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Webinar: The urgent case to stop factory farms in Europe

Thu, 19 November 2020

15:00 – 16:30 CET

A few weeks after the European Parliament vote on the new Common Agricultural Policy and with the ongoing debate about the Green New Deal and the Farm to Fork strategy, join us to discuss the role of factory farms and the meat industry in this context. What are the impacts, how is this affecting European communities, workers and farmers, and what policies do we need to build a better future with less but better meat. We want to use this space to exchange between us, learn from each other and point to successful strategies.

Welcome & Introduction

Why we need to stop factory farms in Europe

Presenting key finding of the report ‘The urgent case to stop factory farms in Europe’

David Sanchez, Food & Water Action Europe

How industrial meat production is impacting communities around Europe

Rosa Díaz Tagarro, national spokesperson of the Spanish Coalition Stop Factory Farms

Szabolcs Sepsi, German Trade Union Federation (DGB)

John Brennan, Leitrim Organic Farmer’s Coop, Ireland

How do we move forward with the livestock sector?

Rebecca Wolf, Food & Water Watch US shares experience from the US.

Isabella Lang, European Greens

Discussion on strategies and ways forward

Facilitator: Annelies Schorpion, Friends of the Earth Europe

Please register here

La Urgencia de Frenar la Ganadería Industrial en Europa – Webinario en español

Este evento ya pasó. Puedes ver la grabación en Facebook y en Youtube

Fecha: 29/10/2020 Hora: 18:00 – 19:30

¿Sabías que España es líder en el uso de antibióticos en animales? ¿Y que cada vez hay menos granjas pero producimos más cerdos sobre todo para exportación?

Las grandes corporaciones se han apropiado de nuestra agricultura, nuestra ganadería y, por lo tanto, de nuestra alimentación. Y este es el resultado. Multinacionales que solo buscan su propio beneficio pero controlan nuestra salud y nuestra alimentación. ¿Te interesa?

Presentamos nuestro informe «La urgencia de frenar la expansión de la ganadería industrial en Europa» junto con las comunidades afectadas por la ganadería industrial y sindicatos, para reflexionar sobre la necesidad de detener la expansión de la ganadería industrial, haciendo un repaso de sus principales riesgos en Europa y, en concreto, en España. Y, por supuesto, avanzaremos juntas sobre las claves para caminar hacia un modelo de producción agrícola y ganadera más diversificado y justo con las personas y el planeta.

¿Te apuntas?

¿Cuándo? 29 de octubre a las 18:00

¿Dónde? A través de estos canales de Facebook y Youtube.

 

The Urgent Case to Stop Factory Farms in Europe – Webinar in Spanish

Categories

WaterFood

Factory-farmed meat production in the EU is on the rise, and is putting the climate and human health at risk.

This rise in industrial meat production has been accompanied by a rapid decline in the number of small farms. This has led to a dangerous rise of “factory farms”, characterized by large numbers of animals confined in crowded spaces.

Together with Friends of the Earth Europe, we published a new report, The Urgent Case to Stop Factory Farms in Europe.

This week we launch the Spanish translation, and together with local communities and unions, we will debate about how to move forward to ban factory farms.

Do you understand Spanish? Check out the details here!

 

Over 100 organizations stand behind UN Special Rapporteur denouncing private water industry interference

Categories

WaterCommon Resources

October 21, 2020

Over 100 civil society organizations stand behind UN Special Rapporteur Léo Heller, denounce private water industry interference

We, the undersigned, express our strong support for the report on “The Privatisation of Water and Sanitation Services” of the United Nations (U.N.) Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, Mr. Léo Heller. He will present the report to the U.N. General Assembly today. We also express deep concern about the attempts by a group of private water operators to undermine the independence of the Special Rapporteur and his work.

This new report is an important contribution to a debate that is crucial in current times. The role of private actors in the delivery of public services, including water and sanitation services, has been increasing in the last decades. In recent years, at least four other U.N. Special Procedures ( extreme poverty and human rights , education , housing , and debt ) have written on this topic in their respective reports. Just this week, eight current and former U.N. Special Rapporteurs and independent experts met at a major event on privatisation gathering hundreds of people online, and five of them released an op-ed published worldwide on the importance of the issue of privatisation and human rights.

