Publications & Insight

Briefing Notes

Independent Forest Monitoring: a chance for improved governance in VPA countries?

The forest sector is particularly vulnerable to poor governance including corruption, fraud, and organised crime. Illegality in the sector generates vast sums of money and has helped fuel long and bloody conflicts. Even in...

16/08/2017

Briefing Notes

Communities & forests in Kenya: Where are new laws taking them?

On 26 May 2017, the still-new African Court handed down a landmark ruling on a case brought against the Government of Kenya by the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights on behalf of the Mau Ogiek forest dweller community....

22/06/2017

Briefing Notes

Recommendations for an EU Action Plan to Protect Forests and Respect Rights

Keeping forests standing and restoring ecosystems is essential if the world is to meet biodiversity objectives and the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees.The EU will be an important player and has...

21/06/2017

Briefing Notes

A chance for change: A civil society briefing on the Voluntary Partnership Agreement negotiations between Vietnam and the European Union

This briefing takes stock of the VPA between Vietnam and the EU at a key juncture: as the Agreement formally moves from its negotiation to ratification phase.

It assesses the VPA – and the negotiation process – from a civil...

21/06/2017

Briefing Notes

Ensuring bioenergy comes clean in the Clean Energy Package - Joint Statement

European climate and energy policies are built on the myth that all bioenergy - being a renewable energy source - is good for the climate and good for the environment. As the use of bioeenrgy in the EU is expected to more than...

30/05/2017

Briefing Notes

EU consumption of soy and deforestation

Soy is the second largest agricultural driver of deforestation after cattle products (with agriculture responsible for about 70 per cent of all deforestation).  According to a 2013 study for the European Commission, soy expansion...

03/05/2017

Briefing Notes

Making Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) work for forests, people and the climate: Civil society recommendations on the future of VPAs

As decision makers in the European Union (EU) and timber producing countries consider the future of the FLEGT Action Plan, and its Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPA), civil society organisations and platforms from Cameroon,...

16/03/2017

Briefing Notes

EU consumption of Palm Oil and deforestation

Palm oil is the world’s most commonly used vegetable oil. After beef and soya, palm oil is the third largest agricultural cause of deforestation. Global production has more than doubled since 1990, reaching 64.5 million tonnes in...

07/02/2017

Briefing Notes

Burning trees for energy is no solution to climate change

This briefing note outlines why using wood to produce renewable electricity and heat can increase carbon dioxide emissions. It explains what is wrong with the assumption that all biomass use for energy is ‘carbon-neutral’ and why...

14/10/2016

Briefing Notes

Cheating the climate: the problems with aviation industry plans to offset emissions

The UN Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas does not cover emissions from international aviation. These are regulated by the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which has been tasked with adopting a proposal...

19/09/2016