Maritime innovation only gets 4.5% of overall cleantech private investment. There are plenty of technologies available, especially in CleanAI, alternative fuels, and electrification...
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In the Perspectives guest blog series, Farm Foundation invites participants from among the varied Farm Foundation programs to share their unique viewpoint on a topic relevant to a Farm Foundation focus area. Dr. Sandro Steinbach, the 2024 Farm Foundation Agricultural Economics Fellow, and Claire Citeau, a distinguished fellow at the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, contributed this guest blog. In July 2024, they attended the Global Forum on Farm Policy & Innovation‘s second workshop, held in Washington D.C. on the topic of measuring sustainability outcomes to facilitate agricultural trade. An in-depth paper summarizing the event’s key takeaways and next steps is also now available.
As climate pressures increase and sustainable practices become a priority, the agricultural sector faces a unique challenge: balancing trade policies with the need for sustainable farming. In July 2024, global experts gathered at the Global Forum for Farm Policy & Innovation (GFFPI) workshop in Washington, D.C., to tackle these pressing questions. Here, we highlight key takeaways from the workshop on aligning global trade with sustainable agriculture.
Why Integrating Sustainability into Trade Matters
Global agriculture is at a crossroads as countries strive to boost productivity and meet sustainability goals without causing unintended trade disruptions. Trade plays a vital role in food security, yet poorly coordinated policies can lead to barriers, especially as more nations adopt individual sustainability measures. To keep the agricultural sector competitive and resilient, there’s a growing need for a unified framework to guide trade and sustainability.
The Challenges of Harmonizing Trade with Sustainable Agriculture
Sustainable agriculture protects natural resources, maintains profitability, and supports community well-being. While the concept is widely understood, applying it consistently across countries and trade agreements takes time and effort. The workshop underscored that each country faces unique hurdles in integrating sustainable practices. For example, while some regions prioritize carbon reduction, others focus on reducing food insecurity or supporting local farmers. As a result, a “one-size-fits-all” approach to sustainable trade isn’t feasible.
What Role Can Trade Agreements Play?
Trade agreements hold the potential to foster sustainability, but they must be crafted carefully. Adding sustainability chapters focused on environmental and labor standards can help, as can voluntary incentive-based programs that encourage best practices without restricting farmers’ flexibility. Workshop participants agreed that trade policy can be a powerful tool, but only if it promotes shared goals while respecting local contexts.
Adopting an Outcome-Based Approach to Measure Sustainability
One key takeaway from the workshop was shifting from traditional, input-based sustainability measures (such as mandating specific farming practices) to outcome-based approaches. This shift allows farmers to adapt and innovate while focusing on measurable results like soil health, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity. Though more complex, outcome-based metrics can yield more meaningful insights and foster an environment where sustainable practices are both encouraged and achievable.
The Importance of Global Standards and Local Flexibility
Global standards are essential for assessing sustainability fairly across different countries. However, rigid frameworks may overlook local realities, particularly for smallholder farmers who face unique challenges. Workshop discussions emphasized the importance of balancing global standards and local flexibility to ensure sustainability goals are relevant and achievable worldwide. This balance is critical for creating trade policies that don’t stifle innovation or penalize farmers in resource-limited regions.
Supporting Sustainable Innovation in Agriculture
International trade enables innovation by allowing the transfer of knowledge, technology, and best practices. Golden Rice, an innovation born of global collaboration to address vitamin A deficiency, was one example discussed at the workshop. Cross-border cooperation accelerates such breakthroughs, underscoring the need for open markets that allow agricultural innovations to reach areas most needed.
Recommendations for Sustainable Trade
The workshop concluded with actionable steps for aligning trade and sustainability:
The Path to a Sustainable Agricultural Future
As agriculture faces mounting challenges, aligning trade with sustainable practices is essential. With thoughtful policies and collaborative efforts, global trade can support a more sustainable and food-secure world. The insights from the GFFPI workshop provide a strong foundation for future discussions, reminding us that trade policies should empower, not hinder, the transition to sustainable agriculture. With aligned policies and a shared commitment, the agricultural sector can advance toward a more resilient, sustainable future.
Claire Citeau is a distinguished fellow at the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute. She is also a senior fellow at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa. Sandro Steinbach is an associate professor in the Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics and the director of the Center for Agricultural Policy and Trade Studies at North Dakota State University. They can be reached at cciteau@uottawa.ca and sandro.steinbach@ndsu.edu, respectively.
