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Climate action, particularly climate change mitigation, can provide opportunities for the primary sector, rural communities and businesses to become more sustainable, resilient and competitive. These rural development stakeholders can make a major contribution to the European Green Deal, the roadmap for a sustainable EU economy. 

This edition of the EU Rural Review looks at how rural areas are making significant contributions towards climate action, also thanks to EAFRD support.

This paper presents two examples of different approaches to innovative solutions on the climate change and low-carbon transition of agriculture in the EU sugarbeet sector, based on experiences of two cooperatives in The Netherlands and in Italy.

In 2017, Slovakia introduced three “criteria for the sustainable use of biomass” to be applied to all biomass-related projects financed by the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF). This case study describes the need for such criteria in Slovakia, their content and application, and the impacts expected.

French agricultural organisations are translating the national strategy into sectoral approaches and initiatives. The livestock sector, which according to the NLCS is responsible for 45 % of France’s methane emissions, has developed methods to assess the GHG emissions of cattle production and ways to decrease them. This briefing presents some of the related climate initiatives and an example of their application in the French region of Pays de la Loire.

As the environmental measures under the RDP in 2007-2013 were not taken up well by the farming community, LEADER was used to promote biodiversity projects across the Åland Islands (Finland) in the next programming period (2014-2020).

In Slovenia, LEADER is implemented as part of a joint Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) approach that operates as a multi-funding system, combining EAFRD, EMFF and
ERDF funding. The multi-funding approach is facilitated by a CLLD Coordination Committee.

The Local Action Group (LAG) Kostenets 2010 in Bulgaria has designed its development strategy with a strong focus on local needs. The use of the multi-fund approach allows them to meet specific local needs effectively.

Strong underlying values and connections to academic institutions support LEADER/CLLD in Croatia, where the LEADER network is convinced that the LEADER/CLLD approach is of significant relevance at all levels of rural development.

A case study on cooperation in the LEADER delivery chain.

Sustainable development is a cross-cutting theme in LEADER Ravakka’s (Finland) current local development strategy. The aim is to encourage local organisations to combat climate change by becoming more active in implementing environmentally friendly projects.

The LEADER project ‘At home in Emlichheim’ (Germany) seeks to enable elderly people to maintain their independence for longer by providing regular preventative home visits.

This case study illustrates how LEADER can respond to local development needs.