Climate change adaptation in the agriculture sector in Europe
Agriculture
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Towards a 'sustainable agriculture'
Unsustainable farming and forestry, urban sprawl and pollution are the top pressures to blame for a drastic decline in Europe’s biodiversity, threatening the survival of thousands of animal species and habitats. Moreover, European Union (EU) nature directives and other environmental laws still lack implementation by Member States. Most protected habitats and species are not in good conservation status and much more must be done to reverse the situation, according to the European Environment Agency’s (EEA) ‘State of nature in the EU’ report, published today.
The European GNSS Agency (GSA), an agency of the European Union (EU) that manages Europe’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) programmes, EGNOS and Galileo, today announced the return of the Farming by Satellite Prize. Registration is now open for young innovators to explore the use of satellite technologies in agriculture to enable sustainable farming practices, improve efficiency and reduce the environmental impact. The Farming by Satellite Prize is a joint initiative with the European Environment Agency (EEA) that also manages the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service and cross-service In Situ co-ordination.
Emission cuts in the European Union’s (EU) Effort Sharing sectors need to accelerate considerably from 2018 onwards to achieve the current EU 2030 targets, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing, published today. In particular, the large amount of emission reductions from planned measures in the transport sector need to materialise through concrete actions.
Published: 15 Oct 2020
What is pollution? Where does it come from? How does pollution affect the environment and how does it affect people’s health? How can Europe move towards zero pollution, in line with the ambition of the European Green Deal? EEA Signals 2020 looks at pollution through different lenses related to the Agency’s work and EU legislation.
Published: 10 Mar 2020
This briefing analyses EU Member States’ historic and projected emissions that are not included under the EU Emissions Trading System.
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Unsustainable farming and forestry, urban sprawl and pollution are the top pressures to blame for a drastic decline in Europe’s biodiversity, threatening the survival of thousands of animal species and habitats. Moreover, European Union (EU) nature directives and other environmental laws still lack implementation by Member States. Most protected habitats and species are not in good conservation status and much more must be done to reverse the situation, according to the European Environment Agency’s (EEA) ‘State of nature in the EU’ report, published today.
The European GNSS Agency (GSA), an agency of the European Union (EU) that manages Europe’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) programmes, EGNOS and Galileo, today announced the return of the Farming by Satellite Prize. Registration is now open for young innovators to explore the use of satellite technologies in agriculture to enable sustainable farming practices, improve efficiency and reduce the environmental impact. The Farming by Satellite Prize is a joint initiative with the European Environment Agency (EEA) that also manages the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service and cross-service In Situ co-ordination.
Member States must cut emissions across all sectors to achieve EU climate targets by 2030
News 10 Mar 2020Emission cuts in the European Union’s (EU) Effort Sharing sectors need to accelerate considerably from 2018 onwards to achieve the current EU 2030 targets, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing, published today. In particular, the large amount of emission reductions from planned measures in the transport sector need to materialise through concrete actions.
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Europe’s landscape is changing. Cities and their infrastructures are expanding into productive agricultural land, cutting the landscape into smaller patches, affecting wildlife and ecosystems. In addition to landscape fragmentation, soil and land face a number of other threats: contamination, erosion, compaction, sealing, degradation and even abandonment. What if we could recycle the land already taken by cities and urban infrastructure instead of taking agricultural land?
Climate change has a major impact on soil, and changes in land use and soil can either accelerate or slow down climate change. Without healthier soils and a sustainable land and soil management, we cannot tackle the climate crisis, produce enough food and adapt to a changing climate. The answer might lie in preserving and restoring key ecosystems and letting nature capture carbon from the atmosphere.
Most of the food we eat is produced on land and in soil. What we eat and how we produce it have changed significantly in the last century along with the European landscape and society. The intensification of agriculture has enabled Europe to produce more food and at more affordable prices but at the expense of the environment and traditional farming. It is now time to rethink our relationship with the food we put on our plates and with the land and communities that produce it.
Soil contamination is an issue that is strongly linked to our common past and part of the story of how Europe first became the industrial and later the environmental frontrunner in the world. We talked to Mark Kibblewhite, Emeritus Professor at Cranfield University, United Kingdom, and one of Europe’s leading soil experts, to better understand the issue of soil contamination.
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What is pollution? Where does it come from? How does pollution affect the environment and how does it affect people’s health? How can Europe move towards zero pollution, in line with the ambition of the European Green Deal? EEA Signals 2020 looks at pollution through different lenses related to the Agency’s work and EU legislation.
National action across all sectors needed to reach greenhouse gas Effort Sharing targets
Publication 10 Mar 2020This briefing analyses EU Member States’ historic and projected emissions that are not included under the EU Emissions Trading System.
We cannot live without healthy land and soil. It is on land that we produce most of our food and we build our homes. For all species — animals and plants living on land or water — land is vital. Soil — one of the essential components of land — is a very complex and often undervalued element, teeming with life. Unfortunately, the way we currently use land and soil in Europe and in the world is not sustainable. This has significant impacts on life on land.
Climate change affects agriculture in a number of ways. Changes in temperature and precipitation as well as weather and climate extremes are already influencing crop yields and livestock productivity in Europe. Weather and climate conditions also affect the availability of water needed for irrigation, livestock watering practices, processing of agricultural products, and transport and storage conditions. Climate change is projected to reduce crop productivity in parts of southern Europe and to improve the conditions for growing crops in northern Europe. Although northern regions may experience longer growing seasons and more suitable crop conditions in future, the number of extreme events negatively affecting agriculture in Europe is projected to increase.
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