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A new report from the Global Forum on Farm Policy & Innovation (GFFPI) highlights the complexities of balancing trade and sustainability objectives, emphasizing the pressing need to align trade rules with sustainability goals while avoiding unintended consequences.
The report, Policy and Practice for Sustainable Agriculture and Trade, is based on observations from the second workshop held by GFFPI, held in Washington D.C. in July 2024. The first workshop was hosted at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris in 2023 and focused on the ideal state of agriculture sustainability and trade.
The second workshop explored ways to integrate sustainability into global trade frameworks and develop standardized measurements to avoid unintended consequences. The workshop brought together over 70 participants representing 17 countries, including government officials, industry representatives, and trade policy experts. The discussions grappled with fundamental questions, including whose sustainability should be prioritized in trade agreements—the exporting country, the importing country, or global outcomes—and trade-offs between the environmental, social, and economic pillars of sustainability.
Key points identified in the report include:
“We are proud of and grateful for the global collaboration we have built over the last few years via GFFPI for respectful and evidence-based dialogue to elevate and advance possible pathways forward for agricultural trade and sustainability,” said Shari Rogge-Fidler, president and CEO of Farm Foundation.
Mark Titterington, co-founder and director of the Forum for the Future of Agriculture, agreed saying, “This is another strong contribution to the ongoing discussion on the role of trade policies in supporting the development of a more resilient and sustainable agri-food system. There is certainly a worthy case to consider for developing a global sustainable agriculture trade framework, underpinned by robust science, measurement and data, and which is outcome based. We were delighted to work with our partners in GFFPI in facilitating the discussion that led to this report and look forward to building on the key insights that emerged, also by bringing the European point of view and sensibilities to the discussion.”
The benefit of being able to share their specific point of view was shared by other GFFPI representatives. “As a trade-focused nation, Australian farmers know that our food-secure future depends on collaborative global action to meet shared goals,” said Katie McRobert, executive director of the Australian Farm Institute. “Trade can be a powerful lever to incentivize action on building natural, social, and economic capital in agricultural systems, provided that policies recognize unique local environmental and cultural contexts.”
When considering what comes next, the workshop highlighted the complex interplay between trade policy and agricultural sustainability and acknowledged there are many steps to make towards meaningful progress.
“The dialogue at the Washington workshop built on GFFPI’s past work, but underscored how much more work needs to be done to find solutions to the challenge of agriculture sustainability and trade,” said Tyler McCann, managing director of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute. “This work needs to be done between countries and must include leaders in trade and sustainability to lead to meaningful outcomes.”
The Global Forum for Farm Policy and Innovation (GFFPI) leverages evidence and dialogue leading to increased understanding, substantive action, and enhanced outcomes for more sustainable agriculture around the world. GFFPI members include the Australian Farm Institute, the Canadian Agri-food Policy Institute, the Farm Foundation (United States) and the Forum for the Future of Agriculture (Europe).
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As a major contributor to global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the transportation sector has immense potential to advance decarbonization. However, a zero-emissions global supply chain requires re-imagining reliance on a heavy-duty trucking industry that emits 810,000 tons of CO2, or 6 percent of the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions, and consumes 29 billion gallons of diesel annually in the U.S. alone.
A new study by MIT researchers, presented at the recent American Society of Mechanical Engineers 2024 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, quantifies the impact of a zero-emission truck’s design range on its energy storage requirements and operational revenue. The multivariable model outlined in the paper allows fleet owners and operators to better understand the design choices that impact the economic feasibility of battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell heavy-duty trucks for commercial application, equipping stakeholders to make informed fleet transition decisions.
“The whole issue [of decarbonizing trucking] is like a very big, messy pie. One of the things we can do, from an academic standpoint, is quantify some of those pieces of pie with modeling, based on information and experience we’ve learned from industry stakeholders,” says ZhiYi Liang, PhD student on the renewable hydrogen team at the MIT K. Lisa Yang Global Engineering and Research Center (GEAR) and lead author of the study. Co-authored by Bryony DuPont, visiting scholar at GEAR, and Amos Winter, the Germeshausen Professor in the MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering, the paper elucidates operational and socioeconomic factors that need to be considered in efforts to decarbonize heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs).
