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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
The EU’s flagship Nature Restoration Law provides a vital opportunity to fill the nature gap in the European Green Deal. Failure to recognise the importance of nature at this moment directly threatens our ability to tackle the climate crisis. Put simply: Both crises have to be addressed together, writes a group of business leaders.
The EU’s new deforestation law was hailed as watershed in the fight to protect the world’s forests. So why is it provoking such a fierce backlash in Indonesia and Malaysia? In the wake of a high-level meeting in Brussels last week, Giorgio Budi Indrarto charts what went wrong, and how to rectify it.
Ahead of a meeting of forest directors on 16 May, hosted by the Swedish EU Council Presidency, campaigners have launched an appeal to implement an immediate logging moratorium in all forests with identified conservation values, including those in the North.
Yet any move to curtail intensive clearcutting will inevitably face staunch resistance from some EU members.
The EU's revised Renewable Energy Directive strengthens the sustainability criteria for biomass heat and power, but the compromise text means it might only lead to limited improvements in the short term, argue Gemma Toop and Michèle Koper.
As final negotiations on the Renewable Energy Directive are approaching, the risk is that EU policymakers will continue to treat forest wood burning as “zero-carbon” renewable energy and reward it with billions in subsidies, writes Mary S. Booth.
Sweden is largely covered by forests, so it's tempting to think that nature is thriving. However, Swedish forest ecosystems are suffering, write Gustaf Lind and Johanna Sandahl.
There must be specific measures ensuring a just transition for smallholders towards sustainable, deforestation-free products that respect their rights and does not saddle them with extra burdens, write conservation activists.
The EU’s proposed Forest Monitoring Law is just one of a raft of measures that could help avert catastrophic forest fires, writes professor Sten B. Nilsson.
By recognising the need for greater protection for Indigenous Peoples and forest defenders, the European Parliament’s environment committee has added a crucial missing jigsaw piece to the draft regulation on deforestation-free products - now it's up to member states to follow through, writes Nicole Polsterer.
The role of farmers and foresters contributing to carbon farming is crucial if Europe wants to reach the objective of climate neutrality. To encourage them, a robust certification system is essential, writes Adeline Favrel.
A key EU regulation may help fight the climate crisis in the decisive battleground of tropical deforestation. But it needs serious improvement, writes Marcio Astrini.
EU action on tackling deforestation is urgently needed, as rising demand for commodities is exacerbating pressure on land worldwide. To have an impact on deforestation rates, the EU cannot act alone nor focus exclusively on cleaning its own supply chains.
Deforestation is happening at a rapid pace and threatening food security everywhere. With the G7 Summit Meeting in June approaching, leaders are responsible for tackling deforestation as a major driver of climate change, writes Ani Dasgupta.
