Amen­de­menten Hazekamp op ontwerp­advies over de EU strategie voor het vermin­deren van methaan-emissies

DRAFT OPINION
of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development
for the Committee on on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
on the EU strategy to reduce methane emissions
(2021/2006(INI))

Amendment 1
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 1 (new)

Amendment

-1. Stresses the need for the agricultural sector, with particular emphasis on the industrial livestock industry, to take responsibility for their contribution to the climate crisis by committing to concrete, sustained and binding measures to reduce their emissions of methane and other greenhouse gases;

Amendment 2
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 1

Draft opinion

1. Regrets the lack of a comprehensive EU monitoring framework for methane emissions; calls on the Commission, therefore, to improve the measurement, reporting and verification of methane emissions in the agricultural sector;

Amendment

1. Regrets the lack of a comprehensive EU regulatory and monitoring framework for methane emissions; calls on the Commission, therefore, to put forward binding measures and emissions reduction targets covering all methane emissions, including those of the agricultural sector, and to improve the measurement, reporting and verification of methane emissions in the agricultural sector to track the progress towards these targets;

Amendment 3
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

Amendment

1 a. Recalls the significant impact of the agricultural sector on methane emissions, accounting for 53% of all anthropogenic methane emissions in the EU; underlines that this makes agriculture the largest single contributing sector to methane emissions in the EU;

Amendment 4
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)

Amendment

1 b. Regrets that unlike the waste and energy sectors whose methane emissions decreased slightly in the period of 2010 to 2018, emissions from the agricultural sector increased; emphasizes that this demonstrates the failure of existing regulation to effectively address methane emissions from agriculture;

Amendment 5
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)

Amendment

1 c. Stresses that the livestock farming is the world’s largest user of agricultural land, through grazing and the use of feed crops and has huge impact on climate change, soil and water pollution and loss of biodiversity in the EU and globally;

Amendment 6
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)

Amendment

1 d. Stresses that livestock sector accounts for around 16% of global anthropogenic GHG emissions, with methane holding the biggest share in the agricultural sector;

Amendment 7
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 1 e (new)

Amendment

1 e. Stresses that methane emissions in agriculture are primarily driven by livestock numbers, particularly ruminants such as cattle (for dairy and meat), sheep and goats, which are mainly associated with microbial activity in the digestive tracts of animals and manure management; notes that large livestock farms with more than 50 livestock units account for about 70% of agricultural methane emissions and 40% of total anthropogenic methane emissions in the EU; stresses that this demonstrates a need for concrete and binding measures targeting the industrial livestock industry;

Amendment 8
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 1 f (new)

Amendment

1 f. Calls for a shift away from intensive livestock farming practices associated with harmful environmental and animal welfare effects towards sustainable agriculture with reduced GHG emissions' footprints, including methane and nitrous oxide emissions, through promotion of shorter supply chains, plant-based diets and non-intensive farming practices;

Amendment 9
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 2

Draft opinion

2. Urges the Commission to ensure positive synergies between climate regulation and the Industrial Emissions Directive in order to avoid double regulation;

Amendment

2. Urges the Commission to expand the scope of the Industrial Emissions Directive by including effective measure and targets to drastically curb greenhouse gas emissions from all industrial agriculture sources, including cattle-rearing;

Amendment 10
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

Amendment

2 a. Stresses that the coherence and consistency between the Farm to Fork Strategy and National Strategic Plans in the new CAP are crucial in the overall strategy to reduce the methane emissions, thus aiming to incentivise farmers for applying farming practices that contribute to the EU 2030 climate targets and the climate neutrality objective which should be achieved well before 2050, in full respect of animal welfare and biodiversity conservation and restoration;

Amendment 11
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)

Amendment

2 b. Notes that as methane is a comparatively short-lived greenhouse gas, and considering the very short window mankind still has to limit global warming to maximum 1,5 degrees, a drastic reduction of methane is a very effective way to mitigate the climate crisis; stresses that every opportunity and possibility of reducing methane should fully be used in order to try and prevent the most dramatic consequences of anthropogenic climate warming;