Operational and infrastructure challenges
The team’s model shows that a technical challenge lies in the amount of energy that needs to be stored on the truck to meet the range and towing performance needs of commercial trucking applications. Due to the high energy density and low cost of diesel, existing diesel drivetrains remain more competitive than alternative lithium battery-electric vehicle (Li-BEV) and hydrogen fuel-cell-electric vehicle (H2 FCEV) drivetrains. Although Li-BEV drivetrains have the highest energy efficiency of all three, they are limited to short-to-medium range routes (under 500 miles) with low freight capacity, due to the weight and volume of the onboard energy storage needed. In addition, the authors note that existing electric grid infrastructure will need significant upgrades to support large-scale deployment of Li-BEV HDVs.
While the hydrogen-powered drivetrain has a significant weight advantage that enables higher cargo capacity and routes over 750 miles, the current state of hydrogen fuel networks limits economic viability, especially once operational cost and projected revenue are taken into account. Deployment will most likely require government intervention in the form of incentives and subsidies to reduce the price of hydrogen by more than half, as well as continued investment by corporations to ensure a stable supply. Also, as H2-FCEVs are still a relatively new technology, the ongoing design of conformal onboard hydrogen storage systems — one of which is the subject of Liang’s PhD — is crucial to successful adoption into the HDV market.
The current efficiency of diesel systems is a result of technological developments and manufacturing processes established over many decades, a precedent that suggests similar strides can be made with alternative drivetrains. However, interactions with fleet owners, automotive manufacturers, and refueling network providers reveal another major hurdle in the way that each “slice of the pie” is interrelated — issues must be addressed simultaneously because of how they affect each other, from renewable fuel infrastructure to technological readiness and capital cost of new fleets, among other considerations. And first steps into an uncertain future, where no one sector is fully in control of potential outcomes, is inherently risky.
“Besides infrastructure limitations, we only have prototypes [of alternative HDVs] for fleet operator use, so the cost of procuring them is high, which means there isn’t demand for automakers to build manufacturing lines up to a scale that would make them economical to produce,” says Liang, describing just one step of a vicious cycle that is difficult to disrupt, especially for industry stakeholders trying to be competitive in a free market.
Quantifying a path to feasibility
“Folks in the industry know that some kind of energy transition needs to happen, but they may not necessarily know for certain what the most viable path forward is,” says Liang. Although there is no singular avenue to zero emissions, the new model provides a way to further quantify and assess at least one slice of pie to aid decision-making.
Other MIT-led efforts aimed at helping industry stakeholders navigate decarbonization include an interactive mapping tool developed by Danika MacDonell, Impact Fellow at the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium (MCSC); alongside Florian Allroggen, executive director of MITs Zero Impact Aviation Alliance; and undergraduate researchers Micah Borrero, Helena De Figueiredo Valente, and Brooke Bao. The MCSC’s Geospatial Decision Support Tool supports strategic decision-making for fleet operators by allowing them to visualize regional freight flow densities, costs, emissions, planned and available infrastructure, and relevant regulations and incentives by region.
While current limitations reveal the need for joint problem-solving across sectors, the authors believe that stakeholders are motivated and ready to tackle climate problems together. Once-competing businesses already appear to be embracing a culture shift toward collaboration, with the recent agreement between General Motors and Hyundai to explore “future collaboration across key strategic areas,” including clean energy.
Liang believes that transitioning the transportation sector to zero emissions is just one part of an “energy revolution” that will require all sectors to work together, because “everything is connected. In order for the whole thing to make sense, we need to consider ourselves part of that pie, and the entire system needs to change,” says Liang. “You can’t make a revolution succeed by yourself.”
The authors acknowledge the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium for connecting them with industry members in the HDV ecosystem; and the MIT K. Lisa Yang Global Engineering and Research Center and MIT Morningside Academy for Design for financial support.
© Photo: Bob Adams/Flickr
What are corporate’s sustainability hopes, dreams, and aspirations? Who is in the room leading the charge? And who isn’t there and should be?...
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Climate anxiety affects nearly half of young people aged 16-25. Students like second-year Rachel Mohammed find hope and inspiration through her involvement in innovative climate solutions, working alongside peers who share her determination. “I’ve met so many people at MIT who are dedicated to finding climate solutions in ways that I had never imagined, dreamed of, or heard of. That is what keeps me going, and I’m doing my part,” she says.
Hydrogen-fueled engines
Hydrogen offers the potential for zero or near-zero emissions, with the ability to reduce greenhouse gases and pollution by 29 percent. However, the hydrogen industry faces many challenges related to storage solutions and costs.
