EU encourages Uruguay to partner towards greener production

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The European Union (EU) has urged Uruguay to be its ally in the transition towards a greener agricultural and livestock production and stressed the importance of “reducing the environmental footprint” from a sector that both consider key to their economic development.

EU Ambassador to Uruguay Paolo Berizzi on Wednesday (15) emphasized partnering during the round table “The Agriculture and Livestock Sector in the fight against Climate Change,” held at Expo Prado, the country’s main agro-industrial and livestock trade show.

At the event’s opening, organized by the EU Delegation in Uruguay with the support of the Italian Embassy and the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Navigation, Berizzi pointed out that the agricultural and livestock sector is vital for Europe and highlighted the sector’s challenges in a shift towards greener and more sustainable production.

“We need to ensure the availability of healthy and accessible food (…) and change the way we produce and consume in order to reduce the environmental footprint and strengthen the resilience of food systems in the face of crises,” he said.

Likewise, the Italian, appointed European ambassador on Monday, pointed out that the pandemic was an eye-opener to the need to work together to solve global crises such as climate change.

“It was a nightmare that we hope to emerge from soon but at the same time it made us think about other global issues that can only be solved if we all work in the same direction, that’s how it is for Covid-19, that’s how it is for climate change, no one is saved alone,” he stressed.

Along the same lines, ambassador Giovanni Battista said that, as well as the pandemic, environmental disasters call for joint efforts and added that Italy hopes to find in Uruguay a “partner” in this transition.

For his part, the Uruguayan Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries Fernando Mattos stressed that the European market remains very important for the country, whose economy is based on agricultural and livestock production, and that Uruguay is preparing for a future in which the word “sustainability” will become increasingly familiar.

“A sense of responsibility is becoming more and more ingrained in the Uruguayan productive system. It is not a question of immediacy of production to obtain a better result, but rather, through measuring the environmental footprints of the different production chains, to generate a product with greater environmental added value,” he said.

The round table, which also included a videoconference by Deputy Head of Unit of the EU Directorate General for Health and Food Safety Cristina Laso on the European strategy “From Farm to Fork,” also included presentations by Uruguayan entrepreneurs and rural producers.

In this context, the Uruguayan project “Resilient Family Farming” was also presented, promoted in 2020 and financed by the EU, which assists 52 Uruguayan livestock producers in improving their resilience to climate change.