EU Warned against Naming Industrial Farming Good for Environment
2021-12-01
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1A group of global investors
2is urging the European Commission not to consider industrial farming an activity that is good for the environment.
3Reuters reported the request last week.
4It said the international group of companies
5that wrote the letter to the commission is together worth more than $3.5 trillion.
6The European Commission is close to defining what activities the European Union considers sustainable.
7The EU hopes the move will get businesses to help it lower emissions of carbon gasses linked to climate change,
8also called greenhouse gasses.
9It has been difficult, however, to reach political agreement on what activities to include in the EU taxonomy.
10Taxonomy is a word describing to a process of placing things in groups based on their qualities.
11Farming is responsible for around 10 percent of the EU's carbon gas emissions.
12But how to deal with farming in EU rules
13has been a disputed issue because the industry is so important and employs many people.
14Countries and trade groups also have an interest in continued government support for the nuclear energy,
15 gas and farming industries.
16The investor group wrote to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on October 5.
17The group said it was making its position public
18after a report sent to EU governments proposed
19that a large amount of agricultural subsidies should be considered sustainable or "green."
20The investors' letter also said farm animals raised on industrial farms
21have bad effects on biodiversity, water, resistance to bacteria and soil health.
22"It is critical that the EU Taxonomy only defines as green
23those sectors that are genuinely environmentally sustainable," said Helena Wright.
24She is with the FAIRR Initiative, the investor group that led the effort to write the letter to the Commission.
25"It is deeply concerning to see a proposal that would count EU agricultural subsidies as green,
26when we know that many of these subsidies are harmful," she said.
27Other groups that signed the letter include Britain's financial
28business Legal & General Investment Management, Aviva Investors
29and Norway's Storebrand.
30The letter was released one day after the European Parliament approved reforms to farming subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy, known as CAP.
31The reforms give more money to smaller farmers that use sustainable methods.
32Under the new rules, at least 10 percent of CAP money will go to smaller farms.
33All farm payments would be tied to following environmental rules.
34Naming intensive farming subsidies "green" risks weakening the EU's climate goals, Wright said.
35Alexander Burr is head of environmental policy issues at Legal & General Investment Management.
36He said the EU's decisions need to be based in science.
37Burr said they must support reducing emissions and that "agriculture is a key but often overlooked sector."
38I'm Dan Novak.
1A group of global investors is urging the European Commission not to consider industrial farming an activity that is good for the environment. 2Reuters reported the request last week. It said the international group of companies that wrote the letter to the commission is together worth more than $3.5 trillion. 3The European Commission is close to defining what activities the European Union considers sustainable. The EU hopes the move will get businesses to help it lower emissions of carbon gasses linked to climate change, also called greenhouse gasses. 4It has been difficult, however, to reach political agreement on what activities to include in the EU taxonomy. Taxonomy is a word describing to a process of placing things in groups based on their qualities. 5Farming is responsible for around 10 percent of the EU's carbon gas emissions. But how to deal with farming in EU rules has been a disputed issue because the industry is so important and employs many people. Countries and trade groups also have an interest in continued government support for the nuclear energy, gas and farming industries. 6The investor group wrote to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on October 5. The group said it was making its position public after a report sent to EU governments proposed that a large amount of agricultural subsidies should be considered sustainable or "green." 7The investors' letter also said farm animals raised on industrial farms have bad effects on biodiversity, water, resistance to bacteria and soil health. 8"It is critical that the EU Taxonomy only defines as green those sectors that are genuinely environmentally sustainable," said Helena Wright. She is with the FAIRR Initiative, the investor group that led the effort to write the letter to the Commission. 9"It is deeply concerning to see a proposal that would count EU agricultural subsidies as green, when we know that many of these subsidies are harmful," she said. 10Other groups that signed the letter include Britain's financial business Legal & General Investment Management, Aviva Investors and Norway's Storebrand. 11The letter was released one day after the European Parliament approved reforms to farming subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy, known as CAP. The reforms give more money to smaller farmers that use sustainable methods. 12Under the new rules, at least 10 percent of CAP money will go to smaller farms. All farm payments would be tied to following environmental rules. 13Naming intensive farming subsidies "green" risks weakening the EU's climate goals, Wright said. 14Alexander Burr is head of environmental policy issues at Legal & General Investment Management. He said the EU's decisions need to be based in science. 15Burr said they must support reducing emissions and that "agriculture is a key but often overlooked sector." 16I'm Dan Novak. 17Reuters reported this story. Dan Novak adapted it for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 18_______________________________________ 19Words in This Story 20sustainable - adj. involving methods that do not completely use up or destroy natural resources 21emission - n. (often pl.) something that is sent out, given off or released 22taxonomy - n. (technical) the process or system of describing the way in which different living things are related by putting them in groups 23subsidy -n. money that is paid usually by a government to keep the price of a product or service low or to help a business or organization to continue 24biodiversity -n. the existence of many different kinds of plants and animals in an environment 25sector - n. an area of an economy : a part of an economy that includes certain kinds of jobs 26genuinely - adv. real or true, not false 27key -adj. very important, the most important thing