Strong partnerships must build on two decades of FLEGT results
12 December 2024
At a time when partnerships are more critical than ever for implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation, the EU Commission is poised to kill off its bravest initiative in forest governance and accountability, and to replace it with a loose-knit blueprint for non-binding, donor-based bargaining.
Beginning some 20 years ago, the EU worked with timber-producing countries to jointly address rampant illegal logging and grossly inadequate forest governance. Through multistakeholder discussion, they drew up Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) – eight in Africa, two in Latin America, and four in Asia – that aimed to revolutionise forest governance and trade. The VPAs clarified what legality means in practice and set up traceability and licensing schemes for legally sourced timber. The resulting bilateral trade agreements are legally binding and feature parliamentary oversight.
Admittedly, the journey has at times been difficult. Experience has taught that getting to the licensing stage takes … ages.
But the VPA journey itself has spurred sweeping, ground-breaking reforms in timber-producing countries: unlocking decision-making processes to include civil society and local populations for the first time; strengthening the land tenure of Indigenous and local populations; securing protections in national Forest Codes; requiring mechanisms for benefit-sharing with forest communities; reinforcing accountability through independent monitoring. The VPAs’ timber legality assurance systems (TLAS) offer forest businesses greater legal certainty, simplified controls and more transparent processes, discouraging informal payments and corruption while increasing revenues for both communities and the state. Profound feats that many, many actors continue to advance through hard work and good faith.
The Commission now intends, unilaterally, to get rid of at least two VPAs. In early October, it asked the Council and Parliament to break the agreement with Cameroon, and it has notified Liberia’s Government of its intent to cancel that VPA, setting the stage for other VPA dominoes to fall.
Given the adoption of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), the Commission appears to wish to replace FLEGT VPAs with ‘Forest Partnerships’ (FPs) alluded to in EUDR Art. 30, an idea floated in 2021 and repeated in its Strategic Framework (FW 299). These FPs are being touted to Cameroon and Liberia as broader and better than VPAs, as they cover more commodities and focus on zero deforestation, rather than on legality only.
Forest Partnerships are way less ambitious than VPAs, however. VPAs have successfully driven governance reform because their structures enabled reformers to drive forward change from within. No such structures are foreseen in FPs. To transition from VPAs to FPs is simply to revert from legally binding trade agreements to processes of donor leverage alone.
To date, existing FPs have not been elaborated in concertation with national stakeholders. No monitoring/accountability mechanisms insist on results. No interministerial coordination is stipulated during their elaboration or implementation. Importantly, FPs offer no clear incentives linked to trade nor to establishing international reputation.
To become real partnership agreements supporting EUDR implementation, FPs must be developed in an inclusive, deliberative process, giving civil society, communities and farmers a seat at the table; have a clear focus and theory of change; offer strong incentives; and include an operational, constructive monitoring and enforcement mechanism. Sufficient funding must be made available to allow the partnerships to work.
VPAs may survive this challenge: Liberia’s Government and NGOs are strongly contesting the cancellation of Liberia’s VPA. The Commission proposal for cancellation needs consent from the Council and Parliament, who are unlikely to accept it given that the Liberian government and local NGOs are opposed and that the VPA will be very helpful for EUDR implementation.
Constructive ways forward exist. To start, in countries with significant EU commerce, integrating enforceable trade mechanisms into any future partnership will advance EUDR implementation.
It should be acknowledged that, in some countries, VPAs are not making sufficient progress and cancellation may be appropriate – but only after an independent assessment, and through a proper, cooperative process. This has not yet been the case with Cameroon although the case is currently before the Council and the European Parliament; the European Parliament’s vote is not expected before April 2025. In countries where the VPA is active and working, it should be built on and integrated into EUDR implementation plans.
Generally, asking partners to believe in and work on new initiatives will be more credible if their diligent efforts to build the previous system are not summarily scrapped. Doing so risks real reputational damage for the EU as a trading partner. Rather than abandon them, valuable elements and principles of the VPA can form the foundation of broader partnerships that stretch beyond the narrowly defined forestry sector, and beyond timber.
Categories: News, Forest Watch, Illegal logging
