European forests

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Reducing deforestation -the new EU initiatives

03.02.2020

Reducing deforestation -the new EU initiatives

EU Commission Roadmap - open for feedback

Illegal logging is the harvesting of wood in violation of national laws. It is a global problem with significant economic, social and environmental impact. The EU has two key legal acts to fight illegal logging:
• the forest law enforcement, governance and trade regulation and
• the EU timber regulation.

This fitness check will examine how these regulations have worked globally, how effective, efficient, relevant and consistent are, and whether they usefully supplement national efforts.

To respond: HERE  Deadline: 28.02.2020

Deforestation and forest destruction – reducing the impact of products sold in the EU

Summary: Almost 80% of all deforestation is driven by increased production of commodities such as soy, beef, palm oil, coffee and cocoa. The Commission seeks to ensure that no such products sold in the EU are produced in a way that harms forests. It will carry out an impact assessment and examine which type of action the EU should take, either for specific commodities or generally for all of them. Ultimately this should help EU businesses and consumers know what they are buying. 

A consultation strategy will be developed. It will include a 12-week internet-based public consultation and a targeted stakeholder consultation, including workshops. The public consultation will aim to receive input from a broad range of stakeholders from the EU and from third countries, in particular farmers, livestock producers, logging companies and traders working with supply chains potentially associated with deforestation, EU and third countries citizens, EU Member States, civil sector organisations and third countries, specifically those experiencing deforestation. Small- and medium-sized enterprises will be duly involved in the consultation. The questionnaire will be translated into all official EU languages and available on the ‘Have your say’ website. A series of events with stakeholders during the consultation period will also feed into the results of the process. These include a conference on forests, biodiversity and climate change in Brussels in February 2020 and the EU Green Week in June of the same year.

Further information: HERE  Deadline: 04.03.2020