Making agriculture sustainable is a global challenge. In the European Union (EU), the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is failing with respect to biodiversity, climate, soil, land degradation as well as socio\uffe2\uff80\uff90economic challenges.
The European Commission's proposal for a CAP post\uffe2\uff80\uff902020 provides a scope for enhanced sustainability. However, it also allows Member States to choose low\uffe2\uff80\uff90ambition implementation pathways. It therefore remains essential to address citizens' demands for sustainable agriculture and rectify systemic weaknesses in the CAP, using the full breadth of available scientific evidence and knowledge.
Concerned about current attempts to dilute the environmental ambition of the future CAP, and the lack of concrete proposals for improving the CAP in the draft of the European Green Deal, we call on the European Parliament, Council and Commission to adopt 10 urgent action points for delivering sustainable food production, biodiversity conservation and climate mitigation.
Knowledge is available to help moving towards evidence\uffe2\uff80\uff90based, sustainable European agriculture that can benefit people, nature and their joint futures.
The statements made in this article have the broad support of the scientific community, as expressed by above 3,600 signatories to the preprint version of this manuscript. The list can be found here (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3685632).
A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
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This paper addresses the policy and legal background surrounding the uptake of phytoremediation and recovery of output materials focusing on existing roadblocks currently hampering the full-scale adoption of such a complex yet inherently circular value chain. The paper concludes that meaningful steps must yet be taken to properly embed nature-based soil remediation techniques, such as phytoremediation, in the current legal framework and to ensure social ownership of the same to maximise its environmental benefits.The planet faces a climate crisis with severe health, economic and environmental consequences. Political actions such as the European Green Deal aim to mitigate climate change by shifting production and consumption patterns, and the production of mycorrhizal sporocarps\uffe2\uff80\uff94the fruiting body of fungi\uffe2\uff80\uff94is no exception. The production of mycorrhizal sporocarps has a high economic, cultural and environmental impact in the Mediterranean region. With a key role in forest ecosystems, ectomycorrhizal fungi provide services and goods essential to maintain soil quality, ecosystem functions and food, contributing to the achievement of sustainable production and the European Green Deal goals\uffe2\uff80\uff94a climate\uffe2\uff80\uff90neutral Europe.
SummaryEctomycorrhizal fungi (ECMF) cultivation is an important economic activity in the Mediterranean region. Sporocarps from ECMF species such as Terfezia claveryi, Tuber melanosporum, Tuber aestivum and Lactarius delicious have been successfully cultivated. Due to biotechnological advances, a considerable evolution in ECMF cultivation techniques was observed in the last decade. New technologies and intensified Research and Development allow for a better understanding of the physiology of the plant\uffe2\uff80\uff90fungi symbioses and how climate change affects them. Studying forest management practices is also essential to optimise the natural production of ectomycorrhizal sporocarps and help develop sustainable production practices. This knowledge revealed the importance of ECMF and their role in the rural bioeconomy and highlighted the need to establish sustainable cultivation practices. A successful example of ECMF cultivation is the production of Terfezia species, namely, Terfezia claveryi and Terfezia boudieri. Terfezia truffles are traditional delicacies with high socioeconomic relevance and numerous biotechnological applications. Furthermore, these Mediterranean native species are an important tool to develop the bioeconomy in rural areas by creating new production strategies. Furthermore, exploiting these and other native Mediterranean species can promote sustainable practices in line with new European Green Deal strategies, such as the Farm to Fork strategy, the EU Biodiversity strategy for 2030 and the Climate Law. This work reviews ECMF cultivation practices and forest management studies, presenting the case of Terfezia cultivation and how the sustainable production of wild and planted ECMF may contribute to achieving the European Green Deal objectives and to a more resilient Europe.Soil contamination represents a major global environmental threat. Only in the European Union, around 340.000 contaminated sites are inventoried. At the same time, the need to foster the uptake of sustainable biofuels to curb greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector is one of the pillars of the EU\uffe2\uff80\uff99s climate action to achieve the overarching goals set under the European Climate Law and the Renewable Energy Directive. Against this backdrop, nature-based solutions for soil remediation are increasingly being advocated as sustainable options to enhance soil biodiversity while addressing soil contamination in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and, in the EU, the European Green Deal and the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. Among several nature-based soil remediation techniques, phytoremediation consists of the use of plants and their associated microbes to stabilise, degrade, volatilise and extract soil pollutants. Furthermore, the non-food biomass generated as a result of phytoremediation could provide a meaningful low Indirect Land Use Change (iluc) feedstock for the production of advanced biofuels to reduce climate change.
This paper addresses the policy and legal background surrounding the uptake of phytoremediation and recovery of output materials focusing on existing roadblocks currently hampering the full-scale adoption of such a complex yet inherently circular value chain. The paper concludes that meaningful steps must yet be taken to properly embed nature-based soil remediation techniques, such as phytoremediation, in the current legal framework and to ensure social ownership of the same to maximise its environmental benefits.