Organic: A Climate Saviour?
25.08.2008
foodwatch commissioned the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW) to examine the respective contribution of conventional and organic agriculture in Germany to the greenhouse effect. The results show that considerable amounts of greenhouse gases can be avoided in the agricultural sector. Consequently, agriculture must finally become part of climate change policy in Germany and at EU level – with specific reduction targets. This is not the case at present.
There is a debate in Germany not only about which form of agricultural production is better, namely conventional or organic farming, but also about which type of production is less damaging for the climate. The conventional farming lobby argues that higher yields and production performance generate lower quantities of greenhouse gases per kilo of cereal or meat and thus protect the climate. On the other hand, the Greens demand an “ecological bonus”, above all for the organic farming sector. In their view, this is justified by the fact that organic farmers do not use chemical pesticides or mineral fertilisers which make a considerable contribution to the greenhouse effect. Consumers also have a major interest in learning what impact their eating habits have on the climate. A large proportion of them presumably believe that those who eat organic food are also helping to protect the climate. But is that true?
There have been insufficient scientific findings with which to conduct a well-founded debate. The Federal Government gave the following response to a minor interpellation by the Greens in 2007 about the differences between conventional and organic farming in terms of their greenhouse gas emissions:“No thorough, generally recognised and comprehensive comparison has yet been made of the difference in greenhouse emissions between conventional and organic farming”. To close this knowledge gap, foodwatch commissioned the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW) to examine the respective contribution of conventional and organic agriculture in Germany to the greenhouse effect. The study sets out the differences in the emission of greenhouse gases, using the examples of wheat growing, pigmeat, poultry, beef and milk production. It concentrates on the production of raw materials and does not include food processing. Although the study only investigates these areas in detail, conclusions can be drawn for agriculture as a whole. The results show that considerable amounts of greenhouse gases can be avoided in the agricultural sector. Consequently, agriculture must finally become part of climate change policy in Germany and at EU level – with specific reduction targets. This is not the case at present. This report is in two parts. The first part describes the results and consequences of the IÖW study “The Impact of German Agriculture on the Climate” from our point of view at foodwatch. The second part is an executive summary of the study produced by the IÖW. The IÖW study “The Impact of German Agriculture Germany on the Climate” was possible thanks to the financial support of and in cooperation with the Deutsche Wildtier Stiftung, the KLEF-Stiftung and Herr Karl-Ludwig Schweisfurth, for which foodwatch is extremely grateful. foodwatch report "Organic: A Climate Saviour?" »
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