Mohammed leads the hydrogen team on MIT’s Electric Vehicle Team (EVT), which is dedicated to harnessing hydrogen power to build a cleaner, more sustainable future. EVT is one of several student-led build teams at the Edgerton Center focused on innovative climate solutions. Since its founding in 1992, the Edgerton Center has been a hub for MIT students to bring their ideas to life.
Hydrogen is mostly used in large vehicles like trucks and planes because it requires a lot of storage space. EVT is building their second iteration of a motorcycle based on what Mohammed calls a “goofy hypothesis” that you can use hydrogen to power a small vehicle. The team employs a hydrogen fuel cell system, which generates electricity by combining hydrogen with oxygen. However, the technology faces challenges, particularly in storage, which EVT is tackling with innovative designs for smaller vehicles.
Presenting at the 2024 World Hydrogen Summit reaffirmed Mohammed’s confidence in this project. “I often encounter skepticism, with people saying it’s not practical. Seeing others actively working on similar initiatives made me realize that we can do it too,” Mohammed says.
The team’s first successful track test last October allowed them to evaluate the real-world performance of their hydrogen-powered motorcycle, marking a crucial step in proving the feasibility and efficiency of their design.
MIT’s Sustainable Engine Team (SET), founded by junior Charles Yong, uses the combustion method to generate energy with hydrogen. This is a promising technology route for high-power-density applications, like aviation, but Yong believes it hasn’t received enough attention. Yong explains, “In the hydrogen power industry, startups choose fuel cell routes instead of combustion because gas turbine industry giants are 50 years ahead. However, these giants are moving very slowly toward hydrogen due to its not-yet-fully-developed infrastructure. Working under the Edgerton Center allows us to take risks and explore advanced tech directions to demonstrate that hydrogen combustion can be readily available.”
Both EVT and SET are publishing their research and providing detailed instructions for anyone interested in replicating their results.
Running on sunshine
The Solar Electric Vehicle Team powers a car built from scratch with 100 percent solar energy.
The team’s single-occupancy car Nimbus won the American Solar Challenge two years in a row. This year, the team pushed boundaries further with Gemini, a multiple-occupancy vehicle that challenges conventional perceptions of solar-powered cars.
Senior Andre Greene explains, “the challenge comes from minimizing how much energy you waste because you work with such little energy. It’s like the equivalent power of a toaster.”
Gemini looks more like a regular car and less like a “spaceship,” as NBC’s 1st Look affectionately called Nimbus. “It more resembles what a fully solar-powered car could look like versus the single-seaters. You don’t see a lot of single-seater cars on the market, so it’s opening people’s minds,” says rising junior Tessa Uviedo, team captain.
All-electric since 2013
The MIT Motorsports team switched to an all-electric powertrain in 2013. Captain Eric Zhou takes inspiration from China, the world’s largest market for electric vehicles. “In China, there is a large government push towards electric, but there are also five or six big companies almost as large as Tesla size, building out these electric vehicles. The competition drives the majority of vehicles in China to become electric.”
The team is also switching to four-wheel drive and regenerative braking next year, which reduces the amount of energy needed to run. “This is more efficient and better for power consumption because the torque from the motors is applied straight to the tires. It’s more efficient than having a rear motor that must transfer torque to both rear tires. Also, you’re taking advantage of all four tires in terms of producing grip, while you can only rely on the back tires in a rear-wheel-drive car,” Zhou says.
Zhou adds that Motorsports wants to help prepare students for the electric vehicle industry. “A large majority of upperclassmen on the team have worked, or are working, at Tesla or Rivian.”
Former Motorsports powertrain lead Levi Gershon ’23, SM ’24 recently founded CRABI Robotics — a fully autonomous marine robotic system designed to conduct in-transit cleaning of marine vessels by removing biofouling, increasing vessels’ fuel efficiency.
An Indigenous approach to sustainable rockets
First Nations Launch, the all-Indigenous student rocket team, recently won the Grand Prize in the 2024 NASA First Nations Launch High-Power Rocket Competition. Using Indigenous methodologies, this team considers the environment in the materials and methods they employ.
“The environmental impact is always something that we consider when we’re making design decisions and operational decisions. We’ve thought about things like biodegradable composites and parachutes,” says rising junior Hailey Polson, team captain. “Aerospace has been a very wasteful industry in the past. There are huge leaps and bounds being made with forward progress in regard to reusable rockets, which is definitely lowering the environmental impact.”
