Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) are determined to increase the EU’s contribution to the fight against global deforestation by ensuring that its supply chains are free from deforestation or forest degradation.
They confirmed this on Tuesday 12 July when they adopted the report by Christophe Hansen (EPP, Luxembourg) (see EUROPE 12937/10) by 60 votes to 2 with 13 abstentions.
In doing so, MEPs strengthened the proposed November 2021 regulation on imported deforestation, which aims to minimise the risk of global deforestation and forest degradation associated with commodities placed on the EU market.
Extended scope of application. For example, they added rubber, maize and livestock (pigs, sheep, goats and poultry) to the six commodities (palm oil, soya, coffee, cocoa, cattle and timber) proposed by the European Commission to start with.
Furthermore, as voted, the scope would not be limited to forests only, but would also cover ‘other wooded land’, thus allowing for the inclusion of some mangroves and drylands.
The Commission will have to assess, at the latest 2 years after the entry into force of the new rules, the need and feasibility of an extension to other products such as sugar cane, ethanol and mining products.
The extension to other threatened sensitive ecosystems, such as peatlands, savannahs and vulnerable wetlands, will have to wait, but the European Commission should assess within 1 year whether these ecosystems should be included in the regulation.
MEPs also extended due diligence requirements to European financial institutions, whose investment portfolios should be scrutinised for links to projects and companies that cause forest destruction.
This requirement, validated by 16 votes, is in line with what the European Parliament voted for in October 2020 in an own-initiative legislative report by Delara Burkhardt (S&D, Germany) asking the Commission to come up with a binding legal framework (see EUROPE 12586/21).
Due diligence. According to MEPs, companies placing products on the EU market will be required to assess the risks in their supply chain.
Controls may be carried out through satellite imagery, field audits, capacity building of suppliers or isotope analysis to verify the origin of products. The date to be taken as a reference for identifying whether there was a tropical forest from which the product was derived would be brought forward by one year, to 31 December 2019.
Risk categories. MEPs maintained the system of classifying countries into three risk categories (high, medium and low). Within 6 months of the entry into force of the regulation, the Commission would establish the ranking of countries on the basis of a transparent assessment. Imports from low-risk countries would be subject to simplified due diligence (with lesser obligations).
“We take the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss very seriously. Given that the EU is responsible for around 10% of global deforestation, we have no choice but to step up our efforts to stop this deforestation. If we find the right balance between ambition, enforceability and WTO compatibility, this new tool could pave the way for ‘zero deforestation’ supply chains”, commented Christophe Hansen.
The Council of the EU, which is less ambitious, adopted its position on 28 June (see EUROPE 12981/9). The interinstitutional negotiations can start once the European Parliament has taken its decision.
In the opinion of Greenpeace, the Parliamentary Committee has “greatly improved the Commission’s proposal”. The NGO regrets, however, that “wetlands, savannahs and other ecosystems that are home to valuable wildlife and which are now being destroyed” are not covered.
See the compromise amendments that were voted on: https://aeur.eu/f/2ll (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)