Write a speech on future of agriculture
Answers
I was just sitting next-door listening to the panel and it's fascinating, and I just want to add a few thoughts to what was said, slightly more broadly, since you've heard the more specific remarks about the CAP by Phil Hogan, my excellent colleague.
I have been challenged by so many things in the last couple of years pertaining to sustainability. It has been quite a challenge to help our societies understand what the challenges are that we face.
We're at the beginning of the fourth industrial revolution and this industrial revolution will affect every single human being on earth. There's not one human being that will be unaffected and it will cause quite a lot of turmoil.
Things will change – the way we produce, the way we live, the way we relate to other nations and other continents, the way we relate within societies to each other, the way we relate between urban areas and rural areas, all these things are going to be challenged and changed.
And I would like you to see the need to change the CAP in that context. We have a choice – we can sort of, you know, keep everything as it is as much as possible, as long as possible, so that we can slow down the pace of change a little bit, but at the end of the day change will come anyway, or, we can embrace the idea of change and make sure that change actually delivers the results we want in a way that is in line with the European values, with the values European citizens share.
And I believe if you look at what's happening, if you look at what's happening to our biodiversity, which is extremely alarming, if you look at what is happening in desertification in parts of Europe, extremely alarming, if you look at the shortages we will be having in terms of elements you need to have a sustainable agricultural production, that's very alarming, but at the same time, we do have the instruments to manage that, to change that, to make sure we transform the way we live and produce in a way that is consistent with the values we want to share.