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European Environment Initiative (EURENI)

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Organic Farming to Stop Pollution

Positioning organic farming as a concrete solution to reduce pollution from pesticides

Grantee

IFOAM Organics Europe

Duration

ongoing

2023-09-01 till 2025-08-31

Location

Europe

Funding Amount

316,000.00 €

Project background

The agricultural and food system in the European Union (EU) is heavily dependent on external inputs, such as synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. The use of agrochemicals, meaning pesticides and fertilizers, in agriculture contributes to climate change by emitting significant greenhouse gases and is particularly harmful to soil health and fertility.

Currently, over 80 percent of soils in Europe contain pesticide residues, highlighting the urgency of the issue (source: Wageningen University & Research, 2018). Additionally, agrochemicals negatively impact water quality, putting 38 percent of European water bodies under pressure from agricultural pollution (source: FAO, 2017). Moreover, agrochemicals lead to a declining biodiversity, causing a visible reduction in insect populations and threatening food production.

To address this pressing issue, the European Commission has set key targets to address biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation, and the environmental impact of agriculture. The targets laid out in the Commission’s Biodiversity and “Farm to Fork” Strategies include a 50 percent reduction in overall pesticide use and risk by 2030, even though it is non-binding for Member States. To enhance implementation of these targets, the Commission proposed the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Regulation (SUR), offering the prospect of improved monitoring of pesticides and fertilizers utilization.

To meet the 50 percent pesticides reduction target and to protect ecosystems and biodiversity, organic farming is a fundamental part of the solution. This farming approach prioritizes natural substances and preventive measures for pest control, instead of relying on pesticides and fertilizers.

Recently, some stakeholders opposed the SUR proposal which in the end was withdrawn by the EU Commission. This is a challenging context that, if not addressed, may result in the abandonment of EU environmental goals and could lead to an increased use of synthetic pesticides in the EU.

Project goals and measures

The project’s objective is to promote the plant health approach based on natural substances employed in organic farming as one of the most sustainable and able to tackle the pollution from synthetic pesticides in agriculture.

This project is aimed at raising awareness among policymakers about the current regulatory gaps on the topic, emphasizing the role of organic farming as one of the solutions to reducing synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.

The project also aims to shape a positive narrative on natural approaches used in organic farming as key to reduce pollution from agriculture, which will be communicated to policymakers and civil society.

IFOAM Organics Europe will leverage its extensive network of around 200 members and numerous civil society partners from all over Europe to raise awareness about organic agriculture as a viable alternative to synthetic pesticides.