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At the end of October, the European Commission confirmed its decision to provide €2 million from EU's COVID recovery fund to two Dutch companies working to reduce the cost and increase the sustainability of laboratory-grown meat. The companies (Nutreco and Mosa Meat) produce laboratory-grown beef for commercial purposes. However, the Commission's decision last week was sharply criticized by Italian MEPs from the Italian right-wing Lega party, which is part of the Identity and Democracy group in the EP. They submitted a parliamentary question to the Commission asking for clarification of the criteria for financing the project through the REACT-EU recovery package. In a written question, MEPs emphasized that it was unacceptable for the Commission to invest millions of euros in European citizens' money in lab-grown meat. However, the European Commission is defending its decision that, according to the Commission, laboratory meat production is less demanding on animal husbandry, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including ammonia and methane, as well as less soil pollution. In addition, according to the Commission, the project is based on circulating raw materials with minimal impact on the environment, while also supporting the development of digitization.
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During the COP 26 UN Climate Change Conference, the European Union and the United States presented a new platform for transatlantic agricultural cooperation to promote knowledge exchange and strengthen cooperation. US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said the platform needed to address the most pressing issues facing farmers and rural communities. The aim of the platform is to exchange knowledge and information, but also to promote mutual understanding and trust in the efforts of the two agricultural powers to work together to address global sustainability challenges. However, the United States has been critical of the European Commission's plan presented through the Farm to Fork strategy, which, according to the US, could lead to a reduction in agricultural productivity. Vilsack also warned that the US would not allow any attempt to impose external production standards on American agriculture (in response to the European Commission's plans to require trading partners to adhere to the same standards that EU farmers will have to comply with). According to Vilsack, these unjustified trade barriers would not only have an adverse economic impact, but they would also have a negative effect on the development of new technologies needed to address the need to feed the world's growing population and reduce the environmental footprint of food production.
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At the end of September 2021, the United States announced its interest in launching a Coalition on Sustainable Productivity Growth for Food Security and Resource Conservation. This is a direct response from the US to European plans in the form of the Green Deal and in particular the Farm to Fork strategy. Brazil expressed its interest in joining the Coalition at the end of September, and at the end of October Australia, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Honduras, Liberia, the Philippines, and Northern Macedonia also joined the Coalition. The Coalition also has several supporters from the industry, including CropLife America, CropLife International, Syngenta, Bayer, the Russian National Union of Dairy Producers, and the National Turkish Federation.
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The Slovenian Presidency presented the first draft of the Council Conclusions on the Forest Strategy for 2030, in which it criticized the imbalance of environmental, social, and economic measures for sustainable forest management. Member States call for the strengthening of socio-economic objectives and the setting of clear steps for the Commission's future cooperation with Member States. At the same time, the Council questions the added value of the proposal to introduce mandatory national strategic plans for forest protection and management and calls on the Commission to assess the proportionality and subsidiarity of the proposed measures before drawing up a legislative framework for forest observation, reporting and data collection. The added value of existing voluntary certification systems for sustainable forest management should, according to the proposal, be the basic building block for the possible introduction of new certification systems. According to the interim proposal, the Commission should then report annually on the implementation of the forestry strategy and review it in 2025. The Council is expected to adopt the conclusions by the end of the year, probably in November. Janusz Wojciechowski, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, confirmed last week that the CAP budget will continue to be the main source of funding for forestry objectives.

On 26/10/2021, the European Commission adopted reports on climate progress. According to the Commission's findings, EU emissions fell by 31% in 2020 compared to 1990. In addition, 76% of ETS (EU Emissions Trading Scheme) revenues were allocated to environmental transformation. Between 2019 and 2020 alone, EU-27 GHG emissions fell by almost 10%. Emissions from non-ETS sectors (e.g., emissions from industry, transport, construction, agriculture, and waste) decreased by 6%. However, the European Commission states that “transport and agriculture emissions are not likely to fall substantially without additional measures, as they have remained largely unchanged since 2005, except for the fall in transport emissions in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, net removals from land use, land use change and forestry have been on a worrying downward trend over the last decade, driven by the situation in forest ecosystems, including an increasing share of forests reaching maturity, increase in natural disturbances, an increase in wood demand, and a decrease of afforestation rates”.
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