Collecting climate change data with autonomous boats
Arcturus, the recent first-place winner in design at the 16th Annual RoboBoat Competition, is developing autonomous surface vehicles that can greatly aid in marine research. “The ocean is one of our greatest resources to combat climate change; thus, the accessibility of data will help scientists understand climate patterns and predict future trends. This can help people learn how to prepare for potential disasters and how to reduce each of our carbon footprints,” says Arcturus captain and rising junior Amy Shi.
“We are hoping to expand our outreach efforts to incorporate more sustainability-related programs. This can include more interactions with local students to introduce them to how engineering can make a positive impact in the climate space or other similar programs,” Shi says.
Shi emphasizes that hope is a crucial force in the battle against climate change. “There are great steps being taken every day to combat this seemingly impending doom we call the climate crisis. It’s important to not give up hope, because this hope is what’s driving the leaps and bounds of innovation happening in the climate community. The mainstream media mostly reports on the negatives, but the truth is there is a lot of positive climate news every day. Being more intentional about where you seek your climate news can really help subside this feeling of doom about our planet.”
© Photo: Adam Glanzman
Cleantech Group’s baseline study of the global blue economy innovation ecosystem first sought to explain what the blue economy is in a cleantech...
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The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin is committed to preserving their environment and fostering sustainable growth. In the face of a rapidly changing climate, investing in clean energy isn’t just about harnessing the power of the sun and wind—it’s about empowering their community, protecting their sacred lands, and ensuring a vibrant future for generations to come. With increased clean energy funding opportunities, such as those provided by the Inflation Reduction Act, the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin is creating new opportunities, enhancing economic resilience, and supporting the Tribe’s cultural values.
Special thanks to Isaiah Ness (Sun Bear Industries) and Zoar Fulwilder (Mavid Construction Services) for their work to advance clean energy in Tribal communities and for inviting RENEW to witness the transformation.
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On Thursday, July 18, 2024, Farm Foundation participated in the second Global Forum for Farm and Policy Innovation (GFFPI) workshop, held in Washington D.C. The focus of the workshop was “measuring sustainability outcomes to facilitate agricultural trade.” This was a priority identified in the previous workshop.
The nearly 70 participants representing 18 countries discussed the topics of an outcomes-based approach to trade and sustainability, and measuring challenges and opportunities in trade and sustainability. Farm Foundation President and CEO Shari Rogge-Fidler provided opening remarks and also facilitated small group discussions, along with Farm Foundation Vice President of Programs and Projects Martha King. U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Alexis Taylor spoke on the importance of trade and sustainability for global food and agriculture.
The first workshop, held in late 2023, brought together representatives from OECD countries and OECD Secretariat as well as industry experts from across Europe, North America, Japan, and Australia to discuss the role of trade and agriculture sustainability in an interactive and thought-provoking format. That workshop, held at the OECD in Paris, enabled stakeholders from around the world to identify common goals and priorities.
The findings from the first workshop were published in a report entitled Advancing the Role of Trade and Agricultural Sustainability. A second paper reflecting the findings of the second workshop is anticipated this fall.
The Washington D.C. workshop was held in partnership with the Australian Farm Institute, Farm Foundation, the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, and the Forum for the Future of Agriculture.
GFFPI events, including this one, support Farm Foundation’s mission of building trust and understanding about U.S. agriculture with global food and agricultural stakeholders. In addition, Farm Foundation offers a uniquely independent platform for these dialogues to advance and elevate trade and sustainability issues.
The post GFFPI Holds Second Workshop on Agricultural Trade and Sustainability appeared first on Farm Foundation.
In the Perspectives guest blog series, Farm Foundation invites participants from among the varied Farm Foundation programs to share their unique viewpoint on a topic relevant to a Farm Foundation focus area. Michelle Klieger is a 2024 Farm Foundation Young Agri-Food Leader and president of Stratagerm Consulting. In this blog she discusses the European Union’s new deforestation regulations.
The European Union aims to raise the global bar with new Deforestation Regulations. Effective since June of 2023, the regulations ban imported goods that stand to profit off of deforestation practices. By devaluing and even penalizing these practices, the EU hopes to create a commodity trade standard that will reverse the effects of deforestation. They predict 177,920 acres of forests, or one quarter of Rhode Island, will be saved in 2025, and are optimistic that these steps will reduce air pollution.
