Publications & Insight

EU banks lend money to alleged land-grabbers

Banks based in the European Union are major funders of companies at high risk of involvement in land-grabbing and deforestation, according to new research by Fern. 

The study examines the sources of finance of 23 large companies...

14/09/2016

EU bioenergy policy debate heating up

Just weeks before the expected 30 November launch of the European Commission’s ‘Winter Package’ on climate and energy policies a group of 11 NGOs, including Fern have launched a paper with recommendations for a new EU sustainable...

14/09/2016

Fern’s contribution to the EU vision for the future of development policy

In its recent submission to the EU Commission’s consultation on future EU development policy, Fern stated that EU policies should be judged by their impact on small farmers and local communities as well as the environment and...

14/09/2016

Academics document FLEGT VPA successes

The EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) process has been remarkably effective in improving governance and combatting illegal logging in Indonesia and Ghana. This is the conclusion of an academic paper that...

14/09/2016

News in brief September 2016

Oil palm concessions and illegal loggers are continually encroaching upon Liberia’s dense forests. Fern’s new Video Blog with James Otto of the Sustainable Development Institute in Liberia gives a breakdown of the problems many...

14/09/2016

Forest Watch

EU Forest Watch 218 - September 2016

14/09/2016

Reports

A new sustainable bioenergy policy

The European Commission has announced that it will propose a new and improved bioenergy sustainability policy for the use of biomass in heating, electricity and transport as part of its Climate and Energy Package for 2030.

This...

05/09/2016

News in brief July 2016

The Council of Environmental Ministers adopted Conclusions on a Circular Economy Action Plan, on 20 June 2016, in which they ask the Commission to take more action to ensure sustainable sourcing and supply of raw materials. From a...

07/08/2016

Reports

Financing land grabs and deforestation: The role of EU banks and investors

In recent years, a growing body of evidence has shown how large scale agricultural companies are driving land grabs and deforestation in the tropics. This report is a contribution to the debate on how to tackle these issues. It...

27/07/2016

Reports

A comparison of national sustainability schemes for solid biomass in the EU

There are no harmonised sustainability criteria for bioenergy or the sourcing of biomass across the European Union (EU). EU Member States have therefore largely relied on domestic Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) rules to guide...

26/07/2016