About: soil
EU should do more on agrodiversity, Commissioner warns
Diversifying food production is key to strengthening the resilience of European agriculture and creating realistic business models for farmers in the coming years, according to EU's agri-boss Janusz Wojciechowski.
New tool for assessing soil health could help link payments with ecosystem services
A UK farming technology company has teamed up with leading space industry engineers and soil biologists to create a new tool to accurately assess biodiversity and soil health on farms.
EU agency: Greening of the EU main farm policy not delivered yet
Policies aimed at integrating environment and climate concerns into Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy have not delivered, according to a report released by the European Environment Agency (EEA).
Soil ‘completely underestimated’ in EU climate strategy
While climate change takes a toll on agriculture and land use contributes to warming the planet, soils still find little attention from policymakers in their climate strategies.
Third of Earth’s soil is acutely degraded due to agriculture
A third of the planet’s land is severely degraded and fertile soil is being lost at the rate of 24 billion tonnes a year, according to a new United Nations-backed study that calls for a shift away from destructively intensive agriculture. EURACTIV's media partner, The Guardian, reports.
Organic farmers call for sustainability-driven CAP payments
The EU Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM EU) yesterday (19 January) sent a letter to EU Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Phil Hogan, calling for a “fundamentally new approach” to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Bütikofer: ‘Industrial policy must be sustainable’
A new industrial policy strategy for Europe needs to be sustainable German Green MEP Reinhard Bütikofer says. New policy instruments such as a soil directive should be adopted, he argues.
Brussels to draw up ‘chemical map’ of EU land
The European Commission's in-house research body is currently analysing thousands of soil samples from across Europe to draw up a "chemical content map" of EU land.
Commission holds on to soil protection law
Amid resistance from EU ministers, Environment Commissioner Janez Poto?nik has defended an EU directive on soil by claiming that national policies are not delivering and land management increasingly affects cross-border issues like climate change, biodiversity and water pollution.
Commission forced to scale down soil law
Following years of negotiations, five EU member states still form a blocking minority on the European Commission's proposal for a directive on soil protection, leaving some to wonder whether the EU executive should reconsider its approach to addressing this environmental issue.
Europe and global food security [Archived]
As the world's population approaches ten billion, issues like climate change, growing scarcity of oil and availability of quality land and water are challenging the planet's capacity to produce enough food for everyone - a paradigm shift that could potentially pave the way for a new global 'food crunch'.
Commission urges solution to soil degradation
Officials from various environmental departments and organisations are calling for stalled environmental legislation on the proposed Soil Directive to be put into law by March 2009.
Commission hopes to revive blocked EU soil law
Soils are crucial for storing CO2 and must be protected as part of the fight against climate change, according to the Commission, which wants to breathe new life into a proposed framework directive on soil protection that was rejected by a small group of member states last December.
EU soil protection law blocked by UK, France and Germany
EU Environment ministers were unable to reach a political agreement on a controversial proposal for a soil framework directive yesterday (20 December) due to a small blocking minority led by three of the EU's largest member states.
Parliament approves soil strategy despite calls for its dismissal
Overriding a motion by 225 MEPs who argued that there should be 'no rush' to legislate on soil protection, the Parliament has voted in favour of a proposed EU soil protection law that grants considerable flexibility to member states.
Pesticides: Parliament tough on substances, more lenient on use
Parliament has voted to expand the scope of substances banned from use in EU pesticide production. But tough restrictions on the use of pesticides, as proposed by Green MEPs, were endorsed only partially.