Food systems are central to global sustainability, while being complex systems where places and people are intertwined over large distances and at different scales. Transformations towards ...sustainable food systems have been called for in both research and policy, and Sweden and the European Union have declared high ambitions to act as global leaders in these transformations. While food production in Sweden and the European Union is often portrayed as largely sustainable in a global context, the region is highly dependent on food imports, with relatively large environmental footprints globally. This thesis aims to explore transformative pathways towards sustainability, with a particular focus on sustainable food systems, in a Swedish and European Union context. The thesis specifically studies the following research questions: (1) What constitutes transformations towards sustainability, and in particular sustainable food systems, from the perspectives of Swedish stakeholders, including food system practitioners, and European Union policy frameworks? (2) What roles, responsibilities, and agency do Swedish stakeholders, including food system practitioners and European Union policy frameworks, attribute to different actors? (3) How can interconnections and accountability in global food systems be understood and governed in light of societal transformations towards sustainability? (4) What are the implications for transformative pathways towards sustainability? The thesis builds on four papers that use focus group methodology (PI and PII), involving Swedish stakeholders, including food-system practitioners, analyses of European Green Deal policies (PII and PIII), and quantitative investigation of phosphorus fertiliser use in Brazilian soybean production and related biodiversity impacts (PIV). Four overarching conclusions are drawn from the findings: (I) Shared goals and consensus are emphasised as essential, while a diversity of transformative pathways and understandings of challenges and priorities needs to be recognised, with attention being paid to how specific choices might include and exclude pathways and actors. (II) Emerging shifts in how food is valued open up opportunities for transformative change in which the ‘true’ cost of food is acknowledged, alongside a recognition of non-economic values of food, which presupposes alignment at the practical, political, and personal levels. (III) The identified pathways comprise public accountability regimes, incentives for more sustainable consumption, regulations to reduce resource use and impacts of food production. (IV) The attribution of accountability to trading operators in the accountability regime proposed by the European Union highlights an extended focus from food production and consumption towards regulating flows and intermediate actors in food systems.
The aim of the paper is to present the essence of natural fertilizers in the form of RENURE, taking into account environmental and production-economic issues. For several decades, international ...programs and strategies for sustainable development have been implemented. The need to achieve various objectives in business activity is also underlined by the European Green Deal strategy, introduced at the end of 2019. An important element of it is the correct management of natural fertilizers, both for environmental and production and economic reasons. The case of the Netherlands was presented, where pilot studies on the conversion of manure into RENURE were introduced. The study used literature sources and selected, recent statistics from Eurostat resources (2019, 2020). Agriculture in the EU countries in the context of production and possibilities of using natural fertilizers is illustrated. The analysis of statistical data has shown that agriculture in the EU is highly diversified in terms of manure management. The case of the Netherlands, which has implemented the RENURE pilot program, results from the specificity of their agriculture – a small area of the country, a very high population and a high stocking density of livestock. Countries that face similar agricultural challenges as the Netherlands can seek similar solutions. In the case of Poland, which differs significantly in terms of the organisation of agriculture and its natural management conditions, the economic and environmental justification for the introduction of RENURE is not justified on a sector-wide scale.
Countries of the EU have to transform their power production mix in order to meet the targets of the greenhouse gas emissions of the Union. The goal of the article is to investigate two approaches to ...the transition of the power production mix. Germany and the Czech Republic represent an example of states with a different position in this process as well as a different approach to it. While Germany has a clear timetable for this transition and relies on renewable sources (dominantly wind), the Czech Republic sets a general target represented by a year of the planned closure of the coal utilities (2038) and will probably mostly rely on nuclear power plants. Due to the high share of unstable wind and solar sources, the German market experiences high volatility of power prices and the export of electricity. The Czech market is affected by the market conditions in Germany; however, the country is self-sufficient to cover its power demand at the moment. Nevertheless, this fact can be endangered by decreasing the availability of the conventional power sources (in combination with the absence of a clear strategy of their substitution) and potential increase of power consumption.
The main objective of the research was to diagnose the conditions for the development of farms implementing production in the conventional and ecological system, in the conditions set out in the ...Strategic Plan for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2023. In the study were used data obtained in direct surveys conducted in 2022 among the owners of farms from the region of Warmia and Mazury. 165 owners of conventional farms and 158 owners of organic farms participated in the research. The surveyed farm owners, despite a skeptical attitude towards solutions regarding the European Green Deal (EGD), lack of acceptance of the implementation of selected assumptions of this policy, e.g. restrictions on the use of mineral fertilizers and eco-schemes, were in favor of functioning within the EU structures. As a threat to the development of agriculture, leaving the EU structures or resigning from using EU funds were indicated. The contemporary geopolitical situation, restrictions on the import and export of raw materials to Ukraine and the lack of stability on many markets were also indicated as a potential limitation of development. The main potential opportunities for the development of agriculture in Poland, in the opinion of the surveyed owners of farms operating under the conventional production system, are the conditions created for small and medium-sized farms and the increase in demand for agricultural services. In the opinion of the owners of farms implementing production under ecological systems, the assumptions of the new CAP and the EGD may be an opportunity to strengthen the profitability of these entities and to search for alternative sources of income.
