Description
Sustainable land management is crucial to combat biodiversity loss due to human activities. To study the relationship between EU consumption and land use, the Joint Research Centre (JRC), in collaboration with Eurostat, has developed a model that provides annual estimates of the EU's land footprint (i.e. the unit of measurement of the land area required to produce the products we consume).
The model considers three types of land: cropland, grassland and forest land (used for the production of timber and timber products). The model represents land used domestically in the EU and land used outside the EU to grow imported products. To model the trade component, more than 500 food and organic products were analysed individually. The model re-processes the trade data to correctly assign an imported product to the country where agricultural or forestry land was used to produce it. For example, cultivated land incorporated into EU imports of chocolate from Switzerland and consumed in the EU is allocated to the countries where the cocoa was originally grown.
How much land is needed to support EU consumption?
The model estimates that from 2014 to 2021 the EU was a net importer of cultivated land (used to grow products consumed in the EU) and a net exporter of grassland (used to grow products consumed outside the EU). For forest land, net trade fluctuates annually: imports and exports are in the same range with annual fluctuations in their values.
In 2021, the EU imported a cultivated area of 50 million hectares - roughly the size of Spain - and exported a cultivated area of 28 million hectares (about half of the imports). Domestic use of cultivated land in the EU (measured in terms of harvested area) amounted to 94 million hectares. The main countries from which the EU imported cultivated land were Argentina, Brazil and Ukraine. The main commodities produced on these cultivated lands were vegetable oils (e.g. palm oil and sunflower oil), oilseed crops (e.g. rapeseed and soya) and residues from the food industries, such as protein cake (mostly to be used as animal feed).
The model estimates that in 2021 an average EU citizen used 0.26 hectares of cultivated land to meet their annual consumption needs for food and other organic products (e.g. livestock, oil or cotton). For comparison, globally a citizen used about 0.19 hectares in the same year.
In 2021, the EU's use of cultivated land was also slightly above the limit of 0.25 hectares of cultivated land per citizen globally, set by the Planetary Boundary Framework (used to describe limits to the impacts of human activities on the Earth system to avoid the risk of irreversible damage to the planet).
How are the results of the model used?
The soil footprint estimates are available in Eurostat's online database and enrich Eurostat's portfolio of environmental statistics and data. They also contribute to providing information on the drivers, pressures and impacts of our societies on the environment. Eurostat also uses land footprint estimates to monitor the EU's progress towards its sustainable development goals and to estimate the spill-over effects of EU consumption.
This model will also be used in combination with other models currently being developed by the JRC in the context of deforestation. These new models will assess potential deforestation caused by selected imported goods and monitor potential deforestation caused by the EU food system.
In addition, the model can help identify strategies to reduce the environmental impact of EU consumption, such as greater circularity and efficiency of supply chains, reduction of food waste and changes in diet.
Source: European Commission - Joint Research Centre (JRC)
Image owner: European Commission - Joint Research Centre (JRC)