New EU legislation will help stop global deforestation related to products including coffee, palm oil and wood

Renew Europe welcomes last night’s political deal between the European Parliament and the EU Council to adopt a new EU regulation - the world’s first law - to stop imported deforestation globally.

Deforestation and forest degradation are happening worldwide at an alarming rate. The stakes are high, since European consumption is responsible for 17% of tropical deforestation linked to internationally traded commodities such as wood, cattle, palm oil, soy, coffee and cocoa. In order to reverse EU – driven deforestation, performant legislation and effective enforcement are needed to significantly reduce our footprint on global deforestation.

With the agreement reached by the European Parliament and the Council on this new landmark legislation, we will reduce our impact on forests globally, make EU imports and exports more sustainable, bring more transparency into supply chains and protect human rights that are often violated in those areas facing the negative impacts of deforestation.

MEP Nicolae Ștefănuță (Uniunea Salvați România, Romania) Renew Europe shadow rapporteur says:

“We cannot sit and watch as forests across the globe are cut down in furious drive for profit. Our next generations will not take this easy. We give the world today a blueprint, a model for how deforestation should be tackled, by making businesses who abuse forests accountable, by laying down clear and transparent rules. The world’s forests are protected, that means we are protected.”

MEP Karin Karlsbro (Liberalerna, Sweden) rapporteur for INTA opinion comments:

“Consumers want to make sustainable choices, but it can be difficult. With this regulation we make it easier and show that trade policy is our sharpest tool to combat climate change. The EU neither can nor should make the laws in other countries, but we can decide what we are willing to accept if you want access to our market. Together with our trading partners we will ensure that sustainable trade is the way forward to stop global deforestation.”

MEP Pascal Canfin (l’Europe Ensemble, France) chair of ENVI committee says on the agreement reached:

“Today's agreement is a world first. Europe will close its doors to the everyday products that have the highest impact on deforestation if their importers are not able to demonstrate, with supporting documents, that they do not come from deforested areas: it's the coffee we drink in the morning, the chocolate we eat, the charcoal we use in our barbecues, the paper in our books. The European Parliament has achieved a very good result in this negotiation, we have extended its scope directly to rubber, printed paper and charcoal and we have obtained that other ecosystems like the Cerrado in Brazil are covered in one year, and that financial institutions in two years. This is a historic agreement.”