Ecology

The CAP reform post-2022 promised a fairer CAP for small-medium scale farmers. Now that the CAP Strategic Plans are approved and running, is the CAP really fairer and should fairness be neglected in the upcoming debate on the future of CAP?

If we look at biodiversity loss, time is really running out. Especially the young generation is complaining about this. Why are farmers not adapting quickly enough? And what can be done to mitigate the biodiversity and climate crises that are exacerbated by industrialized agriculture?

Ddespite the scandals around glyphosate in the past – authorities are using studies that do not follow scientific standards and even contradict OECD guidelines. Is all the progress being nullified due to the war in Ukraine?

In this episode, we will learn about pesticide scandals in recent years and how millions of Europeans are raising their voices against toxic pesticides.

EU Agriculture is in crisis mode. And so is the CAP. For two years in a row, the CAP crisis reserve has been spent to help farmers deal with the adverse consequences of the invasion of Ukraine and climate change. At the same time, EU Member States are asking for reduced environmental obligations in 2024. What happened during this week’s AgriFish EU Council meeting, CAP-wise? ARC2020's Mathieu Willard guides you through the updates.

The catastrophic flooding in Italy shows how the climate crisis is already threatening our lives and quality of living here in Europe. We know what we need to do to slow it down. But the longer we wait, the greater the restrictions on our freedom will be in the future.

Within the energy transition, international trade in green hydrogen and its derivatives will play an important role. But what opportunities and risks does this entail for exporting countries in the global South? What framework is needed to ensure that investments and trade develop from the start with sustainability in mind? The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and Bread for the World are exploring these questions in a joint project.

CAP 2022 & 2023 has seen multiple authorised derogations on environmental standards. These derogations, ostensibly for food security, are pushed hard by the agribusiness-lobby & criticised by many scientists. So who’s right? New data, including in particular a report from Abl, Birdlife, Global 2000 and Corporate Europe Observatory, helps us separate myth from reality.

The struggle to cap and redistribute direct payments received by the largest landowners, to support smaller farms, thereby enabling a more divers and resilient rurality, has come up against the whole financial system in Denmark. So how did Denmark end up without capping or redistributive payments? And how could the Commission accept such a proposal?

Roderick Kefferpütz is the new Director of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union office in Brussels as of 15 May 2023. He takes over from Eva van de Rakt, who has been Head of the European Union and North America Division at the headquarters of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung in Berlin since May 2023.