On Friday, October 23rd, the EU Parliament voted in the new proposed Common Agricultural Policy (425 for, 212 against & 51 abstentions). Despite declaring a state of climate emergency, the EU has done little to nothing to implement clear, effective and stringent climate policy necessary to meet the Paris Agreement targets of minimizing CO2 emissions to keep the planet under 1.5 degrees warming. Our politicians have failed us yet again. The legislative measures taken in this CAP do not substantially nor adequately increase sustainability.
The C(r)AP proposed by the Parliament continues to support big business as usual, with 400 billion euros in funding allocated to provide the most subsidies to large, industrial farmers (who use intensified, harmful farming practices, such as the planting of monocultures that are destroying our biodiversity). An incredible amount of money has been designated to continue unsustainable, socially and environmentally destructive agricultural practices – completely in disregard of the new EU Green Deal, Farm to Fork initiative and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. These deals, negotiations and targets will amount to no more than empty promises without the radical shift in legislation that our planet and we, ourselves, deserve.
Despite, the #VoteThisCAPDown trending online, many national news outlets did not cover this story before the parliamentary vote. But it is not too late! As citizens and human beings, we have a right to climate justice and a right to have our voices heard. We must advocate on behalf of our threatened planet to ensure its protection.
Localisation is the key. What we need is a complete reversal of the current unsustainable food and farm system enforced by EU and national infrastructure. Funds should be redirected to small-medium scale farmers who use holistic/organic/regenerative practices such as the planting of permacultures and farm diversification. What we need is a re-wilding of nature and a return to local and indigenous food systems. We should trust the experts like Dr Helena Norberg-Hodge when she says that ‘our local economies will prosper much more once the exportation of standardised, mass-produced fruit, veg and meat is radically reduced and replaced by alternative small-scale, locally and sustainably produced food‘. Legislation needs to incentivise climate action before it is 7 years too late.
At OFN we are trying to do our bit by supporting such farmers and producers. Here’s what you can do:
- Sign the appeal to #WithdrawThisCAP @ https://withdrawthecap.org/ Tweet @TimmermansEU with the above hashtag or #ScrapThisCAP to raise your voice for change and share on other social media platforms.
‘Remember, all is not lost! Although the Parliament has voted, the Commission can still decide against this CAP proposal. There is precedent (the Soil Directive), we just need to fight for it.‘ (Saoi O Connor, shared by Climate Love Ireland)
Ireland’s Climate Bill 2020
The new Climate Bill threatens to undermine Climate Case Ireland’s historic Supreme Court Justice win to hold the Irish government legally accountable for climate inaction. If passed in its current form, the Bill offers our politicians a ‘get out of jail free card’ for negligence to face the climate emergency. There will again be no legal repercussions if our government doesn’t meet climate targets, meaning it’s unreliable and fatally weak as a challenge for the crisis at hand.
Campaigners call for the Climate Bill to be “urgently revised” and have begun a petition calling on Ireland to adopt legislation that adheres to both science and climate justice.
Green News journalist Kayle Crosson highlights that:
‘The Bill itself also aims to put the State on track for climate neutrality by 2050, which Climate Case Ireland Campaign Coordinator Clodagh Daly stressed was “indefensible from a climate justice perspective” due to Ireland’s disproportionate contribution to the climate crisis.’
With a mid-century target, Ireland would “consume far too much of the rapidly depleting ‘forever’ carbon budget that we need to stay within to avoid dangerous climate breakdown”, Ms Daly added.
Campaigners are calling for the Climate Bill to enshrine a 2030 decarbonisation goal, which they stress would be in line with the best available climate science and Ireland’s commitment to the international Paris Agreement.’
Ultimately, the bill lacks a sense of emergency. Climate Case Ireland are calling for people to sign their petition @ https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/fix-ireland-s-2020-climate-bill so to:
- Protect our historic Supreme Court judgment
- Make climate justice, a just transition & a commitment to remaining below +1.5C the central organizing principles of this Bill.
#FixTheBill