Accelerating climate mitigation and adaptation efforts to protect food production and the rural economy is more urgent than ever, as the farming community in Europe asks profound questions about its own future. EU policymakers, companies across the agrifood chain and sustainable finance have important roles to play in helping farmers worldwide make the changes that will be needed to feed a growing population on a hotter planet.
Using pragmatic approaches based on robust science and economics, we work with different stakeholders to secure the right finance and policy enablers to support farmers in transitioning to climate-smart agriculture within sustainable food systems, to future-proof their livelihoods and contribute to food security against increased climate risk.
Holistic systems-based approaches are needed to make EU food systems sustainable, balancing climate and environmental action with socioeconomic considerations through a just transition. To have real impact, we need to find win-win pathways for both farmers and the planet. Working with investors, financial institutions and intermediaries to embed sustainability in their activities is also key, along with driving towards a vision of how win-win solutions can be promoted via EU-wide policies.
The EU policy context over the next years needs to empower these efforts. Policy approaches and resources both within and outside the current and post-2028 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) can play an important role. Devising improved CAP-based interventions to de-risk farms' transitions to climate-smart and resilient practices while providing better opportunities for longer-term planning can be instrumental. Rewarding agrifood stakeholders’ efforts towards sustainability across the value-chain is also crucial.
In all EDF’s work globally we focus on reducing methane emissions as an important component of our work. In the EU, emissions of methane from agriculture are now the source of more than half of all methane emissions, yet Member States struggle to provide farmers with the right resources and policy frameworks to accelerate reduction.
Together with Climate-KIC, we have been working on what a “new normal for sustainable dairy” looks like through a Flagship project as part of the Irish Deep Demonstration portfolio. The aims of these efforts are to find the right levers to accelerate methane and other GHG emission reductions and generate co-benefits for the environment (water, soil and biodiversity) on dairy farms by using a systems innovation approach. We aim to leverage lessons learned in the EU policy debate, as regions with important livestock farming and the broader crop sectors look at the current and next EU programming periods in earnest.
Understanding the needs of farmers in the EU who have struggled with their bottom line through multiple crises, we launched a study in Ireland to identify pathways to increase access to private finance for methane emissions mitigation in the dairy sector. This builds on a study into funding gaps in the agriculture sector by the European Investment Bank (2022). The study uses two illustrative examples, each methane-reducing practices, to test with financial institutions in Ireland what their barriers and drivers are for granting loans to farmers. This basis can provide a first set of key learnings for policy makers and financial actors in this space as the challenges of slowing the demise of farm holdings while ensuring a just transition to sustainable practices grow increasingly urgent in different Member States.
Discussions over how the €54 bln per year funding of the Common Agriculture Policy could contribute better to the EU reaching its climate objectives, while providing fairer income support for farmers and ensuring food security are underway. The farm protests in early 2024 served as a clarion call for the significant opportunity to reshape the farming agenda in the EU, demonstrating a vision for Climate Smart Agriculture that will resonate around the world. To contribute to this we will continue bringing policy, science and economics expertise and working with a variety of partners in this space including farmers, leading think-tanks, ambitious corporate actors and eNGOs.
In 2023, EDF launched a global partnership with Danone to tackle methane emissions, working together in such areas as improved science, data and reporting standards, innovative financing models to help farmers of all sizes, and catalyzing industry and policy leadership through advocacy. These efforts have already led to the launch at COP28 of the Dairy Methane Action Alliance, a global initiative that accelerates action and accountability on methane across the dairy sector. By joining this groundbreaking initiative, 8 leading signatory companies have already committed to annually account for and publicly disclose methane emissions within their dairy supply chains. In the EU we support these efforts and continue working on joint advocacy opportunities to demonstrate and finds ways of enabling the catalyzing power of ambitious corporate actors working together with farmers and other stakeholders across the agrifood chain.
