European Farmers Protest Against Green Regs Decimating Food Production
Farmers have staged uprisings across Europe, following the example of Dutch farmers who are fighting against climate policy that could cripple the local agricultural industry, according to multiple reports.
German farmers blocked roads on the Netherlands’ border to protest on July 6, Farmers Weekly reported. The farmers are allegedly advocating against an amendment introduced in the German parliament to increase reliance on renewable energy sources to 100% by 2025, according to Reuters, but would curb biogas production, the Deep Dive reported.
“It is completely incomprehensible that in the middle of this far-reaching energy crisis, a sustainable domestic energy source such as biogas is being curbed in the production of electricity, heat, and biomethane,” Bernhard Krüsken, secretary-general of the German Farmers’ Association, told the Deep Dive.
Protests accelerated across Europe after over 40,000 Dutch farmers staged an uprising in response a policy to cut livestock-related emissions by 50% by 2030 that could put a third of ranchers out of business.
The economy in Sri Lanka recently collapsed after a climate-friendly ban on artificial fertilizers decimated the local agricultural industry.
Footage also allegedly shows farmers in Poland and Italy marching through the streets to demonstrate against what they perceive are destructive government policies. The demonstrations are inspired by the Dutch and German farmers’ protests, according to multiple reports.
Agrounia, a Polish farmers’ advocacy organization, allegedly orchestrated protests in Warsaw on July 7, according to videos the organization posted on Twitter. Demonstrators urged the government to curb interest rates and tighten regulations on imported products, the Warsaw Business Journal reported.
“We do not agree that Poland is flooded with food imported from abroad, unrecorded, and later very often sold as Polish,” Agrounia leader Michel Kołodziejczak told the Warsaw Business Journal.
Dziękujemy za waszą obecność! To była MOC🙌 AGROunia to nie tylko rolnicy. Dzisiejszy protest to pokazał. Było ok. tysiąca osób, wielu pracowników i przedsiębiorców ✅️ pic.twitter.com/1KAwgpNzYF
— AGROunia (@AGROunia_) July 7, 2022
🔴POLAND :#VIDEO MASSIVE PROTESTS OF POLISH FARMERS IN WARSAW!
They protested against the government’s politics destabilizing production by raising interest rates, which does not stop inflation#Flash #Warsaw #Varsovia #Protests #Protesta #Farmers #Inflation pic.twitter.com/sNLGF5c6Ml
— loveworld (@LoveWorld_Peopl) July 8, 2022
Protesters also gathered in Italy, Farmers Weekly reported.
#Italy : The farmers of Bauern city came to the streets and blocked the roads in protest of the living conditions and new environmental laws.#Bauernproteste #Italien #FarmerProtest #Italy pic.twitter.com/NuRstwtPKO
— PN News (@PN_News_EN) July 7, 2022
“We are not slaves, we are farmers! We cannot make ends meet,” an Italian demonstrator reportedly said, according to Farmers Weekly.
The UN warned last week that supply chain disruptions and global conflict, including a Russian blockade of the Ukrainian Black Sea port, could cap agricultural production globally. 345 million people are facing starvation levels of hunger, up from 276 before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the crisis is getting worse, David Beasley, executive director of the UN’s World Food Programme, said in a statement Friday.
The Netherlands is the world’s second-largest food exporter after the United States, data from Statista shows.
The German Farmers Association, Agrounia, the government of Germany, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Dutch and Polish Ministries of Agriculture did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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