Over 70 civil society organisations, farmers, and academic institutions have sent an open letter to the European Commission, warning that the forthcoming EU Fertiliser Action Plan must signal the end of fossil fuel dependency in the EU's food system. This was disclosed in a statement signed by Niccolò Sarno, Global Media Relations Officer of the Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL) in Geneva, Switzerland. The letter was led by CIEL, the European Environment Bureau (EEB), and IFOAM Organics Europe.
Call for Fundamental Transformation
As the conflict in the Gulf continues to destabilise energy markets, the groups addressed Executive Vice-President Ribera and five Commissioners, highlighting that the EU's current agricultural productivity remains dangerously vulnerable to external shocks. The message is clear: the EU cannot achieve self-sufficiency while 90 per cent of its gas and nearly a third of its nitrogen fertilisers are imported from outside the bloc. The war in the Gulf is a stark reminder that the food on our plates is at the mercy of volatile fossil fuels. Simply swapping one fossil-based chemical for another, or changing where or how they are produced, is a band-aid, not a strategy.
Agroecological Solutions Needed
Lisa Tostado, Agrochemicals and Fossil Fuels Campaigner at CIEL, emphasised that the EU Fertiliser Action Plan must be the turning point where they stop trying to 'fix' a broken, fossil-dependent model and instead begin scaling the agroecological solutions that already exist to provide real resilience and food sovereignty. The letter calls on the European Commission to shift its focus from short-term measures to a fundamental transformation of the EU's food system.
Four Key Priorities
The letter outlines four key priorities for the EU Fertiliser Action Plan:
- Support for low-input practices: Prioritising agroecology, organic farming, and biological nitrogen fixation through legumes.
- Legislative enforcement: Upholding the Nitrates Directive and other existing environmental safeguards.
- Improving nitrogen efficiency: Combining more sustainable agricultural practices with a shift toward less nitrogen-intensive diets and reduced food waste.
- Biofertiliser innovation: Developing regional, sustainable alternatives to fossil-fuel-based inputs.
The groups urge the European Commission to adopt these measures to ensure a resilient and sovereign food system for the EU.
