EU’s Environment Committee recognises role of forests in fighting climate change but fails on bioenergy
11 July 2017
The European Parliament’s Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) Committee today voted to increase removals of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by forests from 2030 onwards, recognising the important role that EU forests will play in reaching the Paris Agreement’s target of limiting global temperatures to well below 2 degrees Celsius.
The Committee’s report changes the period for the forest management reference level from 1990-2009 to 2000-2012. This change to the European Commission text means that the increased harvesting of forests for bioenergy - which recent research shows has already led to a reduction of the carbon sink of EU forests - will not be properly accounted for.
The report will now go before plenary in the Autumn.
Categories: Press Releases, Bioenergy