On Monday 16 December, the EU Council welcomed the new framework for action presented by the Commission in July to strengthen EU action for the protection and restoration of the world's forests (see EUROPE 12329/2, 12302/1).
In conclusions adopted without debate, the EU Council and Member States express their “deep concern” at the inadequacy of current policies and actions to curb deforestation. They therefore encourage the Commission to urgently set priorities for implementing the recommended actions in coordination with Member States, industry, civil society and partner countries in the framework of the Green Deal.
As a reminder, this framework for action addresses both the supply and demand for a dwindling resource and potentially paves the way for legislative measures to protect existing forest cover, particularly primary forest, and to increase global forest cover.
The EU Council and the Member States call for coherence in the implementation and all EU instruments and policies, with coherence being a priority of the future EU biodiversity strategy post-2020.
In order to reduce the footprint of EU land consumption, the EU Council and Member States call on the Commission to accelerate the assessment of new demand-side regulatory and non-regulatory measures and to make proposals to this end. These measures include consumer awareness and industry commitments.
They recommend that specific provisions on sustainable forest management and sustainable and deforestation-free agricultural commodities be proposed for all relevant new EU trade agreements.
In addition, they call for a shift in funding towards sustainable land use practices and stress the importance of mobilising sufficient funds to intensify actions to protect and restore the world’s forests. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)