Policy options on agriculture and rural low-carbon economy

Rural areas and agriculture have a key role to play in the development of a sustainable and low-carbon economy [10]. There are several international and European policies for the rural low-carbon economy that can frame agropreneurs development of their own sustainable business strategies, as follows:

1. A) At an international level, in September 2015 the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that comprises a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), an urgent and universal call to action to achieve sustainable development for all [3] [19]. Since then, the SDGs have been shaping policies, programmes, and funding at international, European, national, and local levels, with agriculture being the only sector that is transversal to the 17 SDGs [18] [17].

Framed by the SDGs, countries can take on a set of 20 interconnected actions put forward by FAO to help their agropreneurs take on sustainable agricultural practices [18]. These actions correspond to several policy areas that can be implemented at a national and local level to empower agrobusinesses to use resources sustainably through new value chains, business models and skills [10].

From FAO’s 20 interconnected actions based on the 17 SDGs, the following 10 relate with the sector’s contribution to a low-carbon economy [18]:

• Encourage diversification of production and income, i.e., cultivate multiple crops to build resilience to climate change and natural disasters by conserving biodiversity, improving soil and plant health, and reducing exposure to pests, diseases or extreme weather events.
• Build producers’ knowledge and develop their business-oriented capacities and investment in innovative technology for a better understanding on greener agricultural systems and sustainable socio-economic entrepreneurship, including linking agriculture to other sectors (e.g., tourism).
• Enhance soil health and restore land, as soil makes up the greatest pool of terrestrial organic carbon, mitigating climate change through the reduction of GHG emissions. This can be done though several initiatives such as water, sustainable soil, and land management and fighting deforestation.
• Protect water and manage scarcity, as water plays a key role in climate change adaptation of agrobusiness for crops and livestock. Promoting sustainable water management and efficiency in agriculture, particularly through improved knowledge, research & innovation, is thus of utmost importance.
• Mainstream biodiversity conservation and protect ecosystem functions, i.e., conserving, monitoring, and using a wide range of domestic plant and animal diversity to adapt in the face of climate change, combined with the creation of conservation areas due to the degradation of natural habitats.
• Reduce losses, encourage reuse and recycle, and promote sustainable consumption. Every year the world loses, or wastes, about a third of the food it produces, which constitutes a threat to food security, a waste of resources, ever-greater stress on ecosystems and a danger to the environment in the form of GHG emissions. Reducing food losses, reusing and recycling residues through composting, promoting more sustainable consumption patterns and identifying domestic renewable energy resources to reduce the energy footprint of food production and consumption are relevant practices for more efficient food systems and greater commitments to a circular economy in food and agriculture.
• Prevent and protect against (natural) shocks: enhance resilience towards natural hazards and disasters by enhancing institutional and technical capacities to deliver disaster-risk reduction. For agropreneurs, this can mean diversifying their sources of income (e.g., agrotourism), diversifying farming practices and moving away from intensive agricultural systems, integrating climate change strategies, and addressing climate variability by using new prediction technologies.
• Address and adapt to climate change. As a significant source of GHG emissions, it is essential that agriculture and other land-use sectors be part of the climate solution. Agropreneurs are, thus, encouraged to follow a climate-smart approach (see Chapter 1) aimed to sustainably increase agricultural productivity and income while adapting and building resilience to climate change and reducing GHG emissions.
• Strengthen ecosystem resilience to agriculture intensification, i.e., large-scale production of single crops (monoculture) or intensive animal farming. Integrated systems that include mixed cropping, crop-livestock, agroforestry, tree-crop-livestock as well as the promotion of agricultural heritage has demonstrated their ability to cope with climatic variability and address many sustainability issues of food security, biodiversity, land use, water, and forest management.
• Enhance policy dialogue and coordination to contribute to an integrated approach towards sustainability that includes taking stock of relevant sectoral policies, mapping and analysing strategies between economic, social, and environmental spheres and assessing the state of sustainability of agriculture and food systems, identifying key issues and relevant actions, taking into consideration the SDGs, national strategies and engaging with other agropreneurs and relevant stakeholders (e.g., farmers and producers organisations, SMEs, local community, decision-makers).
• Strengthen innovation systems, i.e., increase investments in agricultural R&D, as innovation is the main driver for the agricultural and rural transformation, including not only the use of new technologies and improved skills, but also the implementation of new practices such as improved crop varieties, agroecological practices, and biotechnologies to address issues like improving sustainability and resilience, raise income and reduce risks, create new market opportunities and reduce natural resources degradation.

1. B) At a European level, The European Commission aims to support sustainable rural development through several initiatives, in the framework of the European Green Deal [10], a set of proposals to make the EU’s climate, environment, energy, agriculture, industry, transport, R&D, finances and regional development policies fit for reducing GHG emissions by at least 55% by 2030 [1] and ultimately to enable Europe to become a climate-neutral and resource efficient economy by 2050 [10].

The Green Deal is implemented, i.e., provides a policy framework and funding via other policy initiatives that directly impact agriculture’s contribution, particularly the role of agropreneurs, to a low-carbon economy. The most relevant are as follows [2] [5] [10] [16]:

• Long-term vision for rural areas up to 2040. Considered as the most important policy initiative for promoting Europe’s rural low-carbon economy, it was launched in 2021 and identified the major challenges for rural regions, seeking to strengthen them to become more resilient by restoring landscapes, greening agriculture, and supporting carbon neutrality through leadership in the bio and circular economy, as well as improving digital literacy and diversifying economic activities (e.g., agrotourism). It encompasses a Rural Pact, expected to become a platform for stakeholders’ cooperation, including agropreneurs, to achieve the shared EU goals for rural areas, and a Rural Action Plan that includes leveraging sustainable agriculture (e.g., sustainable soil management, building up carbon sinks by investing in rewetting wetlands and peatlands, supporting energy transition and fight against climate change) and diversified economic activities (e.g., promoting rural tourism, acknowledging local products).
• Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Launched in 1962, it is a partnership between Europe and farmers to enable food security, improve agricultural productivity, tackle climate change, sustainably manage natural resources, maintain rural areas, and strengthen their economy. As a common policy for all EU countries, it provides funding for agropreneurs to produce food, as well as support to regional and national rural development plans. It is through these plans that agropreneurs can address resource efficiency, low-carbon and climate resilience and ecosystem preservation.
• Environmental Action Programme. First launched in 1973, it is in its 8^th edition (until 2030), setting out the long-term vision for Europe’s environment and aiming to accelerate the transition to a climate-neutral and regenerative economy, with objectives aligned with the European Green Deal, including achieving climate neutrality by 2050, pursuing zero pollution ambition for air, soil, and water, and restoring biodiversity and natural capital. It forms the EU’s basis for achieving the UN’s SDGs until 2030, based on six priority objectives: (i) achieving the 2030 GHG emissions reduction target and climate neutrality by 2050; (ii)enhancing all sectors’ adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change; (iii) advancing towards a regenerative growth model, decoupling economic growth from excessive resource use and environmental degradation, and accelerating the transition to a circular economy; (iv) pursuing a zero pollution ambition, including for air, water and soil; (v) protecting, preserving and restoring biodiversity, and enhancing natural capital; and (vi) reducing environmental and climate pressures related to production and consumption.

As each rural area and agrobusiness is unique, agropreneurs need to consider what are the best policy alternatives and available financial instruments that better reflect their business, surrounding ecosystem, and willingness to transition to sustainable practices and support a low-carbon economy.