Brussels, 15 October 2020 – Whereas the EU is already on track to meet its greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for 2020, and has put forward a plan to further cut emissions by at least 55% by 2030 as part of a pathway to carbon neutrality by 2050, Primary Food Processors (PFP) invited stakeholders for a virtual Forum on 14 October to share their vision and experience.

MEP Norbert Lins, Chair of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, welcomed participants underlining that this time the focus was “on an industry which is neither farm nor fork, but an essential part in between”, adding in the context of reaching climate objectives that “there are a lot of challenges that are only reachable if all players are involved”. He further considered that “an EU climate policy is only good if it goes hand in hand with the competitiveness of its industrial sector”.

Primary Food Processors have made, over the last decades, considerable and successful efforts to improve energy efficiency - not least to reduce their own costs – as the greatest environmental impact of PFP plants results from energy usage. Reducing emissions further, will require significant financial investment and that investment will not take place in the absence of a predictable policy environment. “With a combination of research into new breakthrough technologies, government investments into improved energy infrastructure and financial support, carbon neutrality in primary food processing can be achieved” said Christophe Rupp-Dahlem, the PFP President.

Primary food processing sectors have been undertaking sector wide cradle-to-gate Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) studies. These studies demonstrate that agricultural raw materials’ farming often makes by far the largest contribution to the primary food products’ carbon footprint. If PFP sectors are to approach carbon neutrality, much of the work required needs to be at the level of the raw material producers. It is therefore imperative that farmers get all the support they need in addressing these challenges and PFP will fully support all their efforts in getting that support.

PFP companies are processing annually 220 million tonnes of agricultural raw materials, such as oilseeds and crude vegetable oils, sugar beets, starch potatoes, maize, wheat, rye, oat and cocoa beans. PFP companies are a no-waste industry, delivering high-quality ingredients at large scale and under optimised cost.

For more information please visit: www.pfp-eu.org Correspondence for media inquiries: info@pfp-eu.org

Primary Food Processors Avenue de Tervueren 168, B-1150 Brussels

www.pfp-eu.org