Swiss Re led coalition says EU could add up to €9.3 billion to farmers annual incomes with “climate-smart actions”
The EU could add between €1.9bn and €9.3 billion annually to farmers’ incomes if farmers are supported in taking “climate-smart actions”, according to a survey by the EU Carbon+ Farming Coalition.
Other benefits would include reducing its agricultural greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 6%, and restoring soil health of over 14% of its total agricultural land.
Transforming Food Systems with Farmers, written as part of the broader effort of the 100 Million Farmers’ EU Carbon+ Farming Coalition, makes recommendations on how to work with farmers to achieve these results.
The EU Carbon+ Farming Coalition designed and implemented a survey that asked farmers from seven countries, making up a majority of the EU farmer base, about the main barriers to scaling climate-smart agricultural solutions. These included: challenging farm economics, lack of awareness, uneven technology adoption, and fragmentation of policies at the national level.
Based on these findings, The EU Carbon+ Farming Coalition is committed to accelerating the feasibility and impact of the climate-smart transition.
Veronica Scotti, Chair of Public Sector Solutions at Swiss Re, said: “As a global re/insurer, Swiss Re has contributed to the agricultural sector resilience for many years with innovative risk transfer solutions. Today we want to help the sector transition towards a decarbonised future; we understand there are risks associated with this critical phase and the insurance industry can be a catalyst and a partner in this transformation. We believe the Coalition allows an effective mobilisation of technical competencies, risk insights and co-ordinated market forces to help transform Europe into a leading example of an adaptive, equitable and climate-resilient society, and we will play our part.”