Beyond the false trade-off: why EU farming needs nature to thrive
The 2026 edition of the Forum for the Future of Agriculture in Brussels gathered high-level experts and stakeholders to debate on how to reboot the European food system. As a strategic partner of the Forum, IUCN delivered a clear and timely message: Europe’s agricultural competitiveness, food security, and environmental ambition are not competing priorities, they are fundamentally interdependent.
In the panel focusing on the future governance of EU land use and the common agricultural policy (CAP), Delphine Babin-Pelliard, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Food and Agricultural Systems at IUCN, challenged the persistent misleading narrative that environmental ambition must be sacrificed for productivity or food security. As Europe’s long-term capacity to produce food depends directly on the health of its ecosystems, agricultural production cannot be sustained without fertile soils, pollinators, stable water systems, and resilient landscapes. The real question therefore lies not in whether to prioritise environment or food security, but how to secure both over the coming decades by investing in nature.
“Competitiveness increases when nature is part of the system…and protecting nature is a long-term investment in food security and the economy.” Delphine Babin-Pelliard, Senior Advisor for Sustainable Food and Agricultural Systems at IUCN.
Building on its 2025 Congress Resolution 8.002 IUCN calls for an accelerated transition away from business-as-usual agriculture toward nature-positive systems. The required shift isn’t only about environmental protection, but also resilience, economic stability, and risk reduction in the face of climate and market volatility. To deliver this transformation, IUCN outlined three key governance priorities:
Aligning EU policies
Europe benefits from strong frameworks in place, including the CAP and the Nature Restoration Regulation. However, their impact is limited by fragmented implementation and weak coordination. IUCN emphasised the need for:
- Harmonised monitoring tools and comparable data across Member States;
Stronger accountability mechanisms; and
Coherent implementation at national and regional levels.
To support this, IUCN develops tools, governance mechanisms, reports and frameworks, such as the worldwide Land Health Monitoring Framework (LHMF), an innovative tool that assesses agricultural landscapes through ecological, agronomic, and socio-economic indicators. By linking farm-level realities to policy decisions, it enables better tracking of progress and identification of effective interventions.
Building inclusive platforms
Effective governance requires inclusive dialogue across the full agricultural value chain, farmers, scientists, environmental organizations, water managers, and local authorities. While existing platforms are a step forward, IUCN stressed that environmental and scientific voices must be equally represented. Without this balance, policymaking risks favouring short-term fixes over long-term solutions.
Ensuring non-regression
Simplification of policies should reduce administrative burden, not weaken environmental standards as previously witnessed in the Birds and Habitat Directive or the Soil Monitoring and Resilience Directive. Rolling back ambition would ultimately increase risks for farmers and undermine the resilience of the food system. On stage, Delphine Babin-Pelliard reiterated IUCN’s long-standing support for the non-regression principle, reaffirmed in its Resolution 6 074.
IUCN highlighted practical models already delivering economic, environmental, and social benefits:
Nature-based Solutions (NbS): Implementing NbS along with practices issued from agroecological and regenerative farming systems can reduce input costs, enhance resilience, and maintain yields.
Integrated water management: Wetland restoration and landscape approaches that secure water resources and create jobs.
Mixed and community-supported farming: Systems that strengthen local economies, promote biodiversity, and foster fairer food systems.
These examples demonstrate that sustainable agriculture isn’t theoretical but it is already happening. Scaling these solutions requires coordinated policies, appropriate incentives, and collaborative governance.
Aligning agriculture with biodiversity conservation could generate up to USD 150 billion annually in global economic gains. In contrast, continued ecosystem degradation could cost the agricultural sector nearly USD 100 billion each year due to lost ecosystem services. With nearly one-third of the EU budget, the CAP remains a powerful lever for change. IUCN hence called for a stronger, more targeted approach in the next reform cycle. While in the current CAP eco-schemes marked progress, early assessments showed a recurrent lack of ambition and tendency to support existing practices rather than drive transformation. IUCN therefore foresees three key improvements:
Focus on ecosystem services: Redirect payments toward soil health, water regulation, carbon storage, and pollination.
Scale up at the landscape level: Encourage collective action beyond individual farms, involving multiple stakeholders.
Reward true innovation: Prioritise agroecology, diversification, and the implementation of Nature-based Solutions that fundamentally shift production systems.
The next CAP reform is a defining moment for European agriculture. Placing ecosystem services at its core would transform farming into a driver of resilience, competitiveness, and nature restoration. As IUCN concluded at the Forum, if Europe wants an agricultural system capable of withstanding climate shocks and economic pressures, investing in nature is not optional, it is essential.
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