To satisfy the objectives of the European Green Deal, a quarter of the EU's agricultural land should be organic by 2030, compared to 8.5% today. France, the largest European country in terms of ...agricultural production, must become a major player in this transition. However, French farmers are hesitant to convert because of the uncertainty of whether organic farming will improve their income or not. We will conduct a double comparative analysis between the dierences in income (on 103,000 observations distributed between 2004 and 2019) and the dierences in the value of agricultural land (33,000 transactions between 2015 and 2019) between organic and conventional farmers. The study shows that the current monetary incentives for conversion are very low. Panel data modelling using the Breusch-Mizon-Schmidt estimator shows no dierence in income between organic and conventional farmers, despite higher subsidies and lower costs for organic farmers. Furthermore, using an OLS regression including Ricardian theory and residential rent determinants, it is demonstrated that organic land is sold for the same price as conventional land. This result is conrmed by the Spatial Matching method, showing that organic practice does not in uence the price of land. The article shows that it is necessary to consider whether the land is organic or not when selling agricultural land. Such dierentiation in the market can help to integrate environmental externalities (better soil quality) into the land value. This price increase could encourage land conversion through an anticipated increase in farmers' income. However, at present, the low supply of organic land for sale does not allow this price increase.
The aim of European Green Deal (EGD) is to implement a pro-environmental and pro-climate policy, which should be translated into economic practice. EGD concerns agriculture, including organic, hence ...the importance of recognizing the current path of development of this management system and future prospects. The aim of this paper is illustration of current challenges in organic farming and its environment in Poland, taking into account European strategic and market goals. The population of organic farms and other organic entities operating in this segment were analyzed. The period covered 2004- 2020, and data of Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection and Statistics Poland. Indicator analysis methods were used and trends were established. A comparison of the statistics for 2020 and 2004 showed the development of organic farming in Poland, taking into account the farms’ number and the agricultural land in organic system. The period 2004-2020 was not homogeneous, and the last years can be considered as a period of stagnation. In the adopted perspective, the production profile of organic farms changed, which more and more often carried out only crop production, omitting livestock production. The further development of organic farming will be an important challenge, also taking into account the level of development of the market environment of organic farms, in particular the number of processors and operators involved in the supply of certified seed. The main determinant of the development of organic farming in Poland was, and in the next few years probably will be, the institutional factory.
The study aimed to identify the main factors contributing to the limited physical self-sufficiency of the country in terms of plant protein supply for feed purposes, as well as to indicate the ...directions of possible actions leading to the improvement of this situation in Poland. Selected methods of descriptive statistics, substitution calculation and descriptive and comparative analysis were used to compile the numerical data. In the summary, it is concluded that the main market factor contributing to the reduction of the country’s physical self-sufficiency in plant protein is the progressive globalisation processes that are seen in Poland both in the sphere of feed production and in pig rearing. It was also recognised that European Union policy measures such as the “Agricultural Green Deal” strategy could result in an increase in the volume of domestically produced protein crops in Poland, which would increase the country’s security of supply of plant protein for feed purposes. It was also stated that in view of the ineffectiveness of market-based measures in developing protein crop production in the country, the government could intervene to introduce a plant protein indicator target to activate the market for this raw material.
The European Union is pushing forward its European Green Deal setting a climate goal of a 55% GHG decrease by 2030 and a net-zero emission economy by 2050. Sustainable mobility is one of the main ...areas of interest, with Battery Electric Vehicles and Hydrogen Electric vehicles (or Fuel Cell vehicles) as key technologies to reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and, therefore, global warming. Each technology is better suited for specific applications and standardization plays a key role to ensure the deployment of a safe, cost effective, energy efficient, sustainable transport. Sustainable refueling stations where several technologies coexist are envisioned and multiple standards should be implemented in a coordinated manner. A review of current European legislation and standardization for Hydrogen and Battery Electric Buses and Heavy-Duty Trucks is presented in this paper. Some indications of areas needing to be further standardized such as higher capacity and flow charging rates for Hydrogen vehicles are also given.