Mr. Heller’s report is balanced and acknowledges the diversity of context. His report is the result of his work over the last six years and, remarkably, it was prepared through several consultations that go far beyond what is expected or what is the usual practice under U.N. Special Procedures.

The consultations included a wide range of stakeholders, including States and the private sector, and were transparently shared on the mandate’s website . Yet, despite the importance of this issue and the measured and constructive solutions offered, the Special Rapporteur has faced considerable pushback from Aquafed, a lobby group for private water companies such as Veolia and Suez . We are aware that Aquafed wrote to the President of the Human Rights Council, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and to States. These letters personalised the issue, questioning Mr. Heller’s impartiality and respect of the applicable rules. The concerns they raise are however unfounded; they aim at silencing and discrediting him, rather than debating substance.

This interference is a transparent and unacceptable attempt to protect the industry’s profits from exposure to the reality of the lived experience of far too many who have had their human rights violated under privatisation.

We would like to express our thorough support to Mr. Heller’s rigour and professionalism.

Despite limited resources, he has consulted widely for this report, and for his previous reports. Throughout his six-year mandate, he paid attention to affected communities and families who do not enjoy the rights to water and sanitation. In strict adherence to the rules of conduct and the mandate of the Human Rights Council, he has conducted quality, evidence-based, thoughtful research. He has taken into consideration the views he received through consultations, but acted independently from States, the private sector, and other stakeholders, which is the pillar of the United Nations special procedures mechanism. There is no doubting his integrity, professionalism, or commitment to human rights.

The signatories would like to express our recognition for the work that the Special Rapporteur has undertaken in the last six years and in particular, we underline the importance of his work on privatisation. Mr. Heller makes recommendations for States, private actors and international financial institutions, which we believe merit due attention and action.

We urge States, as duty-bearers, to continue placing their obligation to fulfill the human rights of all people above the financial interests of any private actor.

Sincerely,

Convening partners:

Corporate Accountability

Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Public Services International

The Transnational Institute

Signatories:

ActionAid

African American Center for Global Politics and Human Rights

Aigua és Vida

Al-Haq

Alliance of Government Workers in the Water Sector (AGWWAS)

ALTSEAN-Burma

Amnesty International Australia

Amnistía Internacional Mexico

AOSED

AöW – Allianz der öffentlichen Wasserwirtschaft e.V.

Asociación Ecos El Salvador

Asociación Naturalista de Aragón

Associação Água Pública

Association for Culture and Art Crvena

Associació de Municipis i Entitats per l’Aigua Pública (Assotiation of Municipalities for Public

Water)

BLABLA

Blue Planet Project

Brazilian Campaign for the Right to Education

BUND / Friends of Germany

Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice

CeVI – Centro di Volontariato Internazionale

Closing the Water Gap Working Group

Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach

Comisión Multisectorial de Uruguay

Comisión Nacional en Defensa del Agua y la Vida

Comitato Italiano Contratto Mondiale sull’acqua (Italian Commettee for Global Water Contract )

Coordination EAU Île-de-France

Corporación Ecológica y Cultural Penca de Sabila

Corporate Accountability & Public Participation Africa (CAPPA)

CYDET

Earth Ethics, Inc

Ecumenical Water Network

Educar Consumidores

End Water Poverty

Enginyeria Sense Fronteres Catalunya

ENVJUSTICE Project, at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona

Eurodad

European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU)

European Services Strategy Unit

EYATH’s Trade Union

Federación de Organizaciones de la Sociedad civil del Guayas

FENTAP

Flint Rising

Food & Water Action Europe

Food & Water Watch

For Love of Water (FLOW)

Franciscans International

Fresh Eyes

Fundación Abril

Fundacja Zielone Światło

GCE-US

German NGO Forum Environment & Development

Global Social Justice

Griechenland Solidaritätskomitee Kön

Hawai’i Institute for Human Rights

Hope Spring Water

Human Rights and Gender Justice Clinic, City University of New York School of Law

IATP

IHE Delft

IHE Delft Institute for Water Education – Water Governance Department

IHE-Delft Institute for Water Education

Indian Institute of Youth And Development

Indonesia for Global Justice (IGJ)

Initiative for Social and Economic Rights

Institute of Management Sciences

Integrated Regional Support Programme

Koalisi Rakyat untuk Hak atas Air (KRuHA)/People’s Coalition for the Right to Water

