[ti:EU Warned against Naming Industrial Farming Good for Environment] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]A group of global investors is urging the European Commission [00:04.72]not to consider industrial farming [00:07.44]an activity that is good for the environment. [00:11.56]Reuters reported the request last week. [00:15.64]It said the international group of companies [00:18.64]that wrote the letter to the commission [00:20.60]is together worth more than $3.5 trillion. [00:26.32]The European Commission is close to defining [00:29.00]what activities the European Union considers sustainable. [00:34.00]The EU hopes the move will get businesses to help it lower emissions [00:39.04]of carbon gasses linked to climate change, [00:42.00]also called greenhouse gasses. [00:46.32]It has been difficult, however, to reach political agreement [00:49.92]on what activities to include in the EU taxonomy. [00:54.12]Taxonomy is a word describing to a process of [00:57.48]placing things in groups based on their qualities. [01:02.24]Farming is responsible for around 10 percent [01:05.24]of the EU's carbon gas emissions. [01:08.56]But how to deal with farming in EU rules has been a disputed issue [01:13.64]because the industry is so important and employs many people. [01:19.72]Countries and trade groups also have an interest [01:23.44]in continued government support [01:25.52]for the nuclear energy, gas and farming industries. [01:30.84]The investor group wrote [01:32.56]to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on October 5. [01:38.12]The group said it was making its position public [01:41.12]after a report sent to EU governments proposed [01:44.60]that a large amount of agricultural subsidies [01:47.64]should be considered sustainable or "green." [01:52.88]The investors' letter also said farm animals raised on industrial farms [01:58.16]have bad effects on biodiversity, water, [02:01.80]resistance to bacteria and soil health. [02:06.64]"It is critical that the EU Taxonomy only defines as green [02:11.08]those sectors that are genuinely environmentally sustainable," [02:15.32]said Helena Wright. [02:17.36]She is with the FAIRR Initiative, the investor group [02:21.36]that led the effort to write the letter to the Commission. [02:25.44]"It is deeply concerning to see a proposal [02:28.64]that would count EU agricultural subsidies as green, [02:32.32]when we know that many of these subsidies are harmful," she said. [02:37.76]Other groups that signed the letter include Britain's [02:40.96]financial business Legal & General Investment Management, [02:45.28]Aviva Investors and Norway's Storebrand. [02:50.12]The letter was released one day after the European Parliament [02:53.76]approved reforms to farming subsidies [02:56.36]under the Common Agricultural Policy, known as CAP. [03:00.92]The reforms give more money to smaller farmers [03:04.00]that use sustainable methods. [03:07.20]Under the new rules, at least 10 percent [03:10.08]of CAP money will go to smaller farms. [03:13.16]All farm payments would be tied to following environmental rules. [03:19.80]Naming intensive farming subsidies "green" [03:23.04]risks weakening the EU's climate goals, Wright said. [03:28.20]Alexander Burr is head of environmental policy issues [03:31.96]at Legal & General Investment Management. [03:35.72]He said the EU's decisions need to be based in science. [03:41.04]Burr said they must support reducing emissions [03:44.88]and that "agriculture is a key but often overlooked sector." [03:51.20]I'm Dan Novak. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM