After Europe’s summer break — with wildfires and heatwaves leaving scars on its human and animal populations — the European Union’s (EU) institutions will pick up the discussions about how the region will achieve its 2040 climate target. The European Commission’s proposals are expected in the last quarter of 2026.
From an agriculture perspective, three elements of the expected policy package are of particular interest:
- The update of the Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) Regulation and the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR), discussed under the banner of ‘national targets and flexibilities’ (which is where one could see a climate target for the agriculture sector),
- The expansion of the Carbon Removal and Carbon Farming Framework (CRCF) to greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions from livestock, and
- An update of the EU Governance Regulation.
Together with a coalition of civil society organizations, IATP Europe made recommendations to the European Commission on how the EU Governance Regulation could more effectively drive GHG emission reductions in the agriculture sector.
The Governance Regulation (officially: Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action) is a central steering instrument to achieve the EU’s energy and climate targets, in particular laying out an iterative process between the EU and its Member States in planning how EU countries contribute to EU energy and climate targets.
Central to the Governance Regulation are the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs), which EU Member States are required to draft to show how they plan to meet the EU’s 2030 climate and energy targets over a period of 10 years. Most of the NECPs are focused on energy-related measures. Agriculture is under-addressed in the NECPs, often the weakest part of the plan, if it is included at all.
The revision of the Governance Regulation presents an opportunity to add a stronger focus on agriculture — even as the rest of EU climate policy may undergo larger changes.
As such, we recommend three main improvements:
- Adopt a sectoral focus in the NECPs that improves the planning and implementation of non-CO2 GHG emission reductions in the agriculture sector: While the targets will be decided as part of the ‘national targets and flexibilities’ piece, the Governance Regulation should ensure that the reporting rules align with tracking the achievement of an agriculture sector climate target.
- Mandate reporting on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) reflecting the status of transition in the agriculture sector: KPIs should constitute important levers in the transition to an agroecological EU, including reducing the use of synthetic fertilizer, reducing the consumption of animal source food, and increasing the EU’s autonomy in feed production.
- Track the phase-out of climate-harmful subsidies and the provision of just transition support: While the reform of agricultural subsidies is not within the scope of the Governance Framework, it can play a role in identifying and tracking progress towards this shift in spending.
As such, the next iteration of NECPs should include:
- Sectoral pathway chapters, including a chapter dedicated to meaningful climate action in the agriculture sector, along with the five dimensions of the EU Energy Union
- A sectoral pathway for Paris-aligned GHG emission reductions in the sector, broken down by greenhouse gas, in particular methane and nitrous oxide
- Quantification of the GHG emission reduction potential of all policies and measures, including those meant to drive climate action in agriculture
- KPIs to track key drivers for the transition to agroecology
- Dedicated budgets and expenditure tracking for the proposed mitigation measures
These changes provide tools for progress from different perspectives. From a climate perspective, dedicated GHG emission reduction targets for the agriculture sector would require governments to spur change rather than attempting to continuously hide the sector’s impact. From a farming perspective, climate targets and pathways can give farmers a long-term roadmap, supporting decision-making on investments, and help make the case to the rest of society that (financial) support is needed to meet those targets in the sector. A fuller set of indicators (e.g., tracking synthetic fertilizer usage and feed autonomy, instead of climate “efficiency”) can support a more holistic transition. From an animal welfare perspective, the changes not only help to address climate impacts on farm animals but also to promote a transition in the livestock sector towards smaller, more extensively farmed herds.
The revision of the Governance Regulation is a key opportunity to set the EU’s agri-food system on the path towards a system that is healthier for people, animals, and the planet.
