Declining yields due to warmer temperatures and less rain, biodiversity loss, increased risk of floods… the impacts of climate change on European agriculture are irrefutable… But what impact does agriculture have on climate change? And what role can it play in helping address this challenge?

EPRS policy podcast - EU agricultural policy and climate change

Climate change remains a key challenge. The EU and the European Parliament are working to ensure a more sustainable society and economy through ambitious policies at home and close cooperation with international partners. It is already on track to meet its greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for 2020, and has put forward a plan to further cut emissions by at least 55% by 2030.

By 2050, Europe aims to become the world’s first climate-neutral continent. Alongside reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the EU is also taking action to adapt to the impacts of climate change. By 2050, Europe aims to be a climate-resilient society. Climate action is at the heart of the European Green Deal – an ambitious package of measures ranging from drastically cutting greenhouse gas emissions, to investing in cutting-edge research and innovation, to preserving Europe’s natural environment.

Climate change

On Thursday MEPs debate how droughts and extreme weather events pose significant threats to local communities and EU agriculture amid climate change. Increasingly frequent and severe droughts are straining water resources, impacting crop yields, and threatening food security across Europe. Extreme weather events, such as heatwaves and heavy rainfall, further exacerbate these challenges by causing crop failures, soil erosion, and damage to infrastructure.

Addressing these issues is essential not only for protecting the livelihoods of communities dependent on farming and rural economies but also for safeguarding agricultural productivity.

Droughts and extreme weather events as a threat to local communities and EU agriculture in times of climate change

EP Plenary session - Voting session

EP Plenary session - Commission statement - The extreme wildfires in Southern Europe, in particular Portugal and Greece and the need for further EU climate action on adaptation and mitigation

EP Plenary session - Council and Commission statements - Towards a more disaster resilient EU - protecting people from extreme heatwaves, floods and forest fires

EP Plenary session - The water crisis in Europe

REGI Delegation in La Palma - Press Conference and the Meeting with the Spanish Authorities

REGI Delegation at Tacande in La Palma

REGI Delegation at Cruce de la Laguna in La Palma.

REGI in Mirador de Tajuya, La Palma - Volcano aftermath  and reconstruction

First part of the MEPs debate on the EU Preparedness Union in light of the upcoming wildfire and droughts season.

EU Preparedness Union in light of the upcoming wildfire and droughts season: MEPs debate part 1

MEPs, with Commission and Council representatives, debate the EU’s preparations for Europe’s upcoming wildfire and drought season. In the recently launched EU preparedness union strategy, the Commission set out its intention to build on the success of the EU’s rescEU strategic reserve for disaster response, so that it can maintain and possibly scale up its existing capabilities, including aerial firefighting. Drought already affected large parts of Europe this spring, with the situation expected to worsen with rising temperatures. MEPs are likely to ask for details on specific planned EU measures to prevent and prepare for this summer’s wildfires and droughts, as well as on the status of EU climate resilience and preparedness policies

Council and Commission statements - EU Preparedness Union in light of the upcoming wildfire and droughts season: Closing statements by Hadja LAHBIB, European Commissioner for Equality, and European Commissioner for Preparedness and Crisis Management

Council and Commission statements - EU Preparedness Union in light of the upcoming wildfire and droughts season: MEPs debate part 2

Council and Commission statements - EU Preparedness Union in light of the upcoming wildfire and droughts season: Statements Marie BJERRE, Danish Minister for European Affairs and Hadja LAHBIB, Commissioner for Equality; Preparedness and Crisis Mana

Parliament vote on a proposal to allocate €280 million of EU aid for European countries affected by devastating floods in 2024. The European Commission has proposed using money from the EU Solidarity Fund to support Austria, Czechia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovakia, Moldova, and Poland to address damage caused by floods in September and October 2024. The Parliament’s Budgets Committee already endorsed the measure on 24 June. The proposed distribution of aid would be: • Austria: €42.8 million • Czechia: €114 million • Poland: €76 million • Slovakia: €2.1 million • Bosnia and Herzegovina: €45.7 million • Moldova: €195,200 This will finance a wide range of recovery initiatives, including infrastructure repair, improvements to disaster-prevention mechanisms, temporary accommodation, the protection of cultural heritage sites, and clean-up operations.

Voting Session

This infoclip illustrates how the heatwaves impact the daily-life of Europeans. It stages people hiding in the shade in a public park, eating ice-creams, buying bottles of water, sipping cold-drinks and playing with water fountains on a public place.

Infoclip: Heatwave

MEPs vote on several reports and amendments: outermost regions affected by severe natural disasters and in the context of cyclone Chido devastating Mayotte; amendments to Parliament’s Rules of Procedure concerning the declaration of input; electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in European Parliament elections; agreement between the EU and Ukraine; termination of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement between the EU and Cameroon on forest law enforcement governance; and financing for development – ahead of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville.

Votes

European, German, Croatian and French flags at half-mast in front of the European Parliament buildings in Brussels and Strasbourg as a sign of European solidarity and out of respect for the victims of the Christmas market attack in Magdeburg, Germany, the Chido Cyclone in Mayotte, France, and the knife attack at an elementary school in Zagreb, Croatia.

European, German, Croatian and French flags at half-mast in front of the European Parliament buildings in Brussels and Strasbourg for the victims of the attack in Magdeburg, the Chido Cyclone in Mayotte and the knife attack in Zagreb

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