I can’t believe it’s been only a year

2030 Commitments of crop protection industry and other key developments

This week marks one year since I have become the Director General of the European Crop Protection Association. I am very proud to be leading this remarkable organisation and to represent this sector. It’s been a very exciting and demanding period to lead the association. With COVID 19, the Green Deal announced a couple of months ago, REFIT of the 1107 legislation governing the approval system of crop protection substances being published, Sustainable Use Directive discussions on the path forward - I am impressed to see our sector ready to have complex debates and provide innovative solutions to challenges that agriculture and society are facing. I am eager to continue to position the association as an open, transparent, constructive and credible partner in Brussels where we continue to talk about sustainable agriculture.

To that end this week we have come forward with 2030 commitments. These commitments are an effort that started a couple of years ago and was accelerated by the Green Deal announcement. We want to show that we are serious about contributing and aligning with the Green Deal ambitions, which is why our companies have come together to set our own voluntary, sector-specific, measurable goals in their support.

We are making clear commitments to support the European Commission’s agenda, especially in the areas of:

?         Innovation & Investment: By supporting innovation and the deployment of digital and precision tools as well as biopesticides, we further the European Commission’s ambition of a digital and green recovery. By 2030 we will be investing 10 billion euros into innovation in precision and digital technologies and 4 billion euros into biopesticides. These innovations are complimentary to existing solutions supporting Integrated Pest Management implementation.

?         Circular Economy: By increasing the collection rate of the empty pesticides plastic containers to 75% and establishing a collection scheme in the EU Member States that currently have none by 2025 we will contribute to the EU’s goal of a circular economy that aims at minimising waste and resources used, lessening the environmental impact of plastic packaging.

?         Protecting People & Environment: By training farmers on the implementation of Integrated Pest Management, water protection, the importance of personal protective equipment (PPE), our industry desires to further minimise exposure and reduce the risks of pesticide use, all while contributing to the overall goals of the Sustainable Use Directive and EU Farm to Fork strategies aiming at producing enough food sustainably.

We recognise that the way food is produced is being challenged by society that demands food production to become more sustainable. Society is calling to reduce plastic uses and inputs, such as fossil fuels, fertiliser and pesticides, in order to decrease the perceived impact on human health and the environment.  And we agree sustainability matters! It matters to us, it matters in our operations, it matters in our food supply chain, it matters to our people - from farm to fork.

I am proud of these commitments and what the difference they will make in the near future. As an industry we are committed to making agriculture more resilient and sustainable as we want to drive a better, greener economic recovery.