EU's Climate Credibility Damaged by Deforestation Regulation Delay

The European Union's climate commitments are under scrutiny after plans to delay a law combating deforestation were put forward by the European Commission. The proposed 12-month delay has sparked criticism from environmental campaigners and some MEPs, with concerns that it will undermine the EU's credibility on climate change and damage global trust in the bloc's environmental policies. Virginijus Sinkevicius, a former environment commissioner, described the delay as "a step backward in the fight against climate change", warning that it would put 80,000 acres of forest at risk each day and fuel 15% of global carbon emissions.

Key Takeaways:

• The European Commission has proposed a 12-month delay to the deforestation regulation, sparking criticism from environmental campaigners and some MEPs.
• The regulation aims to ban the sale of commodities linked to deforestation, such as cocoa, coffee, and palm oil, from 2025.
• The delay must be approved by EU ministers and the European Parliament to take effect, with large companies required to use satellite monitoring and other checks to ensure products have not been produced on deforested or degraded land.
• Environmental campaigners say the delay undermines the EU's credibility on climate change and promotes deforestation, with the commission's president, Ursula von der Leyen, facing criticism from environmental groups.
• The delay has been lobbied for by countries including Brazil and Australia, arguing that EU officials were using the wrong data to measure forests, while Indonesia and Ivory Coast have expressed concerns about penalising small farmers and harming their exports.
• The regulation was adopted by a large majority of MEPs and member states in April 2023, but has faced growing backlash about the costs of environmental legislation.

Statistics:

• 80,000 acres of forest would be put at risk each day due to the proposed 12-month delay to the law.
• 15% of global carbon emissions are expected to be fuelled by the delay.
• The regulation aims to come into force on 30 December 2025 for large companies and 30 June 2026 for micro and small enterprises.
• The deforestation law has been hailed as the most ambitious in the world to combat deforestation.

Sources:

• Jennifer Rankin in Brussels (July 2023)
• The European Commission (Wednesday, exact date not provided)
• Virginijus Sinkevicius, former environment commissioner, (exact date not provided)
• WWF (exact date not provided)
• Fern (exact date not provided)
• Peter Liese, German MEP, (exact date not provided)