The European Parliament has voted on reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). A majority of MEPs voted against major changes to better protect nature and support small-scale farmers.
The outcomes of the two-days of voting on key parts of the CAP legislation follow a deal between the European Peoples Party, the Socialists and Democrats, and Renew Europe. They are a major blow to the future of farming and would offer no substantial improvement to the current system, leaving small farms across Europe to die-out and nature unprotected, reacted Friends of the Earth Europe.
Responding to the conclusions of today's meeting of Europe's Agriculture Ministers, Stanka Becheva, food and agriculture campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe, commented:
"Europe needs a strategy to urgently combat the ecological, climate and farming crises – that is not what Ministers have served up today. They have backed away from the already moderate goals proposed by the European Commission.
‘Flagship’ EU plans to kickstart large-scale building renovations and energy poverty action, unveiled today by the European Commission, are a step in the right direction, says Friends of the Earth Europe.
Factory-farmed meat production in the EU is on the rise, and is putting the climate and human health at risk according to a new report released today from Food & Water Action Europe and Friends of the Earth Europe.
A rise in industrial meat production in the European Union has been accompanied by a rapid decline in the number of small farms. This has led to a dangerous rise of "factory farms", characterised by large numbers of animals confined in crowded spaces.
Under the guise of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has seen fossil fuel interests capture tens of billions of public recovery money, ne
New York/Brussels, September 30 – World leaders will meet in New York today to stress the importance of the biodiversity crisis and call for an ambitious global plan to save nature.
By an overwhelming majority, MEPs have demanded the European recovery plan dedicates billions to large-scale energy efficiency programmes to lift millions out of energy poverty, in a vote in the European Parliament today.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivered her first State of the Union speech this morning in the European Parliament in Brussels, in which she proclaimed Europe must lead the way from fragility to vitality after the Covid-19 crisis, and proposed a higher 2030 climate target.
Reacting to Jagoda Munic, director, Friends of the Earth Europe had this to say:
Blog by Tara Connolly, energy campaigner. Originally published in Euractiv
Extraordinary summer
As Europe returns to schools and (makeshift) offices after an extraordinary summer, a decisive autumn beckons - not only for the global pandemic, but also for that other forgotten crisis, climate change.