Greening agriculture: accelerating safe- and sustainable-by-design plant protection products through innovation and incentives in the European Union

The European Union's (EU's) Green Deal initiatives, including the Farm to Fork Strategy and the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, emphasize the need for developing plant protection products (PPPs) that meet safety and sustainability goals. In the EU, PPPs are regulated under Regulation (EC) No. 1107/2009, which sets approval criteria to ensure human health and environmental safety. This legislation is complemented by the sustainable use of pesticides (Directive 2009/128), which aims to achieve sustainable pesticide use by minimizing risks to human health and the environment, while promoting use of integrated pest management and nonchemical alternatives. Although both legislations address the conditions of placing PPPs on the market and their use, neither directly addresses the broader aspects of sustainability, such as the life cycle impacts, resource efficiency during design and manufacture, and the socioeconomic dimensions of sustainability. The safe- and sustainable-by-design framework of the EU Commission's Joint Research Centre offers a holistic approach to chemical product innovation, minimizing risks and maximizing sustainability throughout a chemical's life cycle. This framework, combined with existing safety regulations, can advance the sustainability of PPPs in line with the European Green Deal and the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability. Agrochemical manufacturers have embedded into their innovation pipelines practices that align with the safe- and sustainable-by-design framework, but approaches tend to be company specific and lack standardized metrics. Incorporating well-defined sustainability criteria and incentives for manufacturers would accelerate the development of PPPs that contribute to long-term agricultural sustainability, safeguard human health and the environment, and ensure food security in line with sustainable development goals.