News

News, Forest Watch

What the outcome of Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture means for forests

On 4 September 2024, the European Commission published the results of its Strategic Dialogue on the Future of Agriculture, an innovative exercise that, in a period of bitter strife, gathered farm lobby groups and NGOs around a...

18/09/2024

News, Forest Watch

Heated debates about the EUDR are missing the bigger picture

The backlash against the EU Deforestation-free Regulation (EUDR) is continuing into autumn. Several vocal EU Member States, highly forested countries, and the director of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have insisted that the...

18/09/2024

FAQs

What is the EU Deforestation Regulation and why is it controversial?

Busting myths around EU efforts to end deforestation.

In December 2022, the EU agreed to adopt the Regulation on deforestation-free products (EUDR), which aims to tackle global deforestation and forest degradation driven by EU...

29/08/2024

News, Forest Watch, Partner Voices

EUDR: What is the US paper industry afraid of?

On 30 May 2024, some within the US administration wrote to the European Commission to ask them to postpone implementation of the EU regulation on deforestation-free products (EUDR). But why would the government of a country with the economic and political weight of the United States go to the trouble of making such a request? The answer can be found by comparing the letter’s arguments with those of the American pulp and paper sector: their arguments are a mere replication of poorly substantiated industry claims.  

09/07/2024

News, Forest Watch

Scientists confirm harvesting as main culprit behind European forest disturbances

In June 2024, a cutting-edge analysis published in Nature Communications confirmed tree harvesting as the main driver of disturbances to European forests, in a context where overall disturbances are increasing; it also highlighted...

09/07/2024

News, Forest Watch

Netherlands ends all biomass subsidies for electricity with more restrictions expected

The Netherlands have long been at the forefront of science-informed biomass policy-making, accepting that burning wood for energy production worsens the climate and biodiversity crises. They are now leading in ambitiously...

09/07/2024

News, Forest Watch

EUDR: Looking beyond the canopy to consider the human aspects of trade

While trade partners and companies are asking to delay implementation of the EU Regulation on deforestation-free products (EUDR), Indonesian NGOs have been organising themselves to engage in its application. More than 30...

09/07/2024

News, Forest Watch

Forests, foresters and the climate set to benefit as Nature Restoration Law clears final hurdle

It has provoked fierce debate, and the final decision went to the wire, but by the slimmest of margins, on 17 June 2024 EU Environment Ministers threw a lifeline to the continent’s besieged forests and approved the Nature...

21/06/2024

News, Forest Watch

Donors must not accept violations in Congo’s Conkouati-Douli Park

NGOs are denouncing the Republic of Congo’s (RoC) decision to violate international and domestic obligations concerning the Congolese national park of Conkouati-Douli by allowing oil exploration in its fragile ecosystem....

11/06/2024

News, Forest Watch

EUDR: Practical insights into cocoa cooperatives’ challenges and costs

Côte d’Ivoire’s socio-economic wellbeing is intricately intertwined with cocoa, which creates 14% of its gross domestic product, and supplies 45% of global cocoa production – making it the largest cocoa producer in the world. But...

11/06/2024