2023 Annual Report
17 July 2024
In 2023, the world experienced the hottest summer on record. In Europe, meanwhile, the increasingly volatile political landscape manifested itself in the growing backlash against policies to fight the climate crisis and protect the environment.
Every forest-related file working its way through EU lawmaking bodies last year was assailed by vested industry interests and Member States intent on weakening it. But, as our 2023 Annual report details, we - together with our partners - pushed back and showed that protecting forests and the rights of those who live in them is vital to all of our futures.
The sheer number of forest-related files that Fern worked on in 2023 – ranging from carbon removals to renewable energy, carbon accounting in land, nature restoration and forest monitoring – is astounding.
But as well as making the case for legislative action, last year we also focussed on bringing laws to life. Nowhere is this truer than for the EU Regulation on deforestation-free products (EUDR) – where we worked to ensure all stakeholders receive the support they need to make the law work.
Fern’s agility in acting swiftly against evolving threats to forests and peoples’ rights, helped us respond to the vast and growing danger to the world’s forests posed by the paper packaging industry. The jointly produced video we made on the issue with the Environmental Paper Network (EPN), attracted 4 million views. Our nimbleness was also evident in our role highlighting an Emirati company’s plans to carve up huge swathes of Africa’s forests under the guise of fighting the climate emergency.
We also began working on the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), which will spark increased trade in the minerals needed to shift to a low carbon, digital economy. This, in turn, will lead to more deforestation and human rights abuses – unless we’re extremely vigilant, as Yblin Román Escobar, from SIRGE coalition, part of a network we are working with on the issues, vividly describes in the report.
Our network and partners are, of course, central to our work. Our interview with Dinamam Tuxá from Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil (APIB) in Brazil, offers insights into how we work together to achieve our common goals.
Away from the bigger policy-making picture, we feature interviews with two long-standing Fern staff members who retired in 2023, Rudi Kohnert and Julie Painting, who reflect on their years with us.
We continue to be inspired by the growing number of people mobilising to protect the ecosystems that our survival depends upon, including our many partners around the world.
Category: Annual Reports