RUSSIA's invasion of Ukraine will test the monumental European Union measures designed to make food supply chains climate-ready, a senior EU agriculture and sustainability executive has told an Australian farming conference.
Mark Titterington, co-founder and senior advisor for the Belgium-based Forum for the Future of Agriculture European Union, said the war would force a re-evaluation of whether what has been set up so far under the famous EU Green Deal would 'hold true'.
The measures currently working their way through the EU legislative process are the most substantive set of policy changes underway in that part of the world, he said.
They will have far-reaching impacts on both farmers in Europe and all countries that trade with her, given the proposed carbon border adjustment mechanism.
Strong arguments have been mounted that the Green Deal - which Mr Titterington described as 'the new industrial and economic policy for the EU' - amounts to legislative overreach, with claims some measures are not grounded in science.
Equally strong has been the argument that the measures don't go far enough towards saving the planet.
Now, the world is watching on to see if the measures already in place hold water against the massive supply chain disruptions likely to unfold across Europe as the war progresses.
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Speaking virtually at the Australian Farm Institute's conference in Sydney this week, Mr Titterington, who previously worked at the United Nations and for Syngenta where he held executive level leadership positions in corporate affairs and business sustainability, provided a comprehensive outline of how the EU Green Deal was 'recatalysing a redefinition of the agriculture sector.'
Announced by the European Commission at the end of 2019, it was designed to make the food supply chain more resilient, sustainable and climate-ready.
It legally commits the EU to climate neutrality by 2050 and to a 55 per cent reduction of emissions by 2030.
To deliver against it, the EU has adopted a package of regulatory and legislative policies alongside fiscal incentives which impact every sector of the economy.
Food and agriculture are covered by at least three of the eight chapters of the Green Deal, Mr Titterington explained.
Measures brought forward over past 18 months include a farm to fork strategy focusing on the reduction of the use of chemical inputs and a transition to organic and/or regenerative farming.
Common agriculture policy is being reformed to align the 350 billion Euros-plus of public subsidies that goes to farmers with the climate ambition.
The sustainable carbon cycles policy announced just before Christmas is designed to encourage nature-based carbon farming solutions to reduce on-farm greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon.
And there is a soil health strategy to support the restoration of soils and ensure they are used sustainably, along with a biodiversity strategy.
A sustainable food law will involve rules governing sustainability labelling of food products, Mr Titterington said.
The deal was catalysing change not just from farmers but agripreneurs, he said.
Examples were already emerging in the field of biological inputs and advances in seed breeding.
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