Ministers held an exchange of views on the contribution of agriculture to climate change mitigation. This debate was organised in the light of the adoption of the 2030 EU climate and energy package which set substantial cuts for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) for the year 2030. It comes also on the eve of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 21) in Paris beginning in November this year.
They agreed that although agriculture is a source of GHG it also participates directly or indirectly in the reduction of emissions. In this regard, the reformed Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), in particular the greening of the direct payments is an important tool to consider.
