Activities of Benoît BITEAU related to 2022/2053(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on Sustainable Carbon Cycles
Amendments (26)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. A. whereas agriculture and food policies must contribute to the transition to sustainable food systems in line with the ambitions of the European Green Deal for a climate-neutral EU economy by 2050 at the latest;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 a (new)
Paragraph -1 a (new)
-1 a. B. whereas reaching EU economy- wide net-zero GHG emissions as soon as possible and by 2050 at the latest requires to reduce the current use of fossil carbon energy in the EU final energy consumption by at least 95%, and to substantially reduce other greenhouse gas emissions, in particular methane and N2O emissions;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 b (new)
Paragraph -1 b (new)
-1 b. C. whereas every tonne of fossil CO2, CH4 and N2O that is not emitted is the best contribution to achieving climate targets; whereas sustainably and permanently storing carbon from unavoidable emissions can contribute to achieving climate targets, but is a lesser sustainable solution than any emissions avoided while permanent storage remains a major challenge;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 c (new)
Paragraph -1 c (new)
-1 c. D. whereas the protection and restoration of ecosystems greatly contributes to maintaining and enhancing natural carbon sinks while at the same time promoting biodiversity, and is therefore one of the best tools to fight the twin climate and biodiversity crises; whereas regenerative agriculture as an approach to food production and land management could mitigate those challenges, helping the transition towards a highly resilient agricultural system based on the appropriate management of lands and soils; whereas good soil health improves capacity for food production, water filtration and carbon absorption, thus contributing not only to stabilising the climate but also to ensuring food security, restoring biodiversity, protecting our farmland and building sustainable food systems;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the launch of the carbon farming initiative as announced in the Farm to Fork strategy and the new EU forest strategy, with the aim of achieving climate neutrality by 2050 as enshrined in the European Climate Law, and by 2035 in the entire land sector; Highlights that potentially between 100 Mt and 444 Mt million tons of CO2 could be stored in EU soils;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Recalls that the absolute priority is to drastically and permanently reduce the release of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere; acknowledges that increased carbon and nitrous oxide removals will be needed rapidly to reach net-zero GHG emissions by 2050 at the latest and negative emissions thereafter, but stresses that GHG removals are fragile and potentially reversible, and that the risk of reversal of removals by natural carbon sinks in particular is further aggravated by climate change;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Underlines the importance of carbon farming as a new business model for EU agriculturand urgency of increasing carbon sequestration in EU farming soils and to assess the new sources of income with a view to allowing the sec could provide to allow legislator’s active contribution to the green transition to provide new sources of income and business development opportunitiesto support farmers and foresters in the fight against climate change;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. 2a. Underlines the necessity when evaluating climate change mitigation practices, to take into account preliminary work on this issue, Member States’ different starting points and conditions, and the behaviour of Carbon under various conditions likely under climate change, such as flooding and drought;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Notes that agroecological practices, notably in the framework of organic farming, are well known and efficient methods allowing to store carbon in agricultural soils1a; _________________ 1a Gattinger A, Muller A, Haeni M, Skinner C, Fliessbach A, Buchmann N, Mäder P, Stolze M, Smith P, Scialabba Nel-H, Niggli U. Enhanced top soil carbon stocks under organic farming. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Oct 30;109(44):18226-31. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1209429109. Epub 2012 Oct 15. PMID: 23071312; PMCID: PMC3497757. Format:
Amendment 52 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses the need for Member States to establish incentives at the level of land managers, especially farmers and, foresters, communities and local authorities to accelerate the uptake of carbon farming;
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Notes the essential method of carbon sequestration in soils as the “liquid carbon pathway”, of CO2 fixed by photosynthesis into sugars and proteins by plants, exuded via plant roots to the rhizosphere, where, using the other essential input of organic matter, soil biota transforms them into long-chain complex hydrocarbons or “humus” coating each soil particle, making up topsoil; notes therefore the importance of continued deep rooted vegetation cover to feed the soil biota food chain and so both maintain and sequester soil carbon.;
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Recalls the fact thatConsiders that carbon conservation and sequestration in soils is an important issue and will continue to be in the future, especially for preserving soil fertility and for climate change adaptation; recalls the fact that, if appropriately defined, carbon farming practices can provide additional environmental co-benefits, such as improved soil quality, improved biodiversity, enhanced ecosystem services, increased soil nutrient and water retention, and the increased resilience of EU agriculture, as well as improving the nutritional quality of food;
Amendment 75 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Notes that some farming practices leading to an increase of carbon in the soils may have negative impacts on biodiversity and/or soil pollution; urges the Commission to fully apply the ‘do no significant harm’ principle to carbon farming;
