Forests

NewsAdvocacy Lab Content
Climate change 06-06-2024

Forest risk management needs better data monitoring, say experts

Est. 5min

Natural disasters prompted by climate change are putting pressure on EU forest resilience, but the bloc’s Forest Monitoring Law could help forest owners, researchers, policymakers and civil society address these risks.

Climate change 31-05-2024

Healthy trees play a crucial role in mitigating climate change

Forests, trees and wood have always played a critical role for humanity and our future is intertwined with theirs. The coming years will reveal whether we manage to restore a most sustainable relationship with them and secure healthy forests for future generations.

A roadmap to EU forest resilience – Tackling climate change and forest disturbances

Forests play a vital role in climate change adaptation and mitigation. They act as carbon sinks and preserve biodiversity and ecosystems. Yet, climate change is increasingly causing extreme weather conditions, and damages such as wildfires, windstorms and floods are harming forests all over Europe.

Agrifood 30-04-2024

Austria’s farming, economy ministers urge von der Leyen to delay EU anti-deforestation law

Est. 3min

Austria's agriculture and economy ministers have urged European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to postpone the implementation of the new EU anti-deforestation regulation (EUDR), scheduled for January 2025, according to a letter seen by Euractiv.

Climate change 24-04-2024

Macron’s billion trees target leaves scientists and NGOs sceptical

Est. 5min

French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to plant one billion trees in France over 10 years, but environmentalists and researchers question whether this programme will achieve its stated biodiversity and climate objectives.

Eucalyptus: Portugal’s sustainability dilemma

Est. 4min

Portuguese eucalyptus forests are helping to replace plastics, but as the country's climate warms up, this highly flammable tree is a growing threat to people and biodiversity.

Climate change 02-02-2024

The case for separate targets in the EU’s 2040 climate strategy

Est. 5min

As EU policymakers prepare to announce the specifics of the 2040 target, there is a clear risk the EU’s climate ambition could be undermined through a poor design, write Eadbhard Pernot, Mark Preston Aragones and Fabiola De Simone.

Biodiversity 08-01-2024

Europe’s rivers at risk due to hydropower plants, human interference

Est. 5min

While only around a third of the world’s rivers “remain free flowing,” according to campaign group International Rivers, the situation is worse in Europe, where the number of ‘wild’ or free-flowing rivers can likely be counted on both hands.

Agrifood 21-12-2023

French biodiversity minister assesses 2023 progress on key measures

Est. 5min

In an interview with Euractiv, French Secretary of State for Biodiversity Sarah El Haïry reflected on the EU's progress this year, following the COP28 summit in Dubai, the adoption of France's national biodiversity strategy as well as the EU's pesticides directive and nature restoration law.

Climate change 28-11-2023

The path for permanent carbon removals in the EU must now be set

Est. 6min

While rapid and significant reductions in emissions must be the cornerstone of climate action, permanent carbon removals will have a role to play to achieve zero-net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, argue Dr. Felix Schenuit and Martin Birk Rasmussen.

Climate change 27-11-2023

Ireland works to restore decimated woodlands

Est. 6min

Ireland has seen a dramatic decrease in its woodlands, from trees covering 80% of the country 6,000 years ago to 1% by the end of the 19th century and around 11% today, according to Ireland's Agriculture and Food Development Authority.

Climate change 23-11-2023

The draft regulation on packaging waste stokes fears about impact on forests

Est. 5min

In the run-up to this week's vote in the European Parliament on the draft packaging waste regulation, a Euractiv event looked at the impact of packaging on Europe's forests. Here are the key points.

EU tables new regulation to track climate threats to forests using satellites

Est. 3min

The European Commission on Wednesday (22 November) proposed a forest monitoring system that will use satellites to track threats such as climate change-fuelled wildfires and illegal logging.

Climate change 19-11-2023

Restoring forests can boost global carbon capture, major study finds

Est. 4min

Restoring and connecting forests through community-driven action can capture up to 226 gigatonnes of carbon, roughly equivalent to a third of what humans have released since the beginning of the industrial era, according to new research.

Agrifood 15-11-2023

EU urged to do more to build carbon removals market

Est. 6min

Businesses remain sceptical that a new EU certification framework for carbon removals is sufficient to generate a self-sustaining market, arguing Brussels must do more to make removing carbon from the atmosphere financially attractive.

Climate change 13-11-2023

UK sued for counting wood burning with carbon capture as ‘negative emissions’

Est. 6min

Environmental groups are taking the UK government to court on Monday (13 November) over plans to spend billions on Biomass with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS), a technology aimed at removing CO2 from the atmosphere that is also being promoted by the European Union.

Climate change 10-11-2023

Forests, nature and carbon removals in Europe

Est. 1min

The European Union does not only want to slash its greenhouse gas emissions but also boost the amount of carbon it removes from the atmosphere in order to prevent drastic global warming – and healthy forests have a big part to play in this.

Indonesia, Malaysia seek more time to implement EU anti-deforestation law

Est. 8min

While big producers of palm oil, cocoa or coffee are ready to implement EU’s newly adopted anti-deforestation regulation, governments in Malaysia and Indonesia say more time is needed for small producers to meet the EU's bureaucratic requirements.

Politics 03-11-2023

Romania’s recovery plan to finance pasture afforestation

Est. 2min

Pastureland has been included in the category of agricultural land eligible for afforestation using funds from the recovery plan, according to an emergency decree issued by the Romanian government on Thursday, which “rectifies” parliament’s earlier removal of pastureland as an eligible category.

‘Carbon gamble’? EU lawmakers back CO2 removal certification scheme

Est. 4min

European Parliament lawmakers voted Tuesday (24 October) to uphold plans to certify carbon removals in the European Union, paving the way for new technologies to suck CO2 directly from the atmosphere.

‘Dear Ursula’: EU Commission chief invited to visit Nordic forests ahead of election year

Est. 4min

In a show of diplomatic strength, the prime ministers of Sweden and Finland have invited EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen to visit their country's forests and refrain from overburdening the sector ahead of an election year.

Why an EU nature restoration law is badly needed

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Focusing restoration efforts on degraded forests can deliver accelerated climate and biodiversity benefits because these areas retain elements of their natural ecology and can recover quickly, write Janice Weatherley-Singh and Tim Rayden.

How the EU can prevent its deforestation-free law from being a half measure

Est. 4min

As the EU shifts sustainable agricultural practices for the protection of nature and biodiversity, it ought to still look out for the small-scale producers and their livelihoods, writes Jonathan Mockshell.  

Politics 13-09-2023

Romanian NGOs urge EU Commission to enforce moratorium to protect local forests

Est. 3min

Three environmental NGOs have urged the EU Commission to enforce a memorandum on Romania's illegal logging in an open letter addressed to Commissioner Sinkevičius.