Publications & Insight

NGO Statements

Position paper on the evaluation of Directive (EU) 2019/633 regarding Unfair Trading Practices in business-to-business relationships in the agricultural and food supply chain

In this position paper, we join Oxfam, Fair Trade International, the European Milk Board and 14 other organisations calling for the EU to ban a series of unfair trading practices (UTP) in the agricultural and food sector,...

01/09/2025

Logging is a key reason the forest carbon sink is shrinking

The European Union’s forest carbon sink has declined dramatically over the last decade. The factors driving it are the subject of ongoing and intense debate.

This briefing summarises the well-documented causes of this decline:...

01/08/2025

News, Forest Watch, Partner Voices

Church of Sweden could lead EU towards truly sustainable forestry

The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation draws attention to a situation now playing out in Sweden – among the EU’s most forested Member States – that could model truly sustainable forestry. Or fall short. 

With various forces...

29/07/2025

News, Forest Watch

Analysis of an outgoing Polish Presidency: Environmental ambition can’t wait until crises worsen

Back in October 2023, thanks to a historically high voter turnout, Poland’s electorate swept Donald Tusk’s Civil Platform party (part of the European Peoples Party (EPP)) into office, largely on the basis of its bold environmental...

10/07/2025

News, Forest Watch

Cameroon’s VPA ends, but Parliament’s resolution reinforces EU accountability

On 17 June 2025, the European Parliament (EP) plenary voted to terminate the EU-Cameroon Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA). The unilateral nature of this step – the...

10/07/2025

News, Forest Watch

UN COP30: Civil Society keep up momentum as we move towards the “forest COP”

Civil society across the world are convening in the hope that the 30th United Nations Climate Conference (COP30) will be “the forest COP” and move away from the petrostate negotiations of previous years. This hope persists despite...

10/07/2025

News, Forest Watch

Poland Draws the Line: New Rules Redefine Energy Wood

Augustyn Mikos, of civil society organisation Pracownia, in Poland, discusses a new Polish decree that significantly reduces financial support to bioenergy 

Despite instigating a certain amount of environmental mayhem during its ...

10/07/2025

Reports

Funding resilient forests: Rethinking EU and State subsidies

This report by Metodi Sotirov, Assistant Professor in Forest and Environmental Policy at the University of Freiburg, looks at the current state of EU forest financing and what needs to change to deliver a just transition to a...

09/07/2025

NGO Statements

Ensuring equitable and timely implementation of the EUDR in the coffee sector

In a letter to European policymakers, the VOCAL Network have expressed deep concern over recent delays and proposed alterations to the European Union’s Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), particularly discussions surrounding a...

09/07/2025

NGO Statements

The art of lowering ambition: How the Swedish wood industry is blowing smoke on the climate benefits of wood products

Governments are facing pressure to deliver on LULUCF targets, and the wood industry is aggressively marketing wood products as a climate solution, while paradoxically calling for the ambition of forest climate targets to be...

09/07/2025