Amendment 81 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses the importance of maintaining consistency in all measures within EU policies, notably the common agriculture policy (CAP), to ensure that enabling conditions are created for the upscaling of effective carbon farming practices; notes that farmers whose soils are already storing large amount of carbons will not have access to any carbon market schemes linked to carbon farming, as only increases in carbon stored would be considered;
Amendment 85 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. underlines the importance for ecoschemes and agro environmental measures to still keep competitive compared to carbon farming market prices, so that the most effective best practices with most co-benefits are properly rewarded; highlights the role of the CAP in ensuring the permanence of carbon storage in soils, notably through GAECs 2, 7 and 8;
Amendment 90 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Underlines the importance of CAP funds in stimulating action on emissions reductions by providing funding to improve knowledge and cooperation among land managers; underlines that carbon storage is already being used in many areas through the implementation of the common agricultural policy (CAP); emphasises that the land and forestry sector have a natural maximum carbon storage capacity still not properly evaluated, and that there are important differences in the rate of carbon sinking and the retention of the stored carbon versus emissions from soil, that are linked to specific soil conditions; notes in particular that in waterlogged soils, carbon sinking only occurs on the very surface due to anaerobic conditions and that drought may mineralise soil carbon or cause other GHG emissions;
Amendment 103 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Notes that access to land, and notably land prices, is one of the main obstacle for young and new farmers; calls on the Commission to thoroughly assess the impact on access to land of carbon markets based on carbon farming;
Amendment 107 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Welcomes the commitment to ensure transparency and accountability by establishing a robust science-based EU regulatory framework for the accounting and certification of carbon removalsStresses that the monitoring, reporting and verification of carbon removals is still subject to uncertainties, and must be accurate and fraud-free; considers that new monitoring technologies must be critically assessed by independent experts, to ensure robustness in real-farm situations and take into account indicators such as diversification, crop rotation, reliance on synthetic pesticides or other practices that inhibit humification by soil biota, gaseous emissions from soil including inorganic GHGs from fertilisers, and agricultural soil restoration, in order to inform the overall farming system redesign; Welcomes therefore the commitment to ensure transparency and accountability by establishing a robust science-based EU regulatory framework for the accounting and certification of carbon removals and the permanence of its storage in soils; subject to both scientific and political scrutiny; notes the weaknesses in earlier private schemes, as identified in ECA Special report 180/2016;
Amendment 134 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Urges the establishment of a robust methodology based on a solid body of peer-reviewed science allowing the objective measurement and certification of carbon removals among sectors in order to create harmonised bases for the calculation, capture, use and storage of carbon dioxide and other GHG emissions, notably CH4 and N2O;
Amendment 135 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Underlines that the permanence of carbon storage in soils is one of the main issues of carbon farming as an efficient way to limit the concentration of GHG in the atmosphere; notes that a system rewarding carbon storage in soils but allowing later release of said carbon (ploughing of pastures, drying of wetlands, large clear cuts, etc) would be useless in the fight against climate change; recalls notably that land managers change and retire, and that land ownership and renting are national competences, and rules vary considerably from one member state to the other; calls on the Commission to assess closely the impact of such issues on the retention and permanence of any carbon sunk;
Amendment 150 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the Member States to boost knowledge transfers through targeted training and education programmes and access to dedicated and independent advisory and extension services to increase the uptake of carbon farming, including agroecology and other carbon- and biodiversity-friendly practices and nature-based solutions, by land managers, farmers and foresters;
Amendment 156 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Notes the role that must be played by communities and local authorities in managing and accessing carbon farming market schemes;
Amendment 162 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses the role ofat support for Bio- Energy Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) through the combustion or fermentation of biogenic carbon, with the aim of providing funding under the CAP tools as an additional means of removing carbon from the atmosphere; is based on the faulty assumption that bioenergy is climate neutral; considers BECCS should not be a distraction from the urgent need to stop or limit the burning of fossil fuels and to protect and restore natural forests, soils and ecosystems; calls for more research on BECCS before any large- scale deployment;
Amendment 171 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls for robust scientific evidence that the use of innovative bio- based products to be incentivised, including, if relevant, through appropriately amending the relevant EU legislative framework. does not adversely increase cumulative global carbon dioxide emissions and take into account indirect and supply chain emissions related to forgone sequestration, biomass production, transportation, refining, capturing and storing that these emissions incur.