Session as part of the EUI Climate Week 2025.
In Europe, over the recent two decades the greenhouse gas emissions of agriculture stagnated, while the capacity of land use to sequester carbon in biomass and soils has recently declined. However, technological options are available to reduce net emissions from agriculture, forestry, and land use by around 30% until 2040 in a cost-efficient manner. In addition, agriculture and forestry products have an untapped potential to substitute the use of fossil fuels in the aviation and maritime sector and as a feedstock in chemical industry. However, to date, there are too few effective economic incentives for European farmers to apply those technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to enhance the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or to provide substitutes. In addition, investment facilities, including those for young farmers, are at present not geared towards climate-friendly agriculture. This session will focus on discussing a specific strawman proposal for incentivising and investing in climate action in agriculture. No doubt it will be challenging to formulate an effective, efficient, and fair public policy that can on one side address the heterogeneity of European farming systems and on the other turn around the high level of political frustration of large parts of the farming and rural community.
Chair: Artur Runge-Metzger, Fellow, MCC
Speakers:
- Stephanie La Hoz Theuer, Senior Carbon Market Expert, ICAP
- Jozsef Feiler, Director, South-East Europe & Hungary Programme, European Climate Foundation
- Erik Jørgensen, Chief Consultant, Climate & Energy, Danish Agriculture & Food Council
- Giulia Stellari, Director, Fall Line Capital
Conclusion: Peter Vis, Senior Adviser, Rud Pedersen Public Affairs
Participation in this event is by invitation only and all deliberations will take place under the Chatham House rule (no views or positions may be attributed publicly to any participant).
More information and the full programme of the EUI Climate Week 2025 can be found here.