Case study for the European Green Deal

Abstract

There is little room for debate that the climate is changing, and action is needed to prevent disasters from occurring. The debate comes when deciding how to take action to mitigate the impacts of climate change. The research question we are focusing on is this: What do we not know about what needs to change to ensure a successful execution of a Farm-to-Fork policy embedded in climate neutrality? In other words, what are the knowledge gaps between where we are and where we need to be when it comes to implementing a Farm-to-Fork sustainability strategy? Answering this question makes a very important contribution to the conversation about addressing what some have described as an existential problem facing humanity today. The European Commission is enacting a strategy to address the Sustainable Development Goals, which includes climate change, called the European Green Deal. The European Green Deal is an initiative to move European society from a linear economy to a circular economy. That is, it seeks to position Europe to eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials at their highest value, and regenerate nature. The European Green Deal is part of Europe’s NextGenerationEU Recovery Plan and has a price tag of about €600 billion. Within the Green Deal is the Farm-to-Fork initiative aimed at transforming the food system into a circular economic system. The overall objective of this thesis is to provide a context for filling the knowledge and information gaps influencing the probability of a successful transition to a food system built on a Farm-to-Fork principle. This is accomplished through a literature review and carefully exploring the physical challenges, the impacts on the people, the economy, and the interconnections between them and the physical environment. The thesis presents some ideas of how the strategy may be implemented to increase its probability of success. The Farm-to-Fork initiative is very ambitious. It is a necessary initiative if the perceived challenges associated with the food system in the unfolding transformation in climatic conditions are to be addressed. Its prime limitation is the timeframe and the policy details. This research finds that the timeframe is unrealistic given the breadth and depth of changes that need to be made. Changing a linear system to a circular system requires a rebuild from the foundations and 2030 does not seem realistic from what progress has been made thus far. The risk of a failed policy due to unreasonable expectations can be severe for not only Europe but its trading partners, such as the United States, and the developing economies whose policies it influences.