On 23 July, the European Commission (EC) adopted the Communication on Stepping up EU Action to Protect and Restore the World’s Forests. It’s a new ambitious European approach in response to the continued widespread destruction of the world’s forests. Source: Timberbiz
An area of 1.3 million square kilometres was lost between 1990 and 2016, equivalent to approximately 800 football fields every hour. The main drivers of this deforestation are demand for food, feed, biofuel, timber and other commodities.
The new framework addresses both the supply and demand side of the issue. It introduces measures for enhanced international cooperation with stakeholders and Member States, promotion of sustainable finance, better use of land and resources, sustainable job creation and supply chain management, and targeted research and data collection.
It also launches an assessment of possible new regulatory measures to minimise the impact of EU consumption on deforestation and forest degradation.
The Communication has a two-fold objective of protecting and improving the health of existing forests, especially primary forests, and significantly increasing sustainable, biodiverse forest coverage worldwide.
The EC has set out five priorities:
- Reduce the EU consumption footprint on land and encourage the consumption of products from deforestation-free supply chains in the EU;
- Work in partnership with producing countries to reduce pressures on forests and to “deforest-proof” EU development cooperation;
- Strengthen international cooperation to halt deforestation and forest degradation, and encourage forest restoration;
- Redirect finance to support more sustainable land-use practices;
- Support the availability of, quality of, and access to information on forests and commodity supply chains, and support research and innovation.
Actions to reduce EU consumption and encourage the use of products from deforestation-free supply chains will be explored through the creation of a new Multi-Stakeholder Platform on Deforestation, Forest Degradation and Forest Generation, which will bring together a broad range of relevant stakeholders.
The Commission will also encourage stronger certification schemes for deforestation-free products and assess possible demand-side legislative measures and other incentives.
The Commission proposes the creation of an EU Observatory on Deforestation and Forest Degradation, to monitor and measure changes in the world’s forest cover and associated drivers. This resource will give public bodies, consumers and businesses better access to information about supply chains, encouraging them to become more sustainable.
The Commission will also focus on redirecting public and private finance to help to create incentives for sustainable forest management and sustainable forest-based value chains, and for conservation of existing and sustainable regeneration of additional forest cover.
The Communication comes after extensive stakeholder consultations on deforestation and forest degradation and possible EU action. This included two conferences in 2014 and 2017, a public consultation in 2019, and three studies.
