What Fern wants
Our long-term objective is that EU bilateral trade policy does not undermine the transition to a low-carbon, rights’ based and forest friendly economy.
Does free trade harm the environment and people?
The EU is the world’s largest trade bloc, providing around 80 countries with their biggest market for exports.
Much of this trade involves raw materials whose production drives deforestation: in particular the commodities needed to produce the chocolate, snacks and cosmetics Europeans consume, and the materials needed to power electric vehicles and mobile phones, among much else.
The EU has various tools to increase its trade flows. For example, it recently adopted a law to secure its supply in critical raw materials. At the centre of the EU’s trade with the rest of the world however, are its free trade agreements (FTAs).
Their impact on the environment is irrefutable: a vast body of evidence confirms direct and indirect links between trade and deforestation, as well as other forms of environmental destruction.
So when nations sign free trade deals, forests and people invariably pay the price.
Without rigorously enforced safeguards, the increased trade which flows from FTAs typically intensifies pressure on forests, heightens inequalities and the threat of human rights violations, such as land grabs, while favouring the interests of transnational corporations over smallholders and local peoples.
The way forward is not to stop trading. It is to create policies that respect the planet and peoples’ rights.
Can trade be good for the environment?
The solutions to unfair forest-destroying trade are manifold. For example, in 2023 the EU adopted a groundbreaking law to ensure its imports of agricultural goods don’t lead to deforestation. It is also discussing a new corporate sustainability due diligence law to ensure that businesses keep negative impacts of their supply chains and their trade in check, both inside and outside Europe.
Fern also calls for appropriate protections in the EU's bilateral Free Trade Agreements with forested countries.
For such safeguards to work, civil society voices must be heard and their concerns dealt with. They must have oversight of FTAs, and an effective space to challenge their governments and EU decision-makers.
However, even with inbuilt protections, FTAs’ aim of increasing trade is incompatible with the supreme global challenge of tackling the climate emergency. To do that, we must reduce European consumption to levels which respect planetary boundaries (LINK to reducing consumption), and work towards a truly sustainable EU trade policy.