Climate protection with bite
Safeguarding our food and protecting our natural foundations of life – farming has to do all of this. Its greenhouse gas emissions are to drop by around ten million tonnes of CO2 - carbon dioxide equivalents by 2030. To achieve this, farmers must change the way they keep animals and use fertilisers – as well as reduce emissions and increase organic farming. The Federal Government is supporting them in this.
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Farming generates around eight percent of Germany's greenhouse gas emissions, primarily through animal husbandry and the use of fertilisers. While 30 years ago emissions were recorded at 90 million tonnes of CO2 - carbon dioxide equivalents, in 2019 they were around 68 million tonnes. The Federal Government’s Climate Change Act (Klimaschutzgesetz) stipulates that from 2021 emissions must continue to drop by at least one million tonnes annually to 58 million tonnes of CO2 - carbon dioxide equivalents in 2030.
Doubling organic farming
Organic farming is to double its share of the farming sector in the next ten years from currently 9.7 percent to 20 percent in 2030. Increasing the amount of organically farmed land can achieve a reduction in emissions of between 0.4 and 1.2 million tonnes of CO2 - carbon dioxide equivalents a year. This will be due, first and foremost, to the reduction in the use of chemical fertilisers, which produce greenhouse gas emissions when they are manufactured.
Within the framework of the Joint Task for the “Improvement of Agricultural Structures and Coastal Protection”, the Federal Government and federal states (Länder) are able to grant funding of nearly €110 million annually for organic farming. The "Federal Scheme for Organic Farming and Other Forms of Sustainable Agriculture" has been significantly reinforced: the Federal Government is providing nearly €29 million for 2020 alone.
The Federal Government wants to further develop legal and financial support for particularly environmentally-friendly and sustainable farming processes and conduct intensive research into opportunities for climate neutral farming and forestry.
Farm to fork
The Federal Government is working towards a new European Common Agricultural Policy that is geared towards "more environmental protection, more climate protection and more animal welfare standards”. In relation to this, it wants to promote the biodiversity strategy and the “Farm to Fork strategy” as parts of the European Green Deal and take them into account in the new Common Agricultural Policy: for shorter supply chains, reduced use of fertilisers and pesticides, more organic farming and better animal protection.