Forests Archives

After a destructive summer in southern Europe, European experts and MEPs are calling on the European Commission to take steps to increase forest fire prevention as current measures are proving inadequate.

While the Greek government has been quick to blame global warming for the summer's devastating wildfires, some experts argue that poor planning is at least as much to blame.

The European Parliament’s agriculture committee proposed to go beyond the scope of the recently unveiled EU framework for certifying carbon sinks in farming by providing for the remuneration and trading of negative emission certificates.

Hundreds of Greek firefighters were battling a huge blaze on Monday (28 August) that has killed at least 20 people over the past 10 days, Europe's deadliest wildfire so far this summer as record-setting heatwaves unleash blazes across the continent.

Eight Amazon nations agreed to a list of unified environmental policies and measures to bolster regional cooperation at a major rainforest summit in Brazil on Tuesday (8 August), but failed to agree on a common goal for ending deforestation.

In this extremely hot summer, wildfires are raging in many countries across our continent, especially in the south. We usually blame them on climate change and extreme weather.

EU negotiators met on Wednesday (19 July) to hash out the details of the EU’s Nature Restoration Law, following a nail-biting victory for the proposal in the European Parliament last week.

For the sake of future generations, EU lawmakers must lay politics aside and support the Nature Restoration Law in the European Parliament this week, write a group of climate activists from across Europe.

The European Union’s nature restoration law may not be perfect and will touch the lives of millions of people, including farmers, fishers and foresters. But we should not let this become an excuse to give up and kill it next week, as some are suggesting, writes Paul Polman.

The EU’s widely contested Nature Restoration Law has barely survived the many attempts to take it down. An alternative vision for forestry, provided by the EU's proposed legislation, is what can save Europe’s forests from destruction, writes Marcus Walsh. 

The scented stands of pine trees stretching along France's southwestern Atlantic coastline were reduced to charred stumps and stacks of blackened timber by the massive fires that ravaged the tourist hotspots of the Landes forest last summer.

The South American trade bloc Mercosur opens a two-day summit Monday (3 July) with a deal with the European Union on the agenda, but few expect leaders to reach consensus on how to fulfill EU demands on environmental protections.

Europe’s forests must be restored to strengthen them against new threats brought about by climate change, but communities, local knowledge and foresters need to be at the heart of this to make it a success.

Ireland needs to restore its nature and address climate change to tackle the wildlife loss, water stress and rising sea temperatures it is currently experiencing, Ireland’s climate and environment minister Eamon Ryan told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.

Europe’s law to restore nature is in the balance, following a vote in the European Parliament's environment committee on Tuesday (27 June) that opened up the possibility for it to be definitively rejected by lawmakers during a whole Parliament vote in July.

Europe’s forests are threatened by the growing frequency of pests, fires and droughts caused by climate change, raising concerns as to whether they are resilient enough to continue sustaining biodiversity as well as human activity.

In this special report, EURACTIV looks at how the EU’s proposed Nature Restoration Law can help strengthen Europe’s forests and make them more resilient to shocks caused by climate change – including pests, fires and drought.

Developing countries will be the first victims of the dangers of climate change, facing a threat that affects the rest of the world, too. Political will is the most important weapon in our arsenal to tackle this issue, writes Alain-Richard Donwahi. 

The European Union's powerful lending arm, the European Investment Bank, expects to back its first 'debt-for-nature' swap this year as it bolsters efforts to stem biodiversity loss.

EU environment ministers approved their position on a historic law to restore Europe's ecosystems on Tuesday (20 June), marking a turning point for the embattled proposal.

European Union countries' environment ministers will attempt on Tuesday (20 June) to agree a common position on the bloc's landmark law to restore deteriorating natural habitats, having watered down the proposal after pushback from some governments.

Portugal was the second-worst affected country in Europe by forest fires in 2022, with 153 wildfires burning an area of 949 km2, according to a report published by the European Environment Agency on Wednesday.

The EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement is showing signs of aging. Re-opening it is the only way to ensure a better solution that benefits both sides as well as the environment, write Saskia Bricmont, Yannick Jadot, and Thomas Waitz.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday (12 June) said the EU hopes to finalise its long-delayed trade deal with the Mercosur bloc of South American countries by the end of the year at the latest.