Koordination Blue Community Deutschland

Life Health Education Development Foundation

MAPID

Media for Community Empowerment

Medical Whistleblower Advocacy Network

Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation

MISEREOR

Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens

Mujeres en Reistencia Chile

Muslim Family Counselling Services

National Welfare Rights Union

National Association of Youth Organizations (NAYO)

Newark Water Coalition

Nine Mile Run Watershed Association, Inc

OBCCD (Observatorio Boliviano de Cambio Climático y Desarrollo)

Observatorio Ciudadano de Servicios Públicos

Observatorio DDHH de los Pueblos

Observatório Nacional dos Direitos Humanos à Água e ao Saneamento – ONDAS

ONGAWA

Oxfam

Pantau Foundation

Parable of the Sower Intentional Community Cooperative

Partners for Dignity and Rights (formerly NESRI)

Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance

PIVJET International

Plataforma contra la privatización del Canal de Isabel II

Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU)

Public Water Now

Real Food Generation

Red Agua Publica

Red Naciona de Acueductos Comunitarios de Colombia

Red Regional No Más Mineras en la Patagonia

Red Vigilancia Interamericana para la Defensa y Derecho al Agua, Red VIDA

Right to Education Initiative

Río Santa Cruz Libre

Rural Area Development Programme (RAPD)

Scottish Water

Seke Rural Development Platform (SERDP)

Small Planet Institute

Social Eco Education (SEE-LA)

Society for International Development

Socio Economic Rights Institute South Africa

Solidaritas Perempuan

Stichting Wireless Leiden

SUTEPSAR

SustainUS

Taula de l’Aigua de Terrassa

The Truth Telling Project

Thomas Merton Center

Union of Kenya Civil Servants

UNISON

UNISON Southern Counties Water Branch

UNISON United Utilities Branch

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Sussex County

United Utilities

Water Grabbing Observatory

We the People of Detroit

Women Empowerment Against Poverty of Nepal

A Strategy on Methane or a Lifeline for Fossil Gas and Big Agriculture?

Today, on 14 October, the EU Commission will publish its methane strategy, outlining the next steps the EU should take to tackle methane, a climate-polluting greenhouse gas that is 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide CO2 over a 20-year period.

Food & Water Action Europe has taken a close look at leaked versions of the strategy. What we found are a few useful ideas, but many regrettable plans and gaps that reveal serious shortcomings.

We Must Phase Out Fossil Fuels and Factory Farms– Anything Less Is Not Enough

The EU strategy document is mainly focused on the energy, agriculture and waste sector. Unfortunately, the energy section ignores one of the biggest, dirtiest root causes of methane emissions: Our dependence on fossil fuels. We definitely need to crack down on methane emissions linked to oil, gas and coal, but we can never reach any meaningful reduction of the greenhouse gas without a concrete plan to fully phase out fossil fuels.

The same striking ignorance of root causes can be seen in other sectors as well. The proposals for methane reduction in the agricultural sector rely on technological fixes and subsidies to produce biogas as the solution. The problem is that this, too, is basically methane and can leak just the same as fossil gas. And producing biogas comes with a host of other negative side effects. In addition, the strategy in the waste sector lacks any mention of the need to reduce the production of waste in the first place. This is particularly true for the production of plastics, which is often based on side products (ethane and propane) from methane emission-intensive fracking operations, and thus comes with considerable emissions linked to both its production and disposal.

How to Make Gas Seem Acceptable – Shell, Total, BP & Co Happy to be on Board

As things are now, the methane strategy plays into the hands of the fossil gas industry, since it implies that fossil gas could be somehow stripped off its greenhouse gas emissions, which could justify continued dependency on the inherently polluting fuel. Ironically, a speaker from cabinet of Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson fueled these concerns by stating in a webinar about the methane strategy that “we cannot have, I think, a serious debate on the transitional role of gas, and the phase out of coal and the decarbonization of gas, if we do not address seriously also the methane issue”. However, the only way to fully decarbonize gas is to phase it out.

The current methane plans, though, must sound like music to polluters’ ears. But there is more in stock to please the industry responsible for emitting intolerably high amounts of methane: “The strategy encourages voluntary and business-led initiatives”, with the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership  given a central role. This voluntary initiative co-created by the UN Energy Programme has some of the world’s biggest polluters on board, like Shell, BP, ENI and Total.

