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Science calls for ambitious European pesticide policies

Nature Food volume 4, page 272 (2023)Cite this article

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The heavy use of pesticides in agriculture is strongly linked to severe declines in biodiversity both above- and below-soil, with cascading impacts on terrestrial, aquatic and marine systems as well as detrimental impacts on global public health and well-being1,2. Reducing the risks of pesticide use is a key leverage point to address the biodiversity crisis as agreed during the United Nations Biodiversity Summit (COP15) and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The European Commission has taken a leading role in efforts to curb pesticides by adopting a 50% reduction target of use and risks by 2030 in its Farm to Fork Strategy3. In 2022, the European Commission proposed a Sustainable Use of Pesticides Regulation to enshrine this target into legislation4, as well as to mandate member states to invest in integrated pest management and ban pesticides from sensitive areas.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Public Administration and Policy Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Jeroen Candel

  2. Department of Ecosystem Services, UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany

    Guy Pe’er

  3. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Guy Pe’er

  4. Agricultural Economics and Policy Group, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

    Robert Finger

Authors
  1. Jeroen Candel
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  2. Guy Pe’er
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  3. Robert Finger
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jeroen Candel or Robert Finger.

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Competing interests

J.C. is a member of Dutch Council on Animal Affairs and a member of the supervisory board of the Transitiecoalitie Voedsel foundation. R.F. and G.P. declare no competing interests.

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Candel, J., Pe’er, G. & Finger, R. Science calls for ambitious European pesticide policies. Nat Food 4, 272 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-023-00727-8

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