Environmental pressure of the European agricultural system : Anticipating the biophysical consequences of internalization
Renner, Ansel (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Cadillo Benalcazar, Juan José (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Benini, Lorenzo (European Environment Agency)
Giampietro, Mario (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)

Data:	2020
Resum:	In the European Union, national-scope efforts to protect local ecosystem services are greatly helped by the externalization of agricultural production. Domestic environmental pressures such as pesticide residue, fertilizer leakage and waterbody overdraft would all significantly increase if European agricultural production were to be re-localized. Those increases would add additional stress on local habitats, soils and freshwater reserves. This work addresses such concerns by anticipating pressure increases associated with a near-complete re-internalization of agricultural production in the European Union. Our results could prove relevant in the event of an end of the era of cheap food imports, or when considering the plausibility of economic circularization efforts (such as suggested by the European Green Deal). Rather than produce quantitative results determined by a given set of supposedly uncontested pre-analytical assumptions, this work presents an innovative approach to scientific representation capable of accommodating several possible results driven by contradictory yet equally legitimate insights. According to our characterization of the option space, which builds on current trade profiles and assumes business as usual change in technical coefficients, a near-complete re-internalization of agricultural production by European Union member states is not environmentally feasible. In relation to social viability, the required changes in social practices would include a significant increase in the share of agricultural workers in the economy and important dietary adjustments.
Ajuts:	European Commission 689669 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación CEX2019-000940-M Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte FPU15/03376
Nota:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M
Drets:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Llengua:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Matèria:	Agroecosystem ; Anticipation ; Complexity ; Externalization ; Nexus analysis ; Teleconnections
Publicat a:	Ecosystem services, Vol. 46 (December 2020) , art. 101195, ISSN 2212-0416

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2020.101195

14 p, 4.1 MB

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