Soy, palm oil, beef, coffee, and cocoa trades are expected to experience a significant impact due to these new requirements. Brazil, Argentina, Malaysia, Indonesia, Canada and parts of Africa are on edge as they consider trading options. Some argue this is the beginning of a new era, while others see it as a reorganization of supply chains.
For companies working to meet regulations, the process is complex. While individual companies must produce data to receive deforestation- free certification, entire supply chains must be vetted. Each industry faces unique obstacles. Soy, for example, goes from farm production, and is then transported to processing facilities, then moved onto crushers, then to product manufacturers, and finally to retailers. If at any point in the process operations have made use of deforested land, the trading company could be banned from exporting goods to EU countries. Palm oil batches typically mix fruit from many sources at once. Many of these companies can only trace a product after it has been processed and would need to develop brand new traceability methods to meet requirements.
Meeting the new regulations requires an investment in technology and manpower. In order to make products fully traceable many companies are purchasing GPS technology that allows them to accurately map and consistently monitor their farms. Similarly, if products must be tracked and segregated from planting all the way to a grocery store shelf, digital tracking technology will also be needed. Guaranteeing deforestation-free methods must include in person inspections done by real people traveling from farm to farm to see operations up close.
It’s a time consuming process to build out this framework, but one that many companies deem both valuable to the global environment and financially lucrative in the long run. Decisions involve farmers, transportation companies, processing plants and manufacturers, but they also must include government policy, technology and in some cases legal crossroads. There is no overnight shift, but rather a development of practices.
Already many companies are rerouting supplies to other buyers and avoiding EU regulations altogether. The trend prompts speculation that the new requirements will not raise the bar, but simply split or change the flow of supply chains. Brazil could turn to China as a new soy buyer and Indonesia could potentially trade palm oil to Africa. We’ve seen substitute shifts like these in the past with the U.S.-China trade war and sanctions on Russian energy. It may prove simpler and more cost effective to change buyers rather than invest in meeting new EU regulations. Many of these companies have little ability to enforce downline or upline adherence to regulation and they fear penalties.
Interestingly, in 2020 Brazil produced ⅓ of the world’s soy, but only 13% of crops account for 95% of the deforestation that occurred that year. The other 87% appear to have been produced on grassland and savannah areas. The scenario is true elsewhere and begs the question; will this create a new environmental imbalance that puts stress on other ecosystems? Companies looking to meet regulations could potentially exploit approved farming areas by over farming them.
Will it be harder to secure buyers or much used commodities? For the EU, value is placed not just on the product, but how it is sourced. The decision will impact both consumers and European agriculture.
European countries are braced to experience a decreased supply of things like chocolate and coffee. But, exactly how increased operating costs will be absorbed remains uncertain. Typically consumer prices reflect production cost increases, but in this situation one or more points along a supply chain may need to take ownership of costs to ensure tradability. The result, at least in the initial stages, would be lower profit margins for most of these companies and possibly higher purchase prices for consumers.
Several European countries are seeking reduced regulations and maintain that the current requirements are virtually impossible for small and medium sized farms to accommodate. They also argue that these regulations negatively impact many of the current sustainability processes farmers are working to implement for the sake of biodiversity, crop and grazing rotations. Farmers worry that they will not be able to produce the soy meal needed to feed their own livestock and that the EU will become too reliant on exports which would negatively affect the European ag sector.
The EU is not alone. Other countries have similar environmentally focused goals and policy in the works to support these goals. The United States has seen a growing consumer demand for traceability, prompting many businesses to begin the process of leveraging technology and better communication up and down supply chains to help customers make informed decisions.
The Forest Act of 2023 was birthed out of the same desire to stabilize regions of the world that have suffered from illegal deforestation and offer opportunities for many industries and individual businesses to clean up their processes. If it goes into effect, the Forest Act would be very similar to the EU’s Deforestation Regulation; banning products that have been produced on illegally deforested land and penalizing unmet requirements.
Many American operations are positioned to receive deforestation-free certification. Several top soy producers are predicted to meet regulations and be granted access to the EU markets. A welcome relief to farmers who have faced narrowing markets in recent years.
Exactly how competitive this “new” market will be, only time will tell. Traceability efforts take time. Unless trade lines were already working toward deforestation-free goals, it will take years for many of these supply chains to implement methods that meet EU regulations. In the meantime, it’s highly likely that global trade negotiations will be impacted and supply chains will shift in response to the environmental standard.
A version of this blog originally appeared on the Stratagerm Consulting website. It is reposted with permission.
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