Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

258 Chapter 10: Environment and Agriculture 3. Key strategies, plans and programmes The European Green Deal The European Green Deal is a set of policy initiatives by the European Commission that aims to make the EU climate neutral by 2050. It has had a significant influence on recent policies underpinning the agri-food sector in Europe and in Ireland, including the CAP, and various other strategies and policies designed to improve environmental outcomes. The most significant of these initiatives for agriculture is the Farm to Fork Strategy (EC, 2020), which has been in place since 2020 and aims to reduce the environmental and climate impact of primary production while ensuring fair economic returns for farmers. Several other plans and strategies that are in place, in development or under consideration, such as the Zero Pollution Action Plan, the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the EU Nature Restoration Law, the EU Soil Health Strategy for 2030 and the Integrated Nutrient Management Action Plan, are related plans that share the underlying objective of achieving improved environmental conditions across Europe. Three of the key objectives across these international plans and strategies, which have followed through into Irish plans and strategies, are to reduce both nutrient and chemical pollution from agricultural practices and to increase biodiversity on farms. Many of these plans and strategies will be very challenging to implement, and there are significant concerns across the EU agriculture sector about how they will impact farming. Some ambitious proposed plans and policies, for example the plan to reduce the use of chemical pesticides in the EU by 50% by 2030 and the Nature Restoration Law, have faced significant pushback and/or amendments at the final approval stages. It is important that farmers are properly supported in adjusting to these challenges and that there is a just transition to a healthy EU environment in the long term.