest water, soils, and biodiversity. They could include FOCUS: Fighting against climate change__ 1 marginal shifting from traditional grassland environmental challenges facing the based livestock production systems to landless world today, with average global sur- ENRD Contact Point: in detail .................2 ones, aswell as improving soil management face temperatures having increased Imagine. Create. Innovate. .......................3 practices in croplands and grazing lands areas, by 0.76°C since 1850. In the context as soils are an important carbon pool on Earth. NEWS ABOUT__________________ 4 Agriculture can also contribute to mitigating of the recent United Nations (UN) Cli- climate change by providing biomass for the mate Change Conference in Poznań CAP ‘Health Check’ is adopted...............4 production of renewable energy and other in- (Poland) in December 2008 and the dustrial applications. .............4International Green Week 2009 recent EU climate policy proposals, this Rural Development Day at the The EU agriculture sector is already responding to International Agricultural Show.............5 issue of Rur@l News focuses on the link the challenge of climate change with a relatively between climate change on the one limited and declining share emissions (about 9%) 5EVENTS ______________________ hand, and rural development and agri- that is declining. There are various farm manage- culture on the other. ment practices that can further reduce emissions WHERE TO FIND OUT MORE__________ 5 below current levels. Varying in cost-effective- Agriculture faces the dual challenges of reducing ness and practicality, such measures include its greenhouse gas emissions, while at the same optimisation of fertiliser application rates and time adapting to the possible impacts of climate spreading; reduced use or restoration of organic change. (See THE NEED TO KNOW on p.2.). On 28 soils; and, better control of manure management January, the European Commission set out its through for instance using solid covers for ma- proposals for a new global agreement to tackle nure lagoons, and anaerobic digestion systems. climate change and how it could be financed. The new pact is due to be concluded at the Copenha- The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) also has gen UN climate conference in December 2009. a part to play, with measures already in place (1) According to these proposals, under the Copen- such as cross-compliance and decoupled hagen agreement, all developing countries, ex- cept least developed countries, should commit (1) This is the creation of a link between the receipt of to adopting low-carbon development strategies direct payments by farmers and their compliance with certain rules which are in the interests of soci- by the end of 2011. In particular, the agricultural ety as a whole. The rules concern the protection of sector is named one of the sectors where coun- the environment, food safety, animal health, animal tries should adopt mitigation actions. welfare, public health, plant health and environ- mental condition. This link is expressed in concrete Indeed, according to the background report, ag- terms in the possibility, if the rules are not respected, of a reduction or cancellation of direct payments. In riculture offers a substantial mitigation poten- other words, if farmers do not respect these rules tial particularly in developing countries, often then they may not receive some or all of theirdirect through improving the productivity of the ag- payments.The specification of good agricultural and ricultural production. Such practices will need environmental condition is set at the level of the to respect local ecosystem characteristics and member state. Cross-compliance applies to farmers who receivedirect payments.

Published by: John Lougheed, Head of Unit, EC Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development. This publication does not necessarily express the official views of the Commission. Illustrations are the copyright of the European Commission.

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