This petition was launched on September 30, 2019, and the end date was originally September 30, 2021, but was extended to January 31, 2022. That means there is only about two months left to add your name to this earth-friendly cause. If you care about bees, farmers, good earth, and all that this entails, the petition European Citizens' Initiative to Save Bees and Farmers may BEE for you! The petition has already exceeded the threshold at 1,161,255 million signatures.
You can scroll through the list of countries represented by signatures and see how many were received from various countries on this interesting list where it shows that Europeans can still sign the petition until January 31, 2022. You can find the petition here where it states that the petition is closed, and that they already collected enough signatures.
Europeans who signed the petition want to return to pesticide-free and environmentally friendly farming. They believe that the one-sided agricultural policies that use toxic agrochemicals have brought the environment and our planet to the brink of collapse. They want a return to natural farming, and to bring an end to synthetic pesticides.
This 0:36-second video by Slow Food talks about the European Citizens' Initiative to Save Bees and Farmers:
Over 22,000 Hungarians added their signatures to the European Citizens’ Initiative to support a healthy environment and bee-friendly agriculture. Hungary is a nation known to revere bees, and apiculture runs deeply in the veins of the Hungarian people. The petition aims at protecting bees and farmers, according to the National Election Office (NVI). The minimum threshold figure was 15,750 signatures, so they exceeded the base number needed.
The initiative envisions a reduction in use of synthetic pesticides of 80% by 2030 in Europe, whereby these chemicals would be fully banned by 2035. The initiative also calls for restoration of biological farmland diversity, and subsidies for ecological farming as agriculture is reformed, and prioritizing small scale, diverse, and sustainable farming as a rapid increase in organic and agro-ecological farming practices is enabled. This includes independent farmer-based training and research into pesticide-free and GMO-free farming.
By September 30, 2021, around 1.1 million signatures from 11 countries were collected, fulfilling the minimum requirements. Citizens’ initiatives are considered valid if at least one million signatures are collected in at least 7 states.
The purposes of this petition are multifaceted but primarily focus on protecting bees and human health, supporting farmers as they transition away from chemicals, eliminating agrichemicals and restoring biodiversity by 2035.
This 2:06-minute video by European Parliamentary Research Service takes a look at the perils pollinators face in the EU:
Scanning through the listed countries is insightful, to see which ones have citizens passionate about these matters, and which ones have little involvement. Most countries fall somewhere in the middle. The percentages show how close your country is to the threshold. Some are way above, and some are way below. The highest engagement is from Germany, followed by Belgium and The Netherlands. The lowest is from the UK, followed by Croatia and Lithuania.
Although it says that the petition is over, the date has been extended so there is still time to see if you can help move this noble cause along even though there are already enough signatures to make it happen.
Consider doing it for the bees, please!