每日英語跟讀 Ep.835: Radical Changes Urged for Huge E.U. Farm Program 歐盟農業政策 須大幅修正

Europe’s $65-billion-a-year farm program needs to change radically if it is to protect the environment and support small farmers, a group of European scientists said in a paper published in the journal “People and Nature” .

一群歐洲科學家在「人類與自然」期刊發表文章指出，如果歐盟想保護環境並支持小農，歐盟每年耗資650億美元的農業政策必須大幅改變。

The 21 authors of the paper said a planned overhaul of Europe’s farm policy is inadequate. They said policymakers must stop paying farmers based on the acres they cultivate and instead reward environmentally friendly practices such as organic farming or agroforestry. The scientists also asked the European Union to cut off subsidies that encourage livestock farming, which is linked to a rise in greenhouse gas emissions.

這篇文章的21名作者指出，歐盟計畫採取的農業政策改革並不恰當，決策者應停止以種植面積為基準付錢給農民，而應鼓勵對環境友善的作法，如有機農業和混農林業。這群科學家還要求歐盟取消鼓勵畜牧的補貼，畜牧與溫室氣體排放增加有關。

“Billions of euros of taxpayers’ money are about to be poured down the drain,” the scientists said in a statement.

A new Green Deal plans to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Last month, the European Commission outlined plans to make the deal legally binding for all member states.

這些科學家說：「數以十億歐元計的納稅錢都要白白浪費了。」歐盟新政策「綠色新政」打算在2050年前，使歐洲成為第一個溫室氣體淨零排放的大陸。歐盟執委會3月提出計畫草案，要讓綠色新政對所有成員國具法律約束力。

But the package will not reform farming because it has adopted old policies and repackaged them as climate-friendly measures, the scientists said.

不過，前述科學家指出，「綠色新政」這套政策並不能改革農業，因為只是把舊政策重新包裝成不破壞氣候的措施。

“The climate measures are unjustifiable. There is nothing in there,” said Guy Pe’er, a German conservation biologist and the leading author of the paper.

前述論文第一作者、德國保育生物學家裴爾說：「這些氣候措施站不住腳，根本沒內容。」

Pe’er has collected signatures from more than 3,600 scientists and researchers on his website supporting the paper’s findings.

裴爾的網站已取得3600多名科學家和研究人員連署，支持這篇論文的研究結果。

The scientists said that Europe’s farm policy has sidelined small farmers and supported practices that have led to global warming, soil erosion, land degradation and the loss of biodiversity. Subsidy programs that could have curbed the damage have been paltry and underfunded.

論文作者群指出，歐盟農業政策排擠小農，還鼓勵一些導致全球暖化、土壤侵蝕、土地退化和生物多樣性減少的行為。能減少這些損害的補貼方案為數不多，而且資金不足。

Last year, a New York Times investigation showed the disconnect between Europe’s green image and its farm policy, which has caused lasting environmental damage and left visible pockmarks across Europe. Decaying algae release deadly gas on some beaches in France. Farm runoff has helped expand dead zones in the Baltic Sea. And farmland emissions of greenhouse gas are on the rise.

紐約時報去年的調查顯示，歐盟的環保形象與農業政策不一致，歐盟農業政策導致環境長期遭受破壞，並在歐洲各地留下明顯傷痕。腐爛的水藻在法國一些海灘釋出致命氣體。農場的化學藥劑和動物排泄物流進河流和湖泊，導致波羅的海溶解氧氣很少的「海洋死區」擴大。此外，農田排放的溫室氣體愈來愈多。

The farm subsidies program accounts for nearly 40% of Europe’s budget, making it one of the biggest in the world. It is riddled with corruption and self-dealing, especially in Eastern and Central Europe, where leaders have diverted money to underwrite their governments or companies, the Times investigation found. Attempts to change the system or make it more accountable have failed partly because its biggest beneficiaries are in charge of setting policy.

農業補貼方案用掉歐盟近四成預算，是全球規模最大農業補貼方案之一。紐約時報調查發現，這類方案充斥貪腐與私益交易，尤其在東歐與中歐，領導階層挪用這筆錢充實國庫或自己公司的金庫。改變這個體系或使這個體系的責任歸屬更加明確的努力都失敗了，部分原因在於體系的最大受益者正是政策制定者。

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/351877/web/