In the drive to tackle climate change, carbon trading has become the policy instrument of choice among governments. It is also a central element of the UNFCCC’s Kyoto Protocol. National or regional carbon trading schemes are now operational in Europe, the USA, New Zealand and elsewhere.
Member States' Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) are undermining EU climate objectives by providing billions of euros worth of support for highly carbon-intensive projects and "techno-fixes" masquerading as environmental solutions. This new report highlights the most controversial recent agreements signed by ECAs, provides estimated figures of European Union export credit guarantees and shows how ECA financing favours export and investments that disproportionately benefit energy and carbon-intensive industries.
This research conducted for FERN analyses the involvement of all 21 ECAs of EU member countries in the financing of carbon-intensive industries during the period 2004-2009.
This report follows up FERN’s earlier study “Funding forests into the future? How the European Fund for Rural Development affects Europe’s forests”. It focuses on how national programmes – and more specifically their forestry measures – have been implemented in six countries. The key questions that are looked at in the report include: What, if anything, have the individual countries done to address the issues raised in 2008, and can implementation of the RDPs do anything to improve forestry management practices and encourage forest conservation?
This report investigates the award of the EU Ecolabel to two photocopy brands, Golden Plus and Lucky Boss, manufactured by the Indonesian company Pindo Deli, part of Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), one of the world's most controversial pulp and paper companies. It concludes that the EU Ecolabel criteria for sustainable forest management for copy & graphic paper and the revised version (latest draft from December 2009) are very weak and not adequate to ensure that the most egregious forest operations are excluded.
With the onset of the global financial crisis and the subsequent squeeze in credit and insurance markets, there is a renewed global demand for export credit and investment insurance products offered by ECAs.
This report by Liberian NGO SDI reflects on the state of forest law enforcement and governance in post-conflict Liberia. It catalogues the major flaws and illegalities that occurred during the handing out of forest concessions in the last few years. It reaffirms that the potential of the logging industry to deliver jobs and revenue is exaggerated – often intentionally so.
This report analyses the different timber procurement policies of six EU Member States and Japan. The report shows that although there is some variation between the different policies, there are also many similarities.
This report follows on from the 2007 FERN, BirdLife and WWF report ‘Transparency and availability of EC aid documentation | a review’. It provides an analysis of 21 geographically-diverse country and regional environmental profiles in order to assess the quality and value of the information they provide.
A new FERN funded report by Kavaljit Singh on the EU-India Free Trade Agreement with a strong focus on the banking sector. The report asks the question who benefits from FTAs and shows that opening up India for European banks can have negative impacts for India
In the drive to tackle climate change, carbon trading has become the policy instrument of choice among governments. It is also a central element of the UNFCCC’s Kyoto Protocol. National or regional carbon trading schemes are now operational in Europe, the USA, New Zealand and elsewhere.
Member States' Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) are undermining EU climate objectives by providing billions of euros worth of support for highly carbon-intensive projects and "techno-fixes" masquerading as environmental solutions. This new report highlights the most controversial recent agreements signed by ECAs, provides estimated figures of European Union export credit guarantees and shows how ECA financing favours export and investments that disproportionately benefit energy and carbon-intensive industries.
This report follows up FERN’s earlier study “Funding forests into the future? How the European Fund for Rural Development affects Europe’s forests”. It focuses on how national programmes – and more specifically their forestry measures – have been implemented in six countries. The key questions that are looked at in the report include: What, if anything, have the individual countries done to address the issues raised in 2008, and can implementation of the RDPs do anything to improve forestry management practices and encourage forest conservation? 
With the onset of the global financial crisis and the subsequent squeeze in credit and insurance markets, there is a renewed global demand for export credit and investment insurance products offered by ECAs. 
This report analyses the different timber procurement policies of six EU Member States and Japan. The report shows that although there is some variation between the different policies, there are also many similarities.
This report follows on from the 2007 FERN, BirdLife and WWF report