Publications & Insight

Forest watch

FLEGT VPA paved the way for the US-Vietnam Timber Agreement

A US-Vietnam agreement underscores FLEGT’s broad impact

09/11/2021

Fears the EU-Indonesia trade agreement won’t learn from mistakes of the past

There are parallels with the problematic Mercosur-EU trade agreement as Indonesian NGOs reveal the lack of an impact assessment and concerns about human rights impacts.

13/10/2021

So far, EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement delivers only for trade

Civil society’s fears that human rights and the environment would lose out now appear well founded.

16/09/2021

Bolsonaro under scrutiny in The Hague for crimes against humanity, genocide and possibly ecocide

Jair Bolsonaro is finally facing global opposition to the destruction he has wrought, so why is the EU still considering signing the Mercosur trade deal?

14/07/2021

Mercosur throws a spanner in the EU trade works

Trade ministers cannot see eye to eye when the EU-Mercosur agreement is in the picture

10/06/2021

EU Trade Policy Day: people want a trade policy that tackles climate change

With significant adjustments, EU trade deals now being negotiated could help tackle climate change.

04/05/2021

Could the palm oil arrangement between Indonesia and Switzerland offer lessons for EU and Indonesia free trade agreement negotiations?

The agreement innovates by linking tariff reductions to sustainability – but fails to integrate governance reform.

08/04/2021

EU Watchdog points to Commission “maladministration” in Mercosur sustainability debacle

What is the point of an impact study carried out after the fact?

08/04/2021

NGO statements

Response to the Forest Strategy consultation - A world of strong and healthy forests

Ursula von der Leyen is the first European Union (EU) Commission President to publicly recognise how important forests are to life on our planet. But with the climate crisis and biodiversity collapse looming, time is short to turn...

24/03/2021

Press releases

EU Commission reprimanded for failure to consider environmental, social impacts of South American trade deal

Environmental and human rights organisations have welcomed today’s European Ombudsman finding of maladministration by the Commission. It found that the Commission failed to complete a timely assessment of the social and...

19/03/2021