The EU is “very unlikely” to meet its target of 25% organic agriculture by 2030, as it would take almost double the current rate of progress to reach the goal.
That’s the conclusion drawn by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in its latest annual progress report on the EU’s Environment Action Programme.
The EEA says that meeting a whole range of green targets – from energy use to improving the circular economy; biodiversity to climate change adaption – will be “challenging”, based on current progress rates.
The EU’s 25%-organic-by-2030 organic target forms part of strategies set out in the European Green Deal. The report shows that organic’s share of total farmland in the Union has been continuously increasing since 2012 and reached 9.9% in 2021 as a result of dedicated measures and a growing demand for organic products.
Increased ambition needed
While the EEA says that organic share should continue to rise between now and 2030, the rate of increase would need to double if it were to meet the 25% target. The Agency says that there needs to be “accelerated development” and the implementation of “coherent policies with increased ambitions to support a fundamental transformation of food production and consumption systems”.
Not even close
Commenting on the report’s findings the Dutch organic commentator and climate activist, Ronald van Marlen, said: “The EU’s 25% organic target is not on track … note even close.”
Calling for a decisive mobilisation by the organic sector, he added: “If we watch and wait, be a by-stander and leave it up to the politicians that are captured in the influence of the big agri lobbyists, nothing will happen. Therefore we as supporters of organic and agroecological farmings systems must actively stand up and fight for it as the world needs a better agriculture.
“(Ours) is an agriculture based on principles and a future-proof strategy for a better world for all involved. Not an agriculture based on false ‘we must feed the world’ narratives, constructed by the big-agri companies.”