The rest of the strategy also seems to cater for industry “needs” with open arms: The EU Commission looks into ways of making citizens pay for methane reductions. First, energy regulators are encouraged to assess whether methane reduction costs can be “allowed costs” and could thus be passed on to consumers. Secondly, a host of EU tax money pools like the Just Transition Fund, LIFE and the TEN-E’s Connecting Europe Facility are discussed as a means to help polluters clean up their mess. We cannot allow more money to be channeled towards the biggest polluters and help them to greenwash products which will never be sustainable.

Biogas: Is it Really the Solution Hailed by The Commission?

The strategy tries to promote biogas as a solution to methane emissions. Citing potential local and small-scale uses, the strategy advocates for subsidies for biogas facilities and prioritizes injecting biogas into the grid. These subsidies can be indirectly used to build new factory farms or support the existing ones. The Commission also seems to ignore the environmental impacts of manure in the biogas discussion. Biogas production doesn’t make the nutrient loads of manure evaporate or disappear. These materials will still need to be spread, leading to runoff from over-application, potentially intensifying existing problems of water nitrogen pollution.

In order to promote the role of “sustainable biogas,” the EC suggests renewable gas targets, which only shows that the Commission has failed to learn the lessons from all the bogus biofuels hype. Setting a target can only create a push for food crops and land to be used to produce biogas – something we urgently need to avoid.

The real solutions the European Commission needs to consider when it comes to livestock and manure management, in the framework of the Farm to Fork strategy, are the reduction of the number of farmed animals in the EU, phasing out factory farms as soon as possible, developing a just transition fund for factory farm workers and a legal clarification of the sustainable models of livestock farming we need to promote in Europe. In our newest report “The Urgent Case to Stop Factory Farms in Europe”, we outline what truly useful measures in the EU agricultural sector must look like.

Useful Plans to Build on, But Major Improvement Needed

The Methane Strategy gives some reason for hope, but even positive aspects of the plans urgently need improvement. While it is crucial that EU measures to tackle mineral methane (i.e. methane linked to fossil fuels) will also include coal mines and unused or abandoned extraction sites, it fails to mention wet gas, which plays an important role in keeping the fracking industry alive and is increasingly used as a feedstock for the global plastics industry.

A surprising proposal in the strategy is the creation of a Methane Supply Index, which would provide information about the methane footprint of gas from different supply chains (comparing countries like Algeria, Russia and Norway, and also via different routes like pipelines or ships carrying liquefied gas). The usefulness of such an index fully depends, however, on how methane emissions are assessed.

It is clear that many measures to reduce methane emissions already exist. Some immediately avoidable “emissions” are even intended, such as venting (releasing unburned gas) and flaring (partially burning gas before its release). “The EU will consider an effective stop of all routine venting and flaring in the EU energy sector by 2025”, the strategy reads. 2025 is far too late and only “considering” taking measures against a highly polluting practice for which solutions exist is an unacceptably weak position.

The paper indicates that there will be a legislative proposal to establish (some) binding measures to reduce methane in 2021 – but it does little to prepare affected parties for ambitious legislation to come. We do not have any time to lose, and swift compulsory action is needed, while making sure polluters pay to tackle the pollution they cause.

The EU is the biggest global importer of fossil gas, which means that measures taken need to reach export countries and focus on the entire supply chain. It also means that we can have a big impact, and have the responsibility to swiftly phase out fossil fuels altogether.

The Beyond Gas Conference Goes Online!

Categories

Food

Food & Water Action Europe is pleased to invite you to the first online edition of the Beyond Gas Conference, co-organised with Friends of the Earth Europe and Rosa Luxemburg Foundation !

The online event will take place on Monday 19 October from 13h30 to 18h30 CEST (7h30-12h30 EDT). It is open to gas activists and people willing to upgrade their knowledge on gas and getting involved in campaigns.

The aim of the conference is to provide a platform to connect with activists and campaigns, participation in skillshares and learn how to fight back against the gas industry’s latest greenwashing.

Please register by 15 October via: http://fweuro.pe/E-conference2020

Do you have any further question? Email [email protected]