Publications & Insight

News, Forest Watch

CSDDD: Innovative law nearly scrapped by political bullying

The recently agreed Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDDD) is an extremely innovative law, although that may not be obvious from the manner in which it is limping across the finish line. The process of its...

02/04/2024

News, Forest Watch, Partner Voices

Indonesia’s presidential election: Troubling times for democracy and environment

On 20 March 2024, the General Elections Commission (KPU) declared Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka the winners of the 2024 presidential election, with 58.6% of the votes. From an environmental perspective, the victory...

02/04/2024

News, Forest Watch

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

News, Forest Watch

International Resource Panel pushes reduced resource use; new EU law triggers a ‘goldrush’

“Reducing the resource intensity of food, mobility, housing and energy systems is the best and only way of achieving the SDGs, the climate goals, and ultimately a just and liveable planet for all”, says the UN Environment...

02/04/2024

News, Forest Watch

The Nature Restoration Law’s worthwhile long and winding road

EU citizens can celebrate a welcome break in the hostilities against environmental legislation. First, the version of the Nature Restoration Law (NRL) that emerged from trilogue negotiations improves the text adopted in a fraught...

06/03/2024

News, Forest Watch

The EU Carbon Removal Certification fiasco

Trilogue negotiations concluded, 20 February 2024, with a provisional deal on the EU Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF). At this late stage, the (as-yet unpublished) draft fails to address environmental and climate...

06/03/2024

News, Forest Watch

Forest Watch 294 - April 2024

Can key pieces of legislation withstand today’s dizzying political landscape?

06/03/2024

News, Forest Watch

The newest FLEGT agreement signed! Celebrating the EU-Côte d’Ivoire forest agreement

On 19 February 2024, the European Commission and Côte d’Ivoire signed their Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), a major step on the way to sustainable, legal forestry. 

This...

06/03/2024

News, Forest Watch, Partner Voices

A broken system

Cocoa farmers in Côte d'Ivoire are being crushed by the same pressures as farmers protesting in Europe.

The farmers blocking roads and bringing traffic to a halt across Europe are part of a global trend. Since January 2023,...

06/03/2024

News, Forest Watch

A hopeful, mysterious start for EU Strategic Farm dialogues

At this point, most Europeans can agree that greater consensus in EU farming policy would be a wonderful thing. That the Commission launched a Strategic Farm dialogue process on 25 January 2024 is therefore welcome, even if the...

07/02/2024