CoR Plenary (April 2022)

In July 2021, the European Commission adopted its communication on the new EU forest strategy for 2030, pursuing the biodiversity and climate neutrality objectives enshrined in the European Green Deal and the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030. The strategy aims to improve the quantity and quality of EU multi-functional forests, by reversing negative trends and increasing their resilience against the high uncertainty brought about by climate change. The strategy has sparked heated debate amongst various stakeholders and policy-makers.

On 17 November 2021, the European Commission tabled a legislative proposal aimed at curbing deforestation and forest degradation driven by the expansion of agricultural land used to produce specific commodities, namely cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soya and wood. Following up on a 2020 European Parliament resolution, which called for regulatory action to tackle EU-driven global deforestation, the proposal would impose due diligence obligations on operators placing these commodities and some derived products on the EU market, or exporting them from the EU. Member States would be responsible for enforcement, and for setting penalties in case of non-compliance.

Two decades after the pan-European set of indicators for sustainable forest management was adopted, the European Commission published the New EU Forest Strategy for 2030. We compared the documents on the basis of a content analysis to determine whether they share the same understanding of sustainable forest management.

The EU’s agriculture ministers have welcomed the publication of a new EU forest strategy for 2030. In conclusions adopted during today’s agriculture and fisheries meeting, ministers recognised the need for forests to contribute more to the European Green Deal and global targets such as the 2030 Agenda.

The main driver of deforestation and forest degradation is the expansion of agricultural land, which is linked to the production of commodities we import such as soy, beef, palm oil, wood, cocoa and coffee. As a major economy and consumer of these commodities linked to deforestation and forest degradation, the EU is partly responsible for this problem — and it wants to answer the strong call of European citizens to lead the way to solve it.

The European Green Deal resets the Commission’s commitment to tackling climate and environmental challenges, that is this generation’s defining task and it supports a farreaching environmental policy agenda with an overarching nature. It is our duty to think about the younger generations and the type of world they will inherit over the coming decades.

The new EU Soil Strategy for 2030 will promote the protection, restoration and sustainable use of soils. Deforestation and forest degradation are central drivers of global warming and biodiversity loss. The new Deforestation Regulation will guarantee that products placed on the EU market do not contribute to global deforestation and forest degradation, it will also reduce carbon emissions, and address illegal activities harming forests.

Under the European Green Deal, the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 commits to planting at least 3 billion additional trees in the EU by 2030 in full respect of ecological principles.