Fort those in Brussels who care about saving the last scraps of urban nature. ulule.com/sauvez-les-dernier… #ulule #crowdfunding

🚨Breaking: EU Agriculture Vision goes rogue🚨 Commissioner Hansen fails to propose concrete policy actions to tackle the ongoing climate, biodiversity, and social crises, threats that endanger the livelihoods of millions of farmers. Read more here: birdlife.org/news/2025/02/19… Picture by Chudy Andrey

Every meal we eat has a cost - not just to our wallets, but to our health, our planet, and our future. Right now, that cost is staggering. As an illustration, the industrial animal-based food production and consumption are estimated to have cost €3 trillion in the EU in 2022. This toll includes rising healthcare expenses, environmental degradation, climate change and subsidies that sustain an unsustainable system. Our diets are not just a personal choice, they are a collective crisis. Europe’s food system is putting an immense pressure on our planet, from tropical deforestation, air and water pollution, to global greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, our current diets are major contributors to disease in the EU. Medical doctors witness the consequences of Europeans eating too little whole grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables every day. Diet-related cancers, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases are on the rise. And while public health campaigns urge Europeans to eat more plants, subsidies and market structures inadequately support plant-based foods and make them less accessible and affordable than they should be. The current system is not just failing our planet and its people – it’s failing Europe’s farmers. Small-scale livestock farmers are increasingly squeezed out by industrial competitors. The status quo favors mass production over quality and sustainability, leaving little room for those who want to innovate or diversify. The evidence is crystal clear. Europe’s food system urgently needs a refresh and the costs onmour economies, our health and our planet are unbearable. But all is not lost yet. A fresh EU vision on agriculture and food is being crafted, and the opportunity is there for the taking. There is a clear path to a healthier, fairer, and more sustainable food system – and EU policy makers have a chance to tackle our multiple crises by championing plant-based foods in the years to come. The question is, will they seize it? Continue reading: birdlife.org/news/2025/02/17… Written by @ArielBrunner (Regional Director at BirdLife Europe), Niklas Oppenrieder (Founder & Chairman of the Board at @PAN_Int - Physicians Association for Nutrition), and @89SilviaSchmidt (Policy manager at @OrganicsEurope ) #NoNatureNoFood

Open letter by scientists: 31 organizations & 2262 individual signatories call EU policymakers to Revive the Green Deal. The planetary crisis risks millions in the EU & billions globally. Weakening THE instrument to tackle the crisis is unwise! Read here: zenodo.org/records/14864213

Excellent journalism by @politico dismantling the witch hunt orchestrated by right wing MEPs who falsly claim the European Commission pay NGOs to lobby for the Green Deal politico.eu/article/fact-che…

⚠️A new study published by @ornithologiki BirdLife Greece delivers a stark warning: climate change is rapidly making the treacherous journey of migratory birds even more deadly. Read more: birdlife.org/news/2025/02/07…

The EU’s shift way from what it does best is a dangerous game How can the EU credibly move from being a regulatory super power to yet another utility maximizer cutting on protection for its people and planet? #omnibus

Nice one. #NatureBasedSolutions

The CAP remains, essentially, an elaborated fraud transferring vast sums of citizens' money to a tiny minority of mostly very wealthy landowners. With some of the money wasted on complicated ways of hiding this simple fact.

As Commissioner @CHansenEU prepares to present the Vision for Agriculture and Food on February 19th, we are at a pivotal moment. This vision will shape EU food and farming policy for the next decade. This vision must be based on the historic agreement reached in the Strategic Dialogue earlier in 2024, bringing together diverse stakeholders - including farmers, food industry representatives, environmental NGOs, and civil society groups. The Strategic Dialogue provides a clear roadmap for addressing the social, environmental, and economic challenges that European agriculture is currently facing. And the outcome was clear: business-as-usual is not an option. With climate change and biodiversity loss already having devastating impacts on farmers, we are committed to ensuring that the Vision for Agriculture and Food leads to real, lasting change. How can we make this urgent transition towards sustainability without leaving any farmer behind? 🌾Repurposing CAP subsidies to deliver real socio-economic and environmental benefits 🌾Reducing agricultural emissions through effective policies 🌾Investing in nature restoration 🌾Supporting a just transition in the livestock sector 🌾Ensuring sustainable and healthy food is the easy choice for consumers 🌾Benchmarking farm-level sustainability to drive real progress 🌾Reducing bureaucracy and improving policy enforcement Picture by Yves Adams #NoNatureNoFood

🌿Huge win for nature in Poland! Thanks to our Partner @OTOP_tweets , the Polish government has cancelled plans to build the Siarzewo Dam on the Vistula River. 💚 Read more about this historic victory: savepolesia.org/victory-for-… 📷: Daniel Rosengren

#belgium: nature reserve #mechelsbroek and Mechelen chosen as Ramsar wetland city ramsar.org/our-work/activiti… @BirdLifeEurope @MijnNatuurpunt @BirdLife_News @ArielBrunner in the news 👇 VRT: Internationale prijs voor Mechelse watergebieden youtu.be/tZ0xPpo26YQ?si=Ed4G… via @YouTube

🚨 The evidence is clear: to tackle the nature and climate crises, food and farming systems in Europe need to be transformed. We, together with 130 NGOs, are calling for an EU Action Plan for hashtag#PlantBased Foods. With this plan, @CHansenEU, together with the @EU_Commission, could create incredible benefits, such as: ✅ Free up land and create more space for nature, biodiversity rich habitats, and extensive forms of farming. ✅ Improve our citizens' health, as 80% of Europeans are not eating enough whole-grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables. ✅ New opportunities for European farmers, including small-scale and young farmers. A more plant-rich food system will benefits people, nature, and the planet! Read our joint letter: birdlife.org/wp-content/uplo…

How can we achieve farming without toxic pesticides in the EU? 🐝🧑‍🌾 Together with 85 environmental, health, human rights groups and farmers organisations, we developed a Roadmap to make pesticide reduction a reality 👉 pan-europe.info/sites/pan-eu… #PesticideFreeEU #SaveBeesandFarmers

Thank you Commissioner @CostasKadis for a good meeting with @BirdLifeEurope No blue economy without a healthy sea Let's work together to #RestoreNature in cooperation with coastal communities, low impact fishers, the windrower sector and all relevant stakeholders.

My view n ongoing attack n NGOs IN @Europarl_EN sustainableviews.com/defundi…

🚨Europe’s ecosystems could store ≈ 13 billion tonnes of carbon, matching global annual CO₂ emissions! A new BirdLife Europe report shines light on the extraordinary carbon storage potential of Europe's ecosystems. Find out more 👉birdlife.org/news/2025/01/16…