Etude BiodivLabel

Conference of INRAE-Ifremer:

"Environmental certification in agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries: the impact of certified production methods on biodiversity"

As part of the Climate and Resilience Law (2021), the French government is preparing the introduction of environmental labelling on food products in order to better inform consumers. The impact of food products on biodiversity is proving particularly difficult to understand and quantify, including through the use of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach. To shed light on this issue, INRAE and Ifremer have conducted a study documenting the impact on biodiversity of certified productions or fisheries for the ministries responsible for the ecological transition, agriculture and food, and the French agency for ecological transition Ademe. The study was carried out by a multidisciplinary committee of around twenty experts from ten French public research and higher education organizations.

A dozen certifications for food products from agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries have been included: organic farming, AOP (PDO), Label Rouge, HVE, RSPO, RTRS, Rainforest-Alliance, MSC, ecolabel “Pêche durable”, ASC. The study was conducted by a multidisciplinary committee of over twenty experts from various French public research and academic bodies. The committee, after observing that relatively few scientific articles have been published on the direct link between certification and biodiversity, developed complementary approaches targeting farming, aquaculture and fishing practices. The observation of the small quantity of scientific articles published on the direct link between certification and biodiversity led the committee to develop complementary approaches targeting agricultural, aquaculture and fishing practices.

First, an original framework, comparable for marine and land ecosystems, was designed to qualify production or catching practices according to their link with biodiversity: allocation of space, chemical additions or physical modifications to environments, additions or removals of organisms from ecosystems. Based on this framework, experts examined the international scientific literature on different practices’ impacts on biodiversity; analysed practices contained in label requirements and compared them with the science on their impacts; and developed methodologies to compare the impact of sets of prescribed or actual practices on biodiversity. The economic structure and governance of the certifications have also been studied, informing cautiously these predictions of impact. 

The symposium will present the main results and considerations arising from this work. These will be discussed at a round table bringing together public decision-makers and stakeholders of the sector.