The Haettelihof in Konstanz, one of the assessed companies in the project "AgriClimateChange" was selected as a "demonstration farm Organic Farming".

Only 200 out of more than 22,000 organic farms in Germany are selected by the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection as demonstration farms. These selected farms open their doors to visitors and the press, showing how organic farming works in practice. This offer is aimed at professionals as well as to consumers. Even groups such as clubs or school groups are welcome. Just last year over 120 groups, school groups and interested consumer groups visited Haettelihof.

"Science meets cowshed" - Active climate protection in agriculture

Under this heading, the Lake Constance Foundation invites you to a lecture and the exhibition. In a joint effort by the city of Constance, Mainau Island, and the University of Konstanz University of Applied Sciences, the "Long Night of Science” will be held on the 5th May 2012. Using the example of the Constance Haettelihof, the project "AgriClimateChange" is presented with its positive effects and possibilities.

www.haettelihof.de

Since March, the Lake Constance Foundation is an officially registered energy consultancy. We congratulate Patrick Trötschler and Volker Kromrey to their passed examinations!

In the energy consultancy program for agriculture of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg a total of 45 specialized experts were trained to carry out an individual energy consultancy for farmers.

The costs for the consultation will be co-funded by the federal state with 70% and a maximum amount of 1500 €. Baden-Württemberg is the second state in Germany to implement an energy consultancy program that is specially designed to address the needs of farmers. The Lake Constance Foundation is in close and regular contact with the LEL (Landesanstalt für Entwicklung der Landwirtschaft und der ländlichen Räume), which is the coordinating organization. The results of the more comprehensive analysis by ACCT will be fed into the energy consultancy program to check the possibilities of improvement and the integration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

Brussels, 12 March 2012 - In adopting a new proposal on accounting of greenhouse gases emissions, the European Commission has taken a first step towards incorporating removals and emissions from forests and agriculture into the EU's climate policy.
The proposed Decision establishes accounting rules for greenhouse gas emissions and removals in the forest and agriculture sectors, the last major sectors without common EU-wide rules.

Forests and agricultural lands cover more than three-quarters of the EU territory and naturally hold large stocks of carbon, preventing its escape into the atmosphere, which makes them important for the climate policy. Increasing this 'trapped' carbon by just 0.1 percentage point – for example through improved forest or grassland management - would remove the annual emissions of 100 million cars from the atmosphere.

Yet until now, the efforts of farmers and forest owners and their good practice aimed at securing carbon stored in forests and soils, have not been or only been partly recognised. The reason for this has been the challenges that come with collecting robust carbon data from forests and soils and the lack of common rules on how to account for emissions and removals. Now, following the decision of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on revised accounting rules from soils and forests adopted in December 2011, the EU is determined to close the gap in common accounting in its climate policy. This will provide new opportunities, for instance, to reward farmers for their contribution in the fight against climate change in the context of the common agricultural policy.
Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard said: "What we propose today is harmonised rules to account for forests and agricultures emissions. This is the first step to incorporate these sectors into the EU's reduction efforts. In Durban all countries agreed revised accounting rules for these sectors. The EU is now delivering with this proposal. The proposal will also contribute to protect biodiversity and water resources, support rural development and have a more climate-friendly agriculture."

What next?

The proposed Decision for harmonised rules for the accounting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals in forests and soils will be submitted to the European Parliament and the Council under the ordinary legislative procedure. With the proposal also comes the obligation for each Member State to adopt action plans on how they will increase removals of carbon and decrease emissions of greenhouse gases in forests and soils throughout the EU. The proposal does not include a commitment for national emission reduction targets for these sectors. This may come later once the accounting rules have proven robust.

Lake Constance Foundation presented its travelling exhibition "AgriClimateChange" from 24th to 26th February 2012 at the "FruitWorld & AgrarWorld" fair in Friedrichshafen. More than 15,000 farmers and visitors gathered information about agricultural engineering, new products and... climate protection in agriculture.

Lake Constance Foundation also joined the European wide conference on challenges for the CAP on 8th and 9th March in Frankfurt. The attractive AgriClimateChange exhibition panels were a good tool to get in contact with experts on climate protection on farms.