The European Commission intends to help the EU intensify its action to reduce its footprint on tropical forests and thus contribute to the fight against global Deforestation and Forest Degradation, according to a roadmap published on Wednesday 19 December to unveil its plans.
This initiative will result in a communication in the second half of 2019 to “develop a coherent and comprehensive approach to the problem”. It follows multiple calls from Member States, the European Parliament and NGOs for an ambitious EU Action plan against Deforestation.
“The EU, as an importer of agricultural products, is part of the problem, but can also be part of the solution”, the Commission says. It says that growing soya beans, palm oil, coffee, cocoa and cattle are the biggest causes of deforestation, “a major global issue, leading to biodiversity decline, climate change and poverty”.
In response, the Commission sets out possible courses of action, such as promoting "sustainable and transparent supply chains”, "enhancing the transparency of investment flows", "building effective partnerships with forest countries to support the assimilation of sustainable agricultural and forestry practices, improving land governance" and “facilitating small producers' access to public and private investment and financial support”.
No new legislation is envisaged. However, in November, six Member States (Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands) and Norway called on the Commission to prepare an action plan including new legislation by the end of 2019. Parliament made the same request in September.
“Future EU action on deforestation should also put a stop to imports of products grown on land stolen from communities", said the NGO Fern, who is waiting for "new legislation guaranteeing that EU supply chains are free of deforestation and human rights violations”. While welcoming the Commission's findings and intentions, Greenpeace regretted "the lack of clarity on the concrete measures that the Commission would take".
The roadmap is open for comments for four weeks for possible consideration. To access it: https://bit.ly/2POoLwW. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang and Mathieu Solal)