both agriculture and forestry can of course play an important role in achieving the eu's climate objectives and non-co greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture are actually included in the eu's effort sharing mechanism but emissions and removals of co related to land use land-use change and forestry what we call lulucf are not part of the current reduction commitment as adopted back in the two thousand and eight in the climate and energy package
however as part of the package the commission was requested by the european council and parliament to assess modalities for their inclusion in the eu reduction commitment by mid twenty eleven and to make a legislative proposal as appropriate
so the commission plans to publish the relevant communication this summer i
e
in a very short time from now
inclusion could strengthen the environmental integrity of our climate commitments ensuring that all emissions and removals are covered while enhancing the visibility of efforts by farmers and foresters to increase sinks through sustainable land-use management
the current cap includes instruments that address climate change mainly through the multiple co-benefits between agri-environmental policies and climate action
pillar one provides income support to farmers who have to respect cross-compliance a concept that includes baseline obligations some of which are relevant to climate action
rural development policy in pillar two makes more targeted climate-change measures available to member states
the two thousand and eight health check reconfirmed climate change as one of the major challenges to be addressed and already measures in relation to forestry for example afforestation can be supported under the rural development policy
a reformed cap with a greener first pillar introducing non-contractual and annual environmental actions that go beyond cross-compliance and a second pillar more focused on climate action supported by a professional farm advisory service could be tailored towards helping farmers to manage their land-use systems so as to contribute to climate action mitigation and also become less vulnerable to climate change adaptation
that is definitely what we intend to achieve through the next cap
