Fern NGO

Vietnam is the world's second largest coffee producer after Brazil. 95% of Vietnam’s coffee farmers are smallholders, most of whom are in the Central Highlands region. Tropenbos Vietnam's briefing outlines how the EU Deforestation Regulation (#EUDR) may impact small producers. It suggests ways forward to support small producers with meeting traceability requirements and legality criteria, including when it comes to land tenure. European Coffee Federation (ECF); Global Coffee Platform; International Coffee Organization; VOCAL (Voice of Organisations in Coffee Alliance); Georgina Barker; Antoine Haouchine; Hannelore Beerlandt

Is #Europe giving up on #forests? ❗ As we barrel past the 1.5°C target, #EU climate discussions increasingly focus on how to remove carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere. But the question of how we do this is polarising. Climate scientists warn that relying on #Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) technologies, especially carbon capture and storage, could actually increase social and environmental risks.    👉 Despite this, the latest report from the scientific advisory board on climate change, established by the EU Climate Law, recommends scaling up Carbon Capture and Storage technologies, even though projects have largely failed to deliver on their promises and come at a huge financial cost.  ⚖️ A better solution would be to redirect funds to solutions that have proven to be resilient and effective, such as forest protection and restoration. Focusing on expensive unproven technologies, means gambling with our future.  🌲It is time to focus on undoing overexploitation and #degradation across Europe, it is cheaper, more effective and has more co-benefits than the CDR technologies presently capturing attention.  Read more here 👉 https://lnkd.in/ez2_gpwt  IPCC

“The time has come for #coffee behemoths to stop pouring money down the drain on misguided and failing lobbyists, dismiss them for incompetence, and funnel the funds toward complying with the [#EUDR],” writes Etelle Higonnet, Founder of Coffee Watch, in an op-ed for Mongabay. Major coffee companies and industry groups attempted to weaken the European Union Deforestation Regulation (#EUDR) by delaying its implementation until 2025, despite goals of curbing #deforestation and #HumanRights abuses caused by the #EU’s coffee imports. Certification schemes alone cannot guarantee legal, deforestation-free coffee, nor a living income. EUDR compliance creates a level playing field. Despite industry complaints, compliance costs are minimal, and coffee #SupplyChains are simpler than other regulated commodities. Companies must take responsibility without shifting the burden onto vulnerable farmers and workers, for whom access to the EU market is often an important source of income. Read more here 👉 https://lnkd.in/ef5hNe3Y Fairtrade Deutschland; Rainforest Alliance; Ecom Express Limited; illycaffè; Lavazza Group; Nestlé; Starbucks