Wiser with wood

A guide on how to transpose the EU’s revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) to better protect forests, the climate, public health and other wood-using industries

Burning trees to save the climate?

Because it allows Member States to subsidise energy operators burning woody biomass, and because burning wood emits carbon dioxide and toxic fine particles, the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive has damaged forests, the climate, public health and biodiversity. It also costs EU taxpayers billions of euros each year.

But the Directive has just been updated and now Member States have the chance to undo some of the damage as they transpose it into national law. They have considerable flexibility to go beyond the environmental safeguards for woody biomass set by the EU.

Our guide to the transposition identifies RED III’s legal bioenergy requirements, describes Member States’ margins of manoeuvre, and proposes ways to better protect forests, the climate, public health and other wood-using industries from the EU’s biomass policy.