IDM ¦ Column
The “European Green Deal”
and the dairy sector
A shared ambition
Author: Alexander Anton, EDA Secretary General
The new European Commission has made it clear from the very first moment, even before taking over office on 1st December
2020: the “European Green Deal”, the flagship initiative for the European Union, will translate the climate and environmental
ambitions into legislation and reality by the end of this legislative term in 2024.
Announced on 11th of December 2019 by the EU
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as a tool
to “reconcile the economy with our planet”, it aims
to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by
2050, while boosting the competitiveness of European
industry and ensuring a just transition for all. However, the new EUwide
strategy is not only about climate: it is meant to address the broad
range of environmental challenges. As part of the Green Deal package,
the European Commission will in fact propose different strategies and
programmes aimed at stepping up EU action in the field of biodiversity
protection and ecosystem restoration, enhancing circular economy,
achieving a zero pollution and toxic-free environment, promoting clean
and affordable energy, shifting towards sustainable and smart mobility.
The most important part of the Green Deal for dairy is the objective to
increase the sustainability of the European food system.
“Farm to Fork strategy”
A “Farm to Fork” strategy, that will be published on 31st March 2020,
will specifically tackle the food sector. “A fair, healthy and environmentally
friendly food system” is the overall objective. The European Green
Deal is most welcomed by the European dairy industry. Especially the
Farm to Fork strategy will link and coordinate the multi-layered fields of
legislation and sustainability efforts of the dairy sector in a more coherent
manner and the dairy industry has already embarked this journey.
Sustainability in a competitive world
All European dairy companies have already started to work on their
sustainability agenda – many even before the 2015 United Nations
36 · February 2019 ¦ international-dairy.com
Sustainability Development Goals. In March 2020 Danone will officially
open its climate neutral processing site in Wexford (Ireland),
the Finish dairy cooperative Valio has published in December 2019
their carbon neutrality plan by 2035.
In spring 2019, Arla Foods as well as FrieslandCampina went
public with their zero net carbon strategies by 2050 and their implementation
strategy 2030.
Beginning of February 2020, Arla Foods CEO Peder Tuborgh
has presented in the European Parliament the “Vision for the Future
of the European Dairy Industry” – another milestone, that
underlines both, the leadership of EU dairy and the honest and
realistic assessment of the challenges ahead of our sector.
The current environmental challenges have an impact on the European
dairy sector and more broadly on the food system, in terms of
food security, quality and safety of food products and food prices. However,
we are not only affected by them: the responsibility of the dairy
sector in contributing to the impact on the environment cannot be denied.
The sector is therefore continuing to focus its efforts for reducing
the environmental footprint of dairy operations and of the entire value
chain, while ensuring food quality and safety, in order to achieve the
overall UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Many companies
are already making tremendous efforts in these fields and are acting in
view of a wide range of targets to future improvement.
Biodiversity protection is one of the key objectives of the Green
Deal strategy. The intention of the European Commission is to further
step up the EU efforts in the field of biodiversity preservation and ecosystem
restoration, presenting a new Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. In
this context, the European dairy sector is proud to positively contribute