Amendment 12
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)

Amendment

2 c. Underlines that a drastic reduction in the production and consumption of animals is the most cost-effective, quick and easy climate measure available and a change we cannot afford to waste;

Amendment 13
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 3

Draft opinion

3. Highlights that research and investment in mitigation measures and technologies is of paramount importance; considers that there is great potential in adapting diet of and developing feed additives for ruminant and bovine species, which could reduce methane emissions without having negative effects on the livestock sector;

Amendment

3. Highlights that research and investment in mitigation measures and transition strategies is of paramount importance; considers that there is great potential in adapting our diets and developing alternative protein sources, substituting meat, dairy and other animal products, which will drastically reduce methane emissions without having negative effects on human health, biodiversity and animal welfare;

Amendment 14
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

Amendment

3 a. Underlines that reducing the consumption of meat and dairy products will make a significant positive contribution to the climate, environment and public and animal health and welfare and should be incentivised as a key factor in the fight against climate change;

Amendment 15
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)

Amendment

3 b. Stresses the importance of promoting sustainable plant-based diets in line with objectives of the EU Farm to Fork Strategy by raising consumer awareness of the impacts of consumption patterns related to GHG emissions, including methane emissions, and providing information on diets that are better for human health, animal welfare and have a lower environmental footprint;

Amendment 16
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)

Amendment

3 c. Underlines the changing trends in eating habits among EU citizens, with growing number of people who have adopted vegetarian or vegan lifestyles in the EU; points out to the growing availability of environmentally friendly alternatives to meat and dairy products that are already on the market;

Amendment 17
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 3 d (new)

Amendment

3 d. Calls on the Commission and Member States to stop funding promotion and marketing campaigns that support meat and dairy products in order to reduce methane emissions:

Amendment 18
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 3 e (new)

Amendment

3 e. Stresses the need for a transition towards sustainable feed policy based on the locally sourced feed in order to reduce the environmental and climate impact of animal production and to avoid carbon leakage through imports from third countries;

Amendment 19
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 3 f (new)

Amendment

3 f. Warns against reliance on technological innovations such as the development of feed additives which do not address the root causes of methane emissions in the agricultural sector, nor the systemic environmental issues associated with industrial farming and can harm animal health and welfare; stresses instead the need to stimulate a transition towards plant-based diets in line with the objectives of the EU farm to fork strategy;

Amendment 20
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 3 g (new)

Amendment

3 g. Stresses the need to swiftly move away from industrial animal farming, aiming at a 70% reduction in livestock numbers in the EU, with particular focus on Member States with high livestock density such as the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark;

Amendment 21
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 3 h (new)

Amendment

3 h. Emphasizes that intensive industrial agriculture and livestock farming should not receive climate funding, nor be incentivized or rewarded;

Amendment 22
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 3 i (new)

Amendment

3 i. Demands that measures aimed at reducing the methane emissions in agriculture are in line with the animal welfare and environmental objectives and the ‘Do no harm’ principle of the Green Deal;

Amendment 23
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 4

Draft opinion

4. Considers that value-added utilisation of agricultural residues and other by-products is an important driver of the circular economy and
bio-economy; calls for the acceleration of European biogas production from agriculture waste, as an important tool for reducing methane emissions;

Amendment

4. Stresses that agricultural residues play a key role in maintaining and restoring soil health and circularity and should not be regarded as parts of the so-called
bio-economy; underlines that biogas production from agriculture waste frustrate efforts to recirculate nutrients in the natural cycles and should not be promoted nor subsidised;

Amendment 24
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

Amendment

4 a. Recalls that Article 13 TFEU states that when formulating and implementing the Union's policies, full regard should be paid to the welfare requirements of animals, since animals are sentient beings;

Amendment 25
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)

Amendment

4 b. Rejects any attempts to genetically alter animals in order to artificially try to lower emissions;

Amendment 26
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)

