On 3 May, MEP Soraya Rodríguez participated in an event on the Nature Restoration Law and the need to create sustainable food systems in the long term. This meeting was organised by the NGO WWF and its objective was to approach these issues from a legal perspective and to emphasise that the restoration of nature is an ally and not an inconvenience for the creation of resilient food systems.
The event was attended by scientists, professionals and business representatives, such as Cyril Freitag, member of the Environment area of the Permanent Representation of the Federal Republic of Germany to the EU; Evelyn Underwood, Head of the Biodiversity and Ecosystems Programme at the European Environmental Policy Institute; or Jeroen Candel, Associate Professor of Food and Agricultural Policy at the University of Wageningen (Netherlands).
In her speech, the MEP pointed out that, without a healthy environment, you cannot “have resilient food systems that can sustainably provide us with the nutrition we need”, so it is necessary to adopt “more positive agricultural practices for nature”, in order to improve soil health, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect biodiversity.
Soraya Rodriguez said that the war in Ukraine and the widespread increase in prices had affected the price of the shopping basket, but that this increase had no relation, as many critical voices pointed out, with the reform of the CAP or the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy framed within the Green Deal.
“These arguments are far from reality,” she said. ‘Our agriculture depends on nitrogen fertilisers and pesticides that are produced in third countries and whose price rise directly affects us. To have food security is to have an agriculture independent of these inputs. An agriculture that works together with nature and does not overexploit it”, MEP said.
The rapporteur stressed that the Nature Restoration Law is a crucial step in restoring vulnerable habitats and species populations across Europe and would therefore work tirelessly to secure their approval.
