Global warming cry

The United Nations Climate Change panel is urging countries around the world to be more ambitious in their plans to limit global warming. This includes calls for curbs on livestock production and meat eating. The European Commission appears enthusiastic about this, and this view was supported by more than a dozen member state environment ministers.

Central to the UN argument is the need to find more radical ways to limit temperature increases. The case for action in Europe has been boosted by the summer drought. Leaving the EU, the UK has the opportunity to decide whether or not to follow European policies.

Despite Brexit this looks unlikely. Indeed the UK was one of the countries urging the commission to be more ambitious in its response to the UN and other reports on the need for tougher climate change policies.

A senior European Commission animal health specialist has warned that eradicating African Swine Fever from Europe will be a long haul, with success not guaranteed. Speaking to MEPs, Bernard Van Goethem said measures such as wild boar culls and border fencing to keep out infected animals were unlikely to achieve eradication.

He said he nonetheless supported culls of wild boars not yet infected to reduce numbers and the spread of the virus.

He warned, however, that not all wild boars that carry the virus could be eradicated. The problem Europe faces is that there is no ASF vaccine on the horizon, and that even if this was created it would not be possible to administer it to wild boars.

He also warned that fences would only have a limited impact, because boars move round by roads and other paths.

He told MEPs eradication could take 30 years. Human spread of the virus via meat, vehicles and shoes is the biggest risk factor, making bio-security, movement controls and culling after an outbreak the only approach open to the EU to limit the spread of ASF.

The departure of the UK from the EU will leave a hole in its budget, and one of the ways it is planning to tackle this is by trimming spending on the CAP.

However, this is being opposed by the agriculture committee of the European parliament on the grounds that it would not then be possible to deliver public goods as well as support to farmers.

This will come down to a battle between the paymaster countries and those that are net beneficiaries of the CAP budget. While this will not affect the UK, the CAP budget could be a factor in setting the level of support agriculture will receive after Brexit.

Wild boar culls and border fencing are unlikely to eradicate African Swine Fever, MEPs have been told.