The Spanish Beef Interprofessional Organisation, Provacuno, has launched the second year of the “Sustainable European Beef” (SEUB) Promotion Plan which, since last year and until 2027, it is carrying out together with the Walloon agency for the promotion of quality agriculture, Apaq-W, in Spain and Belgium, co-financed with European funds.
Under the slogan “For a sustainable Europe, the special mission of beef cattle”, the campaign is raising awareness among citizens of the commitment of the European beef sector to move towards the Carbon Neutral 2050 Objective and to improve sustainability. At the same time, the campaign also aims to inform the sector itself about the latest trends and developments available for its continuous improvement in the field of sustainability in all its forms: economic, social and environmental, as well as achieving emission reductions and the prevention of soil degradation and improvement.
One of the main milestones of this second year will be the presentation of a web app that allows the measurement of the carbon footprint of beef cattle in Spain with a comprehensive approach.
A key app to drive the sustainability of the sector
For this second year, the most outstanding milestone will be the launch of a tool to identify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with beef production in Spain, both from livestock and industrial production, expressed in terms of carbon footprint, with the aim of continuing to improve environmental sustainability. This is a web app that will integrate both parts of production: livestock and industrial.
The launch of an emissions calculation app aimed at farmers is scheduled for March. It will connect via an API with the management systems (ERPs) of the beef cattle value chain in farms. This will make it possible to know farm emissions in an automated, fast and accurate way, thereby facilitating decision-making to reduce the carbon footprint.
In the case of the app and API aimed at meat industry professionals, whose launch is estimated for next September, it will also serve to measure and, above all, self-monitor emissions and help achieve the Carbon Neutral objective by 2050.
A campaign in 2025 with more than 250 million impacts
During the first year, 2025, various initiatives were carried out targeting both citizens and beef cattle producers. Through these actions, Provacuno and Apaq-W achieved a cumulative audience of more than 250 million impacts, especially in Spain and Belgium, but also in other European countries.
For citizens, the actions were aimed at increasing, in general, knowledge about the European beef production model, characterised by its high level of requirements in terms of economic, social and environmental sustainability; and, in particular, at showing all the efforts the sector has been making to reduce emissions and preserve and improve soil. To this end, seminars on the sustainability of the beef sector were held at several Spanish universities, such as the Polytechnic University of Madrid, the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the Pablo de Olavide University of Seville; while at international level, they were held for students, teaching staff and experts at the University of Bonn (Germany), the University of Piacenza, located in Milan (Italy), and the Haute École Provinciale de Namur (Belgium). In addition, the programme also included various initiatives with the media and opinion leaders, including a media or podcast campaign with experts.
On the other hand, the programme also seeks to support the European beef production sector in general, and particularly the Spanish and Belgian sectors, in their process of adaptation and continuous improvement in sustainability by facilitating access to technical information, specific training and knowledge-sharing spaces. To this end, the SEUB programme was present at the main sector trade fairs held in Spain throughout 2025, with information points at the FIGAN (Zaragoza) and Salamaq (Salamanca) trade fairs; and, at international level, with a presence at one of the most important food and beverage events in the world, ANUGA, held in Cologne (Germany).
The most outstanding action of the year was the celebration in November of the 1st Symposium on the Sustainability of European Beef Cattle, which attracted more than half a thousand attendees, including participants who attended in person in Brussels (Belgium) and the audience who connected online from all corners of Europe. With the presence of around twenty experts from countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Belgium and Ireland, it became a meeting point bringing together all stakeholders involved in the sustainability of beef cattle and a forum of European interest for all links in its production chain.
In the words of Javier López, director of Provacuno, the campaign “can be described as a success in this first year of implementation. Not only have we managed to improve the sector’s knowledge of environmentally beneficial practices and show consumers our commitment to sustainability, but we have also reached the main European stakeholder groups so that they understand the key aspects of the campaign. This year 2026 will certainly be the year of consolidation of the programme.”
A broad programme of seminars at various Spanish and European universities
Throughout 2026, new seminars will also be delivered by scientific experts on the sustainability of beef cattle, this time at other relevant universities in key beef-producing regions of Spain.
At international level, a seminar will be held in Paris, taking advantage of the programme’s participation in one of the leading international trade fairs for the food and beverage industry, SIAL, which is held every two years as an event exclusively for professionals and where innovations and trends are presented and suppliers and buyers from all over the world connect.
In addition, Provacuno will once again bring the campaign on the key role of livestock farming in achieving the climate and sustainability objectives set by the EU to the national trade fairs Alimentaria and Salamaq 2026. And, as Apaq-W did in 2025, video podcasts with sector experts will be produced to disseminate and raise awareness of some of the key aspects of the SEUB programme.
More information about the campaign can be found on the website www.vacunosostenible.eu.
