Hannah Mowat

Following EU elections, civil society outline necessary EU commitment to forests 2024-29

Preliminary results from the EU elections, which took place from 6-9 June 2024, have delivered a notable decrease in green and liberal parties. It remains to be seen with whom von der Leyen will seek an alliance, but her choice...

11/06/2024

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

EU independent science body criticises European inconsistency in climate policy and forests

Overlogging and climate change are causing the collapse of European forest carbon sinks, and the EU risks not even meeting weak 2030 Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) targets. There is therefore huge concern that...

07/02/2024

2022 - What to watch for in the EU forest world

For decades, Fern and partners have campaigned to strengthen the rights of forest peoples and protect and restore forests. There have been locust years, when things went backwards, and harvest years, when plans come to fruition....

10/01/2022

2023 - What will it mean for EU work on forests?

Hannah Mowat looks at what to expect from European forest-related policies in 2023.

09/01/2023

The European Green Deal promises an EU of bigger and better forests: The Taxonomy Regulation makes it impossible

The success of the European Green Deal depends on the financial support it receives. 

More and more finance is already flowing from banks and investors, eager to turn their portfolios green. But what are the criteria for deciding...

21/04/2021

Could keeping forests standing help keep viruses at bay?

Hannah Mowat reflects on some of the emerging science around the coronavirus pandemic. 

19/03/2020

Von der Leyen’s first 100 days: Are our forests and the climate in good hands?

Fern’s Campaigns Coordinator Hannah Mowat examines whether the European Commission’s new President is on course to fulfil her promises.

09/03/2020

Five EU forest trends to watch out for in 2020

In 2019, forests and forest peoples’ rights rose up the global political – and spiritual - agenda, and the EU made high profile commitments to protect forests abroad and at home as part of their European Green Deal. But will 2020 see such commitments turned into action? Here are five questions we hope to give positive answers to at the end of the year.

05/01/2020

Europeans must face their own role in the destruction of the Amazon

Images of the Amazon burning have caused global alarm. They have also, say observers, triggered a response unparalleled in the history of the politics around climate change: the setting of international red lines on environmental destruction.

06/09/2019

Press release: 87 per cent of Europeans support new laws to combat global deforestation, new poll shows

Brussels / 21 May 2019 – An overwhelming majority of Europeans want new laws to ensure that the food they eat and the products they buy don’t drive global deforestation, according to a YouGov poll released today.

21/05/2019

Forestry emissions and the EU’s risky LULUCF debate

Proposed changes in the way the EU accounts for land use and land use change (LULUCF) emissions are scientifically flawed and could lead to dangerous global warming.

Healthy forests are crucial to achieving the Paris Agreement’s...

19/05/2016

Biodiversity offsetting smacks of middle class environmentalism

Only a fool would deny that there is a housing crisis, but alleviating it doesn’t have to involve bulldozing ancient woods

15/01/2015

Beyond Sibiu. Here's why EU leaders must think about forests.

As various heads of government gather today in Sibiu, Romania for the final EU summit before this month’s European elections, there’s one piece of news that they - and all of us - should contemplate. Humans are driving one million...

09/05/2019

Key forest-rich countries fail to acknowledge climate impact of increased logging, says EU expert group

12 April, Brussels – Despite the climate emergency, most EU countries are planning to significantly increase the logging of their forests. This will reduce forests’ ability to store carbon, meaning there could be 400 Mt more...

12/04/2019

Greta’s message is clear: don’t keep calm and don’t carry on

Forests can help safeguard our children’s futures

15/03/2019

Fighting Fossil Fuels First Making EU climate policy work for people and forests

This study refocuses attention on the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions domestically, without offloading responsibilities onto other countries through offsets. It explores why forests cannot offset fossil fuel emissions; and...

28/03/2015

Less and Better: Making EU Consumption Policies Work for People and Forests

This report explores possible solutions to the EU's huge foodprint, including the opportunity to link health and environmental benefits in encouraging deforestation-free consumption. The study identifies action points, such as...

28/03/2015