The Climate Strategy Agriculture and Food 2050 seeks to support the two sectors with climate mitigation and adaptation efforts and comprises two parts. The first (general) part contains principles, objectives, and directions.
The general principles require climate adaptation and mitigation efforts to follow sustainability principles and harness synergies. Further, it is stressed that climate adaptation and mitigation efforts are an overall societal task. Lastly, it is clarified that policy measures must be informed by the best available science and by the precautionary principle.
The strategy aims at realising the following three objectives by 2050:
- The agriculture sector ensures climate and site-adapted production and achieves a self-sufficiency rate of at least 50%.
- The population follows a healthy and balanced diet. As a result, the populations’ capita food-related environmental footprint is reduced by 2/3 compared to 2020 levels.
- Greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture sector are reduced by 40% compared to 1990 levels.
To reach these goals, the strategy seeks to expand research on food system reform. Additionally, existing policy instruments must be further developed. Ultimately, the aim is to ensure that the agriculture and food system contribute to the realisation of the economy-wide net zero target by 2050 and to keep climate risks to an absolute minimum.
The second part comprises 42 measures, including already existing and new measures.
These measures concern consumption and production and include mitigation and adaptation efforts or both.
The measures seek to expand knowledge, strengthen participation, and/or develop policies coherently and target consumption patterns, food waste, trade relations, production portfolios, nutrients, water, soil, and energy.
The strategy also clarifies whether the measures are possible based on current regulations or whether regulatory amendments are needed, such as is the case with the promotion of renewables.
