Tag: GHGs

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Informal Agricultural Council to discuss climate-smart agriculture

During the next two days (14-15 September) the Luxembourg Presidency invites agricultural ministers to an informal Council meeting which had been intended to focus on agriculture and climate change. Because of Commissioner Hogan’s absence through illness from last week’s Council meeting it seems that a good part of the meeting will be devoted to continuing discussions on the EU response to low milk prices. The time available for the discussion on how agriculture can best address the challenges of mitigating climate change will thus be curtailed.
However, the Luxembourg Presidency has prepared a very useful background paper intended to set the scene for discussions between the Ministers in three working groups. This paper, entitled Towards Climate-Smart Agriculture, does a very good job in setting out the context and in describing some of the options open in moving to a climate-smart agriculture.
What the Presidency paper on climate-smart agriculture does not discuss
However, there are a few striking omissions in the Presidency paper.… Read the rest

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Agriculture in the 2030 Climate and Energy Package

The European Council comprising the EU Heads of State and Government will meet at the end of this week 23-24 October to take a final decision, among other issues, on the EU’s new climate and energy policy framework. The plan is to agree on the target level of GHG emission reductions for 2030 so that the EU can submit its contribution for the conclusion of a global climate agreement in Paris at the end of next year at the latest by the first quarter of 2015, in line with the timeline agreed by the UNFCCC. However, according to the EUObserver, there are still significant differences of view on the targets between member states, and deadlock at the meeting is not ruled out.

The state of play

The Commission Communication presenting the climate and energy framework was published in January this year and contained the following elements:

    – a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of 40% below 1990 levels, to be achieved only through domestic measures (without the use of international credits);
    – this overall target to be met through a reduction of 43% in emissions from the ETS sector and a reduction of 30% in emission from the non-ETS sector, both compared to 2005.
… Read the rest