Nicole Polsterer

The EU must stand firm against those hellbent on delaying its groundbreaking deforestation law

The rumours were swirling for months, but when the news broke on October 2, it came abruptly and without warning. 

Just a week earlier, the European Commission insisted that it had no plans to delay implementing the EU...

08/10/2024

More environmental rules under attack: but the pushback to the pushback continues

In the run-up to EU elections in June 2024, EU and national politicians are continuing their roll back of the hard-won environmental gains of the European Green Deal. Such developments go against the wishes of most EU citizens, 87...

07/05/2024

History in the making?

The United States and the European Union are on the verge of passing historic anti-deforestation laws. But for all their strengths, both still have major flaws, write Nicole Polsterer and Etelle Higonnet.

03/11/2021

Seminarios web sobre las consultas de la UE y el Reino Unido sobre las propuestas de reglamentación para detener la deforestación

Lo más destacado del seminario web:

A los seminarios web en español, francés, inglés y portugués del Brasil asistieron más de 100 participantes, incluida la sociedad civil de los países productores, así como ONG y donantes...

28/09/2020

What Europe can do if Bolsonaro attacks the Amazon

The views of the man on the brink of leading the planet’s fourth largest democracy have attracted global notoriety since his shock victory in Brazil’s first-round presidential election earlier this month.

Jair Bolsonaro would...

26/10/2018

As the Amazon burns and global deforestation accelerates, only unified international action can save the world’s forests

Tropical forests are likely to grab headlines today when Jair Bolsonaro addresses the United Nations’ General Assembly in New York.

In early September, just before a hernia operation, Brazil’s President told reporters, “I will...

24/09/2019

Support solidifies for an EU Due Diligence Regulation

Now comes the task of separating the wheat (value chain and market access measures) from the chaff (labels).

13/11/2019

New Commission Communication opens door to regulation of the products that destroy our forests

Council and Parliament urged to get involved to fix oversights and reinforce ambition in new forest Communication.

18/09/2019

As Amazon deforestation rises, Europe resolves to act

Brazil has entered uncertain times.

Two health ministers and the Justice Minister have resigned within the last month, throwing President Jair Bolsonaro’s government into disarray, as opposition to his reckless response to...

25/05/2020

EU must back Indigenous People against Bolsonaro’s attacks

The grim prophecies foreshadowing Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency have been fulfilled with dizzying speed in his first 100 days in office. The EU and its consumers must end their complicity in the unfolding disaster.

12/04/2019

How the European Union should step up action against deforestation - Fern's submission to the EU Consultation on deforestation

In December 2018, the European Commission announced plans to “step up European Action against Deforestation and Forest Degradation”.  A new Commission Communication is foreseen in the second quarter of 2019 to “develop a more...

12/03/2019

A critical moment in the fight against deforestation

Shopping without helping destroy the planet can be bewildering. Now EU citizens have the chance to end the confusion, and protect forests around the world,

18/02/2019

How Germany can break the link between EU meat consumption, deforestation and human suffering

Farming is the planet’s biggest driver of deforestation, and beef and soya production the prime culprits. The lion’s share of deforestation caused by these commodities is in Latin America, and Germany’s responsibility is considerable.

17/01/2019

The EU must act on new evidence of soy’s destructive role in the tropics

Spurred on by a wave of food scandals  - as well as rising consumer anxieties over the environment and animal welfare - major retailers across Europe are sourcing more of their meat from local, sustainable sources. It should be a...

26/03/2018

How local rights can halt global wrongs: the legal path to sustainable farming in Brazil

Agricultural expansion is devastating the world’s forests.

In Brazil the levelling of forests to grow soy to feed an insatiable export market has also led to human rights violations, including forced evictions, land grabs and...

09/01/2018

Blog: How can EU policies halt deforestation?

In the five years between 2010 and 2015, EU consumption raized an area of forests the size of Portugal. In 2012 alone, the EU imported EUR 6 billion of soy, palm, leather, and beef produced on forests illegally converted to...

26/06/2017