Lessons learned from over 60 case studies

19th of October 2020 10:00-12:00

ONLINE

We investigated 60 promising examples of contract solutions, which implement result- based, cooperation, land lease and value chain approaches to improve the provision of public goods by agriculture and forestry. Our case studies stem from 13 EU countries and consider 14 different agri-environmental-climate public goods. In the workshop we will present the findings and lessons learned gained from these exemplary cases. We would like to discuss with you potential barriers and success factors, as well as options for enhanced uptake of such solutions.

Workshop Programme

Today begins the fourth meeting on the CONSOLE project.

But again, the meeting is being held as a conference call to replace the originally planned fourth project meeting in Warsaw that could not be executed due to restrictions caused by COVID-19.

The 4th project meeting will check advances in farmers survey (T3.2) and starting of stakeholders surveys (T3.3); advances in modelling (T4.2-T4.5) and framework development (T1.3) and launch of testing of the framework (T5.2); during the meeting, a survey & modelling workshop will be run to fine tune coordination between tasks 4.1 and 4.2-4.5 as well as discussing connections between WP3 and WP4, and both of them with the draft framework. The testing and training activities will be a special focus of the meeting as they will be a focal point of the next year of activity. After the meeting, ground-truth testing (T5.2) and connected training (T5.3) will start and run in parallel to the remaining WP3 and 4 activities, as well as to the step by step improvement of the framework in task 1.3.”

Looking at the outcome: How result-based and result-oriented contract solutions can foster a targeted provision of agri-environmental-climate public goods, you can learn from 6 CONSOLE successful European case studies!

• NL3- Biodiversity monitor for dairy farming
  • NL3_CONSOLE.pdf
• BE4- Flemish nature management plan
  • BE4_CONSOLE.pdf
• AT2-Result base nature conservation plan
  • AT2_CONSOLE.pdf
• IRL1-Burren Life Project
  • IRL1_CONSOLE.pdf
• IRL6-RBAPS – The Results-based Agri-Environment Payment Scheme (RBAPS) Pilot in Ireland
  • IRL6_CONSOLE.pdf
• DE2- Organic farming for species diversity
  • Plus link to the whole deliverable D2.1

The European Commission has announced the postponement of the entry into force of the new European organic regulation for one year, until January 2022.

It is not a final decision as this proposal must also be approved by the Council and Parliament, although it is expected that this postponement is accepted without submitting further amendments. Furthermore, the Commission has communicated that the next EU Green Action Plan is open for public consultation (open until November 27th ).

This announcement is welcomed by the European organic food and agriculture movement, represented by IFOAM Organics Europe.

The new organic regulation provides for the adoption of numerous delegated acts and implementing measures to specify the technical standards linked, for example, to organic production standards, group certification or the organic control system.

Despite the intense work of the Commission and the Member States, from the European ecological movement they point out that many of these technical requirements still have to be debated and adopted by the Member States, leaving in the best of cases, only a few weeks for for organic operators to adapt to the new standards and for organic certifiers to be accredited according to these new rules.

According to IFOAM Organics Europe, “more time needs to be given to institutions to finalize discussions on this complex set of secondary legislation to ensure the quality and applicability of future rules.

Regarding the Action Plan, Jan Plagge, President of IFOAM Organics Europe, says that “a new EU action plan for organic agriculture is crucial to make Europe more organic.

This action plan should live up to the ambition set out by the “Biodiversity and Farm-to-Table Strategies”: to achieve 25% green land in the EU by 2030, with time-bound targets, an adequate budget and a real influence on the national strategic plans of the CAP”. From IFOAM Organics Europe, its president continues: “We already welcome the Commission’s plans to allocate a budget of 40 million euros to organic farming within the framework of the promotion policy in 2021”.

Jan Plagge president of IFOAM Organics Europe

Every year, about 4 billion metric tonnes of food are produced, but poor practice in harvesting, storage and transport, as well as market and consumer wastage, mean that 30-50 % of it (or 1.2-2 billion tonnes) is wasted. Feeding a projected population of 9.6 billion people by 2050 will be an unprecedented challenge for humankind and will require a multifaceted and integrated global strategy. Increasing food production is only one among many ways to rise to this challenge. Researchers argue that one strategy to improve food availability would simply be to reduce waste. This, in turn, could help moderate the need for increased food production to meet growing food demand, which would alleviate the pressure on resources and help lower greenhouse gas emissions (which the EU has committed to reduce by 20 % compared with 1990 levels by 2020).

Food waste in the EU

In the EU, food waste along the supply chain has been estimated at approximately 88 million tonnes, or 173 kg per capita per year, and is expected to rise to about 126 million tonnes a year by 2020 unless action is taken. Households generate the largest share of EU food waste (53 %), followed by agriculture/food processing (19 %). These two sectors account for over two thirds (72 %) of EU food waste. The rest is attributed to food services/catering (12 %), primary production (11 %) and retail/ wholesale (5 %). The average per capita waste level conceals high variation between EU countries. According to a 2013 study, the highest food waste generators, expressed as kilograms per capita, are the Netherlands (541 kg), Belgium (345 kg), Cyprus (327 kg) and Estonia (265 kg). The lowest are Slovenia (72 kg), Malta and Romania (both 76 kg), followed by Greece (80 kg) and the Czech Republic (81 kg). Overall, the EU-15 countries tend to waste more food per capita than the EU-12 countries.

Position of the European Parliament

The own-initiative report of the European Parliament’s committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) adopted on 11 April 2017 calls for a holistic and coordinated approach to food waste prevention as a follow-up to the Commission’s Circular Economy Package (2015) covering the whole cycle – from production and consumption to waste management and the market for secondary raw materials – thus closing the loop. MEPs on the committee suggest including a clear definition of food waste, a common method for measuring it, a legally binding 50 % reduction target by 2030 and an objective of at least a 30 % reduction by 2025 for EU countries. The committee feelsthat national authorities and stakeholders need to help consumers understand the difference between the ‘best before’ date – after which food may still be consumed – and the ‘use by’ date – which indicates the final date by which the product must be consumed. The report argues that the Commission should assess the possible benefits of removing certain dates from products where there is no risk to public health or the environment. In addition, the report calls on the Commission to propose a change in the VAT directive that would explicitly authorise tax exemptions for food donations. Similarly, it maintains that it should be possible for the EU Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived to finance the cost of collecting, transporting, storing and distributing food donations.

Learn from 5 CONSOLE case study examples how innovative contract solutions can maintain and reestablish grazing areas in Europe for the improved provision of biodiversity and other agri-environmental-climate public goods!

• FR1-Eco grazing
  • FR1_CONSOLE.pdf
• PL1-Natural grazing in Podkarpackie Region
  • PL1_CONSOLE.pdf
• BG4-Conservation and restoration of grasslands in Strandzha and Sakra mountains for restoring local biodiversity and endangered bird species
  • BG4_CONSOLE.pdf
• FI4- Pasture bank – a platform for pasture leasing
  • FI4_CONSOLE.pdf
• PL2-“Sheep Plus” – Provincial Program of Economic Activation and Preservation of the Cultural Heritage of the Beskids and Kraków-Częstochowa Upland
  • Plus link to the whole deliverable D2.1