Plant Protection Products (PPPs) are essential tools in modern agriculture, helping to protect crops from pests, diseases, and weeds. However, their widespread use also raises significant environmental, health, economic, and regulatory concerns. PPPs can reach soils and aquatic systems through runoff and leaching, potentially disrupting ecological balance and threatening non-target organisms. In addition, residues may persist for long periods, contributing to biodiversity loss and long-term ecosystem degradation.

In recent decades, the use of biopesticides has increased as an alternative or complement to synthetic PPPs. Despite their growing implementation, current Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) approaches used in the European Union may not be fully adequate to capture the complexity of these products. This includes differences in modes of action, formulation additives, application practices, and limitations in how biological effects are traditionally measured and reported. As a result, current regulatory requirements may not be sufficient to ensure an accurate assessment of PPP ecotoxicity.

Climate change further intensifies these challenges. Rising temperatures and shifting environmental conditions can alter the bioavailability, persistence, absorption behavior, and toxicity of PPPs, increasing uncertainty in ecological risk prediction. This highlights the importance of assessing PPP impacts under realistic climate scenarios, particularly those projected by the IPCC for future decades.

Clime(Bio)Pest addresses these knowledge gaps by investigating the ecotoxicological effects of PPPs under climate change conditions, combining standard regulatory assays with additional biological endpoints spanning molecular to population-level responses. The project integrates laboratory and field approaches, including soil contamination scenarios reflecting real agricultural practices, physicochemical characterization, and residue analysis. The effects of contaminated matrices on aquatic systems are also assessed through elutriate-based exposure. Overall, this multidisciplinary strategy aims to generate robust evidence to support decision-makers and contribute to improved environmental safety evaluation frameworks, particularly in the context of climate change.