To tackle the footprint of European consumption on global deforestation and ecosystem destruction, Greenpeace is calling on the EU to adopt a regulation on the marketing of ‘forest and ecosystem risk commodities’ (FERCs) in the internal market.
In the NGO's view, this is an important and essential first step in addressing the EU's share of accelerating global deforestation, according to a briefing note published on 3 August.
The European Commission intends to present a proposal for a Regulation in the first quarter of 2021, following an impact assessment in the autumn (see EUROPE 12519/11, 12510/13).
According to Greenpeace, in order to be sold on the EU market, FERCs will have to meet clearly defined environmental and social sustainability criteria, in particular ensuring two things:
- the land from which they originate shall not result from the conversion or degradation of natural forests or other natural land-based ecosystems;
- the harvesting, production or extraction of FERCs must respect indigenous communities and tenure rights protected by international obligations and customary international law, comply with the principle of prior informed consent, and not result from the forced displacement of indigenous and local communities.
The regulation advocated by the NGO would establish obligations for operators (any natural or legal person) who place FERCs, products derived from or containing FERCs on the EU market for the first time or who, in the course of a commercial activity, sell or purchase FERCs and related products already on the EU market.
In order to comply with the Regulation, operators would be required to respect due diligence procedures and, together with traders, to ensure the transparency of their supply chains and the traceability of the goods they place on the market.
To read the Greenpeace briefing note: https://bit.ly/39VxCJ1 (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)