France will push for “an accelerated phase-out of pesticides” at the EU level when it takes on the rotating EU Council Presidency in January 2022, President Emmanuel Macron told the World Conservation Congress which opened in Marseille this week.

During the opening ceremony of the World Conservation Congress, Macron made strong statements on biodiversity protection, calling for a phase-out of pesticides that can only succeed “at the European level.”

At the national level, the president also made the commitment to gradually phase out pesticides and imported deforestation.

“When we find non-chemical substitutes, when we create resistant grape varieties, when we usefully modify living organisms, we can do without pesticides while remaining competitive,” he said, pointing to the country’s recovery plan and a “massive investment plan for 2030” as ways to better help farmers.

Read full article Macron to push for pesticide phase-out during EU presidency stint at: euractiv.com

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