Reinforcing the EU’s resilience via the EGD
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Slowing biodiversity loss and building a healthy and sustainable food system
By Tom Carter, Senior Associate
As part of its ambition to establish the European Union as a leader on the international stage, the EU is focusing on the protection of biodiversity and on building a sustainable food chain.
Recently the EU has proposed these two issues as key elements of the European Green Deal (EGD). Both initiatives have been adopted to consider implementation in the context of COVID-19 recovery. The European Parliament will now consider the proposals. The Biodiversity Strategy and Farm to Fork were described in these previous Amplia Group blogs:
EU Biodiversity Strategy
The proposed EU Biodiversity Strategy is designed to minimize the catastrophic loss of habitat, ecosystem health, and species from human development, pollution, and climate change. The Strategy will be implemented in conjunction with other initiatives on forestry, oceans, climate change, reducing toxins, and COVID-19 recovery.
A key goal of the Strategy is to make the entire biosphere, including humans, more robust and therefore more resilient to future development, outbreaks, and other challenges.
What does this mean for business?
The Strategy also provides immediate business and investment opportunities for restoring the EU's economy by making biodiversity considerations an integral part of the EU's overall economic growth strategy. Specific elements include:
Establishing binding targets to restore damaged ecosystems and rivers
Improving the health of EU protected habitats and species
Restoring pollinators to agricultural land
Reducing pollution
Greening cities
Enhancing organic farming and other biodiversity-friendly farming practices
Improving forest health
Transforming 30% of Europe's lands and seas into effectively managed protected areas
Restoring 10% of agricultural area under high-diversity landscape features.
Most of these actions will be taken in the coming decade and will aim to create sustainable jobs and growth to EU member states and their communities. The proposed funding of EUR 20 billion/year will come from EU and national public funds and from private sources. More details on the Biodiversity Strategy can be found on this EU fact sheet and in the full proposal.
Farm to Fork Strategy
Humans cannot be healthy if they consume unhealthy food, and the planet cannot be healthy if human agricultural and fishing practices destroy natural ecosystems.
The Farm to Fork Strategy calls for an examination of the entire food chain to make it more sustainable and secure while also supporting the economic strength of farms and fisheries. Making the EU food system stronger, more sustainable, and more resilient will protect citizens' health, ecosystem health, and economic well being. The specific targets proposed include:
Reducing pesticide use by 50%
Reducing fertilizer use by 20%
Reducing antimicrobial use by 50%
Devoting 25% of agricultural land to organic farming
Improving labelling to better meet consumers' information needs on healthy, sustainable foods
Educating citizens on the benefits of sustainable food
Funding an enhanced transition to a more equitable and sustainable food system.
By producing healthy food while protecting ecosystems, the Farm to Fork Strategy will open new business opportunities and diversify sources of income for European farms and fisheries. More details on the Strategy can be found in the fact sheet and full proposal.
Learn more about the EU Green Deal
For more details about our perspective on the European Green Deal, check out Amplia Group’s four-part blog series on the EGD. Meet our Sustainability team, composed of experts in EU policy, sustainability, and marketing and public affairs.