Biodiversity Policy Engagement Analysis
Biodiversity Lobbying Overview: CropLife Europe appears to have mixed positions in its top-line messaging on biodiversity loss and mostly negative positions in engagement on specific biodiversity related regulations.
Top-Line Messaging on Biodiversity Loss: In a January 2022 press release, Director General Olivier de Matos suggested that farmers should be given further support to "overcome negative impacts of the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategy targets". In an April 2024 position paper, CropLife Europe supported EU policymakers aligning agriculture policies with the global environmental goals set by the Global Biodiversity Framework. Croplife Europe has not disclosed engagement on the science of biodiversity loss.
Engagement with Biodiversity-Related Regulations: CropLife Europe appears to have mostly engaged on regulations related to pollution, with mostly negative positions. CropLife Europe was a signatory of a November 2022 joint letter addressed to the lead rapporteur on the EU’s Sustainable Use Regulation (a policy to reduce the use of pesticides), requesting: an extension of the implementation period, to remove the ban on pesticides in sensitive areas and to remove the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) funding for the policy. In a May 2023 position paper, CropLife Europe again expressed concerns over the Sustainable Use Regulation, suggesting that "reduction targets should not be legally binding if farmers do not have viable alternatives".
CropLife Europe did not appear to support legal binding targets under the EU Soil Health proposal (later renamed the Soil Monitoring Law), in an October 2022 consultation response on the policy. In an October 2023 position paper on the Soil Monitoring Law, CropLife Europe advocated for different soil health indicators on “productive agricultural land” under the policy and did not appear to support the proposed list of mandatory practices for soil management. CropLife Europe also opposed the proposal to prohibit production for export of chemicals banned in the European Union in July 2023 feedback to the European Commission
CropLife has also participated in the European Commission’s Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (SCoPAFF) meetings. In the March 2023 meeting CropLife advocated against the European Food and Safety (EFSA) guidance risk assessment for birds and mammals, suggesting it could impact pesticide and biopesticide risk assessments and that the guidance represented an “unrealistic increase of complexity and conservativeness”. In the October 2023 meeting, CropLife Europe appeared not to support the guidance document on the impact of water treatment processes on residues of active substances and the guidance document on the risk assessment of plant protection products on bees.
Positioning on Statutory Protection of Wildlife: CropLife Europe does not appear to have engaged on the statutory protection of wildlife since 2020. In an April 2020 position paper, CropLife Europe stated its support for the EU Birds and Habitat Directive.
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate biodiversity policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically.
This summary was last updated in Q2 2024