Opportunities and challenges for Common Agricultural Policy reform to support the European Green Deal

Cimatti, Marta, Pacifici, Michela, Dragonetti, Chiara, Sessa, Andrea, Rondinini, Carlo, Casanova, Ivon Constanza Cuadros, Mendez, Valeria Y. A., Di Marco, Moreno, Cristiano, Andrea and Biancolini, Dino (2023) Opportunities and challenges for Common Agricultural Policy reform to support the European Green Deal. Conservation Biology, 37 (3). e14052. ISSN 0888-8892

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.14052

Abstract

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the European Union's main instrument for agricultural planning, with a new reform approved for 2023–2027. The CAP intends to align with the European Green Deal (EGD), a set of policy initiatives underpinning sustainable development and climate neutrality in the European Union (EU), but several flaws cast doubts about the compatibility of the objectives of these 2 policies. We reviewed recent literature on the potential of CAP environmental objectives for integration with the EGD: protection of biodiversity, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and sustainable management of natural resources. The CAP lacks appropriate planning measures, furthering instead risks to biodiversity and ecosystem services driven by landscape and biotic homogenization. Funding allocation mechanisms are not tailored to mitigate agricultural emissions, decreasing the efficiency of climate mitigation actions. The legislation subsidies farmers making extensive use of synthetic inputs without adequately supporting organic production, hindering the transition toward sustainable practices. We recommend proper control mechanisms be introduced in CAP Strategic Plans from each member state to ensure the EU is set on a sustainable production and consumption path. These include proportional assignment of funds to each CAP objective, quantitative targets to set goals and evidence-based interventions, and relevant indicators to facilitate effective monitoring of environmental performance. Both the CAP and the EGD should maintain ambitious environmental commitments in the face of crisis to avoid further degradation of the natural resources on which production systems stand.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Funding information: I.C.C. received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement 766417. M.D.M. acknowledges support from the MIUR Rita Levi Montalcini program. A.C. acknowledges support from the Northumbria University Research Development Fund Studentship Scheme.
Uncontrolled Keywords: biodiversity conservation, climate change, Common Agricultural Policy, environmental policy, European Green Deal, Farm to Fork Strategy, food production, sustainable agriculture
Subjects: D700 Agricultural Sciences
Department: Faculties > Engineering and Environment > Geography and Environmental Sciences
Depositing User: John Coen
Date Deposited: 22 Dec 2022 13:05
Last Modified: 10 Jul 2023 14:30
URI: https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/50993

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