Towards Green Agriculture and Sustainable Development: Pro-Environmental Activity of Farms under the Common Agricultural Policy
Growing environmental and climate problems in the contemporary world necessitate the search for efficient solutions, including changes in agriculture, which has been reflected in the new package of reforms of the EU climate policy, called the European Green Deal (the EGD). Agriculture and rural area...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-02-01
|
| Series: | Energies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/4/1770 |
| _version_ | 1811153837866614784 |
|---|---|
| author | Roman Rudnicki Mirosław Biczkowski Łukasz Wiśniewski Paweł Wiśniewski Stanisław Bielski Renata Marks-Bielska |
| author_facet | Roman Rudnicki Mirosław Biczkowski Łukasz Wiśniewski Paweł Wiśniewski Stanisław Bielski Renata Marks-Bielska |
| author_sort | Roman Rudnicki |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Growing environmental and climate problems in the contemporary world necessitate the search for efficient solutions, including changes in agriculture, which has been reflected in the new package of reforms of the EU climate policy, called the European Green Deal (the EGD). Agriculture and rural areas play an essential role in the attainment of the EGD goals, and one of the prerequisites for an effective implementation of the EGD assumptions is to recognize the mechanism underlying the activity of agricultural farms in the scope of pro-environmental measures implemented under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). This article presents an endeavour to make a multidimensional evaluation of the spatial diversification in such activities, using Polish farms as an example. Compared to other EU member states, Poland is a country where agriculture remains a substantial sector in the national economy. This research is based on data from several institutions, including the Central Statistical Office (CSO) and the Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture (ARMA), responsible for the allocation of funds from the EU budget and for providing support to the development of agriculture and rural areas. The level and structure of the absorption of funds from the CAP underwent analysis, including three pro-environmental measures of the Rural Development Programme: organic farming (OF), agri-environment climate measure (AECM), and afforestation and creation of forest areas (ACFA). In order to achieve a holistic approach to these measures, an innovative analytical model was developed. It can be applied to analyses on a regional, national, and European level, and it is based on several novel indicators, as well as advanced statistical and spatial analyses. The research demonstrates that the pro-environment activities of farmers are characterized by a significant geographical diversity. The most active in soliciting payments from the CAP were agricultural farms with a high level of pro-environment internal characteristics of agriculture (IPEAF = 30.1%, with national average = 11.6%). With regard to anthropogenic determinants, relatively higher values of the IPEAF indicator were found in the municipalities with a lower level of socio-economic development (12.1%) and those located in northern and western Poland, within the borders of the former Prussian Partition (18.6%), characterised by higher farming culture. The research results imply that the effectiveness of the up-to-date solutions needs to be improved, also by taking into consideration the endogenous conditions and potential of individual territorial units. The research results also prove the expediency of implementing the European Green Deal. Conducting an analysis of the pro-environmental activity of farms, taking into account both the applications of the current CAP financial perspective and those resulting from follow-up activities regarding the previous perspective, is an innovative approach to the issue. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T08:52:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-052351fa75a14a3e82cb8d222b4ee140 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T08:52:25Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-052351fa75a14a3e82cb8d222b4ee1402023-11-16T20:17:33ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732023-02-01164177010.3390/en16041770Towards Green Agriculture and Sustainable Development: Pro-Environmental Activity of Farms under the Common Agricultural PolicyRoman Rudnicki0Mirosław Biczkowski1Łukasz Wiśniewski2Paweł Wiśniewski3Stanisław Bielski4Renata Marks-Bielska5Department of Spatial Planning and Tourism, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Lwowska 1, 87-100 Torun, PolandDepartment of Spatial Planning and Tourism, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Lwowska 1, 87-100 Torun, PolandDepartment of Spatial Planning and Tourism, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Lwowska 1, 87-100 Torun, PolandDepartment of Spatial Planning and Tourism, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Lwowska 1, 87-100 Torun, PolandDepartment of Agrotechnology and Agribusiness, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Oczapowskiego 8, 10-791 Olsztyn, PolandDepartment of Economic Policy, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Oczapowskiego 4, 10-719 Olsztyn, PolandGrowing environmental and climate problems in the contemporary world necessitate the search for efficient solutions, including changes in agriculture, which has been reflected in the new package of reforms of the EU climate policy, called the European Green Deal (the EGD). Agriculture and rural areas play an essential role in the attainment of the EGD goals, and one of the prerequisites for an effective implementation of the EGD assumptions is to recognize the mechanism underlying the activity of agricultural farms in the scope of pro-environmental measures implemented under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). This article presents an endeavour to make a multidimensional evaluation of the spatial diversification in such activities, using Polish farms as an example. Compared to other EU member states, Poland is a country where agriculture remains a substantial sector in the national economy. This research is based on data from several institutions, including the Central Statistical Office (CSO) and the Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture (ARMA), responsible for the allocation of funds from the EU budget and for providing support to the development of agriculture and rural areas. The level and structure of the absorption of funds from the CAP underwent analysis, including three pro-environmental measures of the Rural Development Programme: organic farming (OF), agri-environment climate measure (AECM), and afforestation and creation of forest areas (ACFA). In order to achieve a holistic approach to these measures, an innovative analytical model was developed. It can be applied to analyses on a regional, national, and European level, and it is based on several novel indicators, as well as advanced statistical and spatial analyses. The research demonstrates that the pro-environment activities of farmers are characterized by a significant geographical diversity. The most active in soliciting payments from the CAP were agricultural farms with a high level of pro-environment internal characteristics of agriculture (IPEAF = 30.1%, with national average = 11.6%). With regard to anthropogenic determinants, relatively higher values of the IPEAF indicator were found in the municipalities with a lower level of socio-economic development (12.1%) and those located in northern and western Poland, within the borders of the former Prussian Partition (18.6%), characterised by higher farming culture. The research results imply that the effectiveness of the up-to-date solutions needs to be improved, also by taking into consideration the endogenous conditions and potential of individual territorial units. The research results also prove the expediency of implementing the European Green Deal. Conducting an analysis of the pro-environmental activity of farms, taking into account both the applications of the current CAP financial perspective and those resulting from follow-up activities regarding the previous perspective, is an innovative approach to the issue.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/4/1770sustainable developmentCommon Agricultural PolicyRural Development ProgrammeEuropean Green Dealgreen agricultureenvironmental policy |
| spellingShingle | Roman Rudnicki Mirosław Biczkowski Łukasz Wiśniewski Paweł Wiśniewski Stanisław Bielski Renata Marks-Bielska Towards Green Agriculture and Sustainable Development: Pro-Environmental Activity of Farms under the Common Agricultural Policy Energies sustainable development Common Agricultural Policy Rural Development Programme European Green Deal green agriculture environmental policy |
| title | Towards Green Agriculture and Sustainable Development: Pro-Environmental Activity of Farms under the Common Agricultural Policy |
| title_full | Towards Green Agriculture and Sustainable Development: Pro-Environmental Activity of Farms under the Common Agricultural Policy |
| title_fullStr | Towards Green Agriculture and Sustainable Development: Pro-Environmental Activity of Farms under the Common Agricultural Policy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Towards Green Agriculture and Sustainable Development: Pro-Environmental Activity of Farms under the Common Agricultural Policy |
| title_short | Towards Green Agriculture and Sustainable Development: Pro-Environmental Activity of Farms under the Common Agricultural Policy |
| title_sort | towards green agriculture and sustainable development pro environmental activity of farms under the common agricultural policy |
| topic | sustainable development Common Agricultural Policy Rural Development Programme European Green Deal green agriculture environmental policy |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/4/1770 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT romanrudnicki towardsgreenagricultureandsustainabledevelopmentproenvironmentalactivityoffarmsunderthecommonagriculturalpolicy AT mirosławbiczkowski towardsgreenagricultureandsustainabledevelopmentproenvironmentalactivityoffarmsunderthecommonagriculturalpolicy AT łukaszwisniewski towardsgreenagricultureandsustainabledevelopmentproenvironmentalactivityoffarmsunderthecommonagriculturalpolicy AT pawełwisniewski towardsgreenagricultureandsustainabledevelopmentproenvironmentalactivityoffarmsunderthecommonagriculturalpolicy AT stanisławbielski towardsgreenagricultureandsustainabledevelopmentproenvironmentalactivityoffarmsunderthecommonagriculturalpolicy AT renatamarksbielska towardsgreenagricultureandsustainabledevelopmentproenvironmentalactivityoffarmsunderthecommonagriculturalpolicy |