Publications & Insight

News, Forest Watch

Dialogues – all the rage in Brussels, as elections loom

Recent relations between certain farming unions and environmentalists have been all too hostile, goaded by political forces that find it expedient to distract and cultivate grievance. The Commission’s initiative to take the heat...

02/04/2024

News, Forest Watch

International Resource Panel pushes reduced resource use; new EU law triggers a ‘goldrush’

“Reducing the resource intensity of food, mobility, housing and energy systems is the best and only way of achieving the SDGs, the climate goals, and ultimately a just and liveable planet for all”, says the UN Environment...

02/04/2024

Reports

What does the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Regulation mean for people and forests?

The EU Critical Raw Materials Regulation (CRMR) sets out a range of measures to increase production of Critical Raw Materials (CRM), reduce the EU’s dependency on imports, and the environmental and social impacts of their...

02/04/2024

NGO Statements

The game-changing EU Deforestation Regulation will only work if Member States start implementation now

Following high citizen concern over deforestation, the EU worked on a regulation on deforestation-free products, which came into force in 2023.

This law – a world first - makes it illegal to import or export forest-risk products...

28/03/2024

Reports

An analysis of BECCS industries' methodology for certifying industrial carbon removals

Fern commissioned EU bioenergy and forest policy expert Duncan Brack to analyse Drax and Exergi’s proposed methodology, and he identified severe shortcomings. This analysis of Drax and Exergi’s proposal highlights the problems with relying on the very companies that would benefit from the building and operating industrial removals projects to create EU methodologies. 

26/03/2024

Reports

Creating a forest and rights observatory: a Brazilian case study

The European Union and Member States have taken a pioneering role in adopting Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD) laws, such as the June 2023 adoption of the Regulation on deforestation-free products (EUDR). The...

15/03/2024

News, Forest Watch

The Nature Restoration Law’s worthwhile long and winding road

EU citizens can celebrate a welcome break in the hostilities against environmental legislation. First, the version of the Nature Restoration Law (NRL) that emerged from trilogue negotiations improves the text adopted in a fraught...

06/03/2024

News, Forest Watch

Forest Watch 294 - April 2024

Can key pieces of legislation withstand today’s dizzying political landscape?

06/03/2024

News, Forest Watch

The EU Carbon Removal Certification fiasco

Trilogue negotiations concluded, 20 February 2024, with a provisional deal on the EU Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF). At this late stage, the (as-yet unpublished) draft fails to address environmental and climate...

06/03/2024

Forest Watch 293 - March 2024

With 2024 elections approaching is the EU already backsliding on climate and nature commitments?

06/03/2024