Does the European Green Deal in agriculture stop nutrient leaching and limit the eutrophication of the Baltic Sea?

CCB • November 2, 2020

by Maria Staniszewska

The European Commission, taking into account the huge negative impact of current agricultural practices on the environment, has prepared two strategies: the From Farm to Fork Strategy and the Biodiversity Strategy. The EC proposed: reducing the use of chemical pesticides on crops and antibiotics in farming by half, reducing the use of fertilizers in farming by 20%, allocating at least 25% of agricultural land to organic farming, and separating 10% of the land from the total agricultural area on each farm and leaving it uncultivated, creating areas of high biodiversity, such as mid-field trees or buffer strips. These strategies were to be implemented under the CAP over the next 10 years.

The idea was to direct a significantly larger stream of money to those farmers who would implement specific and significant measures to support and regenerate nature, and to reduce the benefits that go to those whose farming practices are harmful to the environment. This means that direct payments were to be linked to the fulfilment of environmental goals called GAEC – Good agricultural and environmental conditions. EC prepared 10 GAEC and amongst them, the three following were newly added:

  1. Protection of wetlands and peatlands (GAEC 2),
  2. Mandatory use of the nutrient sustainability tool (GAEC 5),
  3. Crop rotation instead of crop diversification (GAEC 8). 

Each of these three measures is very important for improving the ecological status of Baltic Sea and for reducing the leakage of nutrients.

Unfortunately, after a series of voting sessions two weeks ago , the European Parliament has actually dismantled this concept. The three main factions in the EP: the European People’s Party, Socialists and Democrats and Renew Europe took a much weakened form of the reform and then voted it as a single package, without the possibility of discussing and voting on individual issues.

The most important issue was “enhanced conditionality” where 60% of direct payments depended on the fulfilment of environmental conditions specified in 10 GAEC. The problem is that during the work in the EP, several of these conditions were relaxed and one was even fully removed.

First of the conditions relaxed was the principle (GAEC 9) which stated that the farmer is to dedicate 10% of his farmland for the protection of the environment by “giving it to the wilderness” and thus not utilizing it for agriculture. The EP limited this area to 5%, with the possibility of using this area for nitrogen-fixing crops or for catch crops. The last 7 years proved that this solution does not help biodiversity.

The other condition affected was GAEC 2 – The provisions reduced the protection of swamps and wetlands, i.e. ecosystems that absorb carbon dioxide as well as nutrients, and the ban on plowing permanent grasslands in Natura 2000 protected areas was lifted.

Finally, GAEC 5, which mandated the use of the practically tool limited nutrient leaching, has been completely removed from the requirements.

Unfortunately, it seems that the last 3 years that numerous institutions and organizations have devoted to preparing the reform have been largely wasted. Furthermore, it seems that under the new CAP there is no chance of stopping the eutrophication in the Baltic Sea.

COP30 brings ocean and water to the center of climate policy

By CCB • December 5, 2025
In Belém, in the heart of the Amazon, the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference COP30 immediately set the bar high. In his opening speech, Brazilian President Lula da Silva stressed that climate change is no longer a "threat to the future", but a tragedy that the world is already experiencing here and now, and called on countries to accelerate actions rather than limit themselves to promises. However, as is often the case in COP meetings, the political reality turned out to be more complicated than ambitions. Negotiations were difficult: the countries could not agree on a clear and binding plan to phase out fossil fuels. It is important to note that the Global Action Plan has provided a platform for discussing the development of a roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels, the main driver of climate change. At the same time, COP30 has brought tangible progress in other areas: the countries agreed to triple the amount of adaptation funding for developing countries by 2035, strengthened the forest and ocean agenda, and expanded the range of practical initiatives under the Action Agenda . COP30 consolidated the trend: from "water at the center of the climate crisis" to a holistic ocean agenda closely related to energy, food, biodiversity and sustainable coastal development. From the COP29 Water Declaration to the COP30 Enhanced Ocean Water Program At COP29 in Baku, the Declaration on Water for Climate Action was adopted , with the aim to applying comprehensive approaches to combating the causes and consequences of climate change for water basins, emphasizing also the need to integrate water-related mitigation and adaptation measures into national climate policies, including Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). COP30 did not reverse this logic, but expanded it towards the ocean and coasts. Both processes "aquatic" and "oceanic" are moving in the same direction: integration of water, coasts and ocean into the climate plans of countries; development of nature-based solutions; strengthening transboundary management of water and marine systems; recognizing adaptation as an equal part of climate policy, rather than an "adjunct" to emissions reduction. Task Force on Oceans and the Blue NDC Challenge The international Task Force on Oceans , led by Brazil and France, was officially presented at the high-level ministerial meeting "From Ambition to Implementation: Delivering on Ocean Commitments" on 18 November, integrating oceans into a global mechanism to accelerate the incorporation of marine solutions into national climate plans. The Blue Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Challenge encourages countries to set ocean protection targets when updating their NDCs. The goal is to transition the Blue NDC Challenge into an Implementation Task Force. Members of the Blue NDC Challenge, currently 17 countries, can adopt a broad set of actions aimed at the protection and sustainable use of the oceans.These measures include the sustainable management, conservation, and restoration of coastal and marine ecosystems, supported by tools such as marine spatial planning, integrated coastal zone management, and climate-aligned marine protected areas. Countries are also encouraged to support sustainable and climate-resilient fishing and aquaculture, ensuring ocean health and long-term food security. B razil has set a clear example: its updated NDC includes a separate chapter on the ocean and coastal zones. For the first time, the national climate plan (Plano Clima) until 2035 includes a thematic adaptation plan for these areas. Priorities include the completion of national Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) by 2030 and major programs for the conservation and restoration of mangroves and coral reefs (ProManguezal, ProCoral).

Pathway to Tox-Free Living: Policy and Action

By CCB • November 24, 2025
Leading scientists, consumer advocates and policymakers gathered on November, 18th in Brussels for the conference "From Evidence to Policy: Toward a Tox free Living Environment" . They warned that exposure to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in homes and consumer products represents a silent but severe public health and economic crisis. New findings presented to over 65 participants by the EU Baltic Sea Interreg project NonHazCity3 , LIFE ChemBee and the ToxFree LIFE for All projects as well as revealed widespread contamination of European households by complex chemical mixtures of hormone system disrupting substances (so called endocrine disrupters – EDCs) that contribute to chronic disease and impose enormous health costs. According to the key note speaker Dr. Aleksandra Rutkowska, the home environment is a significant source of exposure to EDCs through indoor air, dust and daily contact with common products. Current research links such exposure to a shocking amount of lifestyle diseases including 22 cancer outcomes, 18 metabolic disorder outcomes and 17 cardiovascular disease outcomes. Scientists also stressed that the crisis spans generations. EDCs trigger epigenetic changes that not only affect today’s population but also future children and even grandchildren. Other effects include reproduction disorders. Over the last decade, 150 million babies were born preterm, and evidence shows that reducing the use of plastics by half could cut the risk of preterm birth by half as well.