Our food systems are responsible for a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions. This scientific reality should place farming at the heart of the European Commission’s revised ‘Fit for 55’ climate policy framework. The EEB has prepared recommendations and a study that provide a blueprint for sustainable agriculture and food production.

On Monday 5 July, a leaked copy of draft Commission proposal for the future of Land Use and Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) – including agriculture-related land use emission – was circulated online.

Despite ongoing climate breakdown, the Commission has postponed further emissions reductions to 2025 and intends to impose a timid target of 310Mt CO2 removal by 2030 for the LULUCF sector, according to the leak.  The EC regulation will include non-C02 agricultural emissions from 2031 but the urgent need to decrease non-CO2 emissions is not reflected in clear targets. As such, the reduction of all avoidable non-CO2 emissions from agriculture risk to be offset by the uncertain ability of forests and lands to absorb (sink) carbon.Morgan Reille, Policy Officer on Agriculture, emphasises the need to recognise the interdependence between agriculture and land use, environment, food, nutrition, and the fight against climate change:  

“While we welcome the introduction of national targets from 2026, the Commission has given another free pass to farming. By not addressing agricultural emissions specifically, member states will have the option of engaging in creative bookkeeping through unproven ‘carbon removal’ methods rather than making their agricultural sectors truly sustainable. “  

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