29. #Farming and the environment: an evolving path

Agriculture’s impact on the environment remains one of the most controversial aspects of the Common Agricultural Policy. However, the European Union is moving progressively towards a greener, more sustainable way of farming that prioritises environmental considerations and where farmers become enablers of the green transition. Europe’s citizens are increasingly demanding to know where their food comes from and how it’s been produced. NGOs and ecological organisations are contributing their views to the debate and monitoring the implementation of policy in the EU’s 27 Member States. Farmers, meanwhile, are stressing the need to ensure that change is steady and manageable rather than revolutionary. This latest podcast in the ‘Food for Europe’ series looks at the environmental policies that emerged from the recent legislative process to reform the Common Agricultural Policy. Our guests on this programme include: Christian Wester, president of the Centrale Paysanne farmers’ union in Luxembourg; Michael Pielke, acting director for sustainability in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development; Célia Nyssens-James from the European Environmental Bureau; Elena Ambühl from Agroecology Europe; and Benoît Biteau, a Green MEP from France.