IATP Europe submitted the following comment on March 19, 2026 to the European Commission on the EU’s Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action, giving feedback on the strategic planning and monitoring needed to to reduce emissions in the agriculture sector and ensure its effective contribution to reaching the EU's 2040 climate targets and beyond.
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) Europe welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the EU’s Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action (Regulation (EU) 2018/1999) and the planning and reporting measures needed to deliver robust climate action by 2040 and beyond.
The Governance Regulation is not fit for purpose to support the strategic planning, reporting and monitoring needed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the agriculture sector.
Agricultural emissions have been largely stagnate for the last two decades, only falling recently not from climate policies, but due to higher fertilizer prices. There is no accountability for the fact that the sector has failed to deliver any meaningful GHG emission cuts, despite significant public subsidies. There is no clarity on the residual emissions level for agriculture in 2040 and beyond, thus failing to provide the direction needed for farmers and rural communities, and adding uncertainty to the scale of carbon removals needed to meet the EU’s net zero and net negative GHG emissions goals.
The Governance Regulation has also failed to set in motion sufficient action to tackle the EU’s methane emissions. The world has entered the danger zone for climate harms. Global temperatures exceeded the 1.5°C temperature limit for the first time in 2024. Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent. Climate extremes, especially drought, are already costing farmers billions per year and will only get more frequent and more severe without strong action to cut climate pollution. Cutting methane emissions — a short-lived but potent climate polluter — can help slow the rate of warming and lower the peak temperature reached. Industrial livestock is a significant source of methane pollution.
A fair transition to farming within nature’s limits will not take place overnight — not least of which because it takes time to change farm practices and establish alternative markets that will allow farmers to earn a fair living by growing more climate-friendly foods, shifting to agroforestry, or even growing sustainable construction material on rewetted peatlands.
To read the full comment, view the PDF here.