Amendment

4 c. Emphasises the need to ensure that animal welfare does not suffer under new measures for the agricultural sector, including regarding methane; stresses that no measures, targets, or incentives should lead to a restriction of livestock animals to indoor confinements; emphasises that animals must be able to graze outdoors and should not be prevented from exhibiting their natural behaviour;

Amendment 27
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)

Amendment

4 d. Stresses that an agricultural system which imports millions of tons of soy and maize each year, feeds that to animals, and uses the huge amounts of excess manure this system creates to produce so-called biogas is inherently unsustainable;

Amendment 28
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 4 e (new)

Amendment

4 e. Points out that incentivising biogas production from animal waste streams is further increasing the dependency of the imports of protein from third countries, which exacerbates deforestation and ecosystem degradations in countries such as Brazil, Argentina and Indonesia;

Amendment 29
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 4 f (new)

Amendment

4 f. Expresses the opinion that biogas produced from animal manure or crops is not sustainable and should not be incentivised nor facilitated;

Amendment 30
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 4 g (new)

Amendment

4 g. Emphasises that biogas production from agricultural waste is an end-of-pipe solution that allows intensive livestock farming to continue business as usual; highlights that the promotion of biogas incentivises industrial livestock farming and thereby harms the environment, biodiversity, public health, animal welfare and small farmers;

Amendment 31
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 4 h (new)

Amendment

4 h. Stresses that promoting biogas as a "solution" risks locking in unsustainable forms of animal production that further contribute to the root causes of harmful methane emissions in agriculture;

Amendment 32
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 4 i (new)

Amendment

4 i. Stresses that energy and climate policies' incentives aiming at achieving climate neutrality should not support the use of food crops for energy generation purposes or any unsustainable use of biomass, such as use of virgin biomass for energy generation purposes;

Amendment 33
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 4 j (new)

Amendment

4 j. Calls for regulatory measure to ban the practice of co-digestion of manure and food crops which is inherently unsustainable;

Amendment 34
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 4 k (new)

Amendment

4 k. Urges against bioeconomy that is not based on the principle of sustainability; stresses that further research is needed on the environmental impact of energy produced from biomass and biofuels in order to draw the line between sustainable and unsustainable amounts of residues being taken away from the field for the energy generation purpose;

Amendment 35
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 5

Draft opinion

5. Considers that farm level certification schemes for climate effective farming, including common measurement and verification data for methane reductions, will be an important tool for monitoring and incentivising methane reductions at farm level;

Amendment

5. Considers that farm level certification schemes for climate effective farming, including common measurement and verification data for methane reductions, will be an important tool for monitoring and incentivising methane reductions at farm level, stresses that effective climate measures have to be taken, and that voluntary and market based measures will be utterly insufficient to tackle the climate crisis;

Amendment 36
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 6

Draft opinion

6. Notes that within the wider circular economy, the uptake of carbon removals and increased circularity of carbon should be incentivised; calls on the Commission, in accordance with the EU Climate Law, to explore the development of a regulatory framework for the certification of carbon removals on the basis of robust and transparent carbon accounting that takes into account the differences between the greenhouse gases, and to verify the authenticity of carbon removals and reward farmers for their mitigation efforts.

Amendment

6. Notes that within the wider circular economy, the uptake of carbon removals and sequestration
should be incentivised; calls on the Commission, in accordance with the EU Climate Law, to explore the development of a regulatory framework for the certification of carbon removals on the basis of robust and transparent carbon accounting that takes into account the differences between the greenhouse gases, and to verify the authenticity of carbon removals and reward farmers for their mitigation efforts.

Amendment 37
Anja Hazekamp

Draft Opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6 a. Highlights that peatlands are the worlds largest terrestrial carbon store; underscores that the draining of peatlands for agriculture converts them from a carbon sink to a significant carbon source and makes them more susceptible to damaging wildfires; calls on the Commission to swiftly present an ambitious and concrete action plan to halt the conversion, draining and burning of peatlands and urgently stimulate their restoration and rewetting;