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The government wants more sustainable agriculture. So far, however, the farmers have been successful in preventing this.
The federal government pays a lot of money to the farmers to promote biodiversity. Nevertheless, a decline in species diversity has not yet been prevented. Not only in environmental matters – in principle, Switzerland pays high contributions to farmers in an international comparison.
Although the federal government and the cantons have invested a lot of money since the agricultural reform in 1999, the ecological goals have not been achieved. Biodiversity is in poor condition.
The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) has issued red lists for 28 groups of organisms. Of the 10,844 species assessed, 35 percent are classified as endangered or extinct, and a further 12 percent as near threatened. This is how it is with mammals.
And this is how it looks in terms of species loss among songbirds.
In addition, air, water and soil are heavily polluted. From the point of view of the Federal Council, agriculture is moving too little overall. There is regular political resistance to a more sustainable agricultural policy.
In this winter session, the farmers’ lobby is trying to weaken the set lowering path for liquid manure. In the view of the environmental associations, the nitrogen contained in the liquid manure should be reduced as a matter of urgency.
The farmers also want to backtrack on the biodiversity promotion areas. At the moment, these amount to around one percent of the arable land. According to the Federal Council, it should now be 3.5 percent in arable land.
Farmers argue that the Federal Council’s goals contradict each other. On the one hand, the degree of self-sufficiency should remain high, on the other hand, agriculture should become more sustainable.
Legend:
Agriculture should become more sustainable. (Picture from 2011 from Rostock, Northern Germany)
Keystone/EPA/BERND WUESTNECK
According to the federal government, with a growing population, agriculture should continue to produce more than half of the food demand in 2050. Today the degree of self-sufficiency is 57 percent.
According to the Federal Council, processors and consumers are also needed to implement more sustainable agriculture. The solution is: throw away less food and eat less meat. But per capita meat consumption rose slightly in 2021 compared to the previous year.
In view of the disappearance of species, global warming and water pollution, the political rifts are widening. It would have to work the other way around: a less ideological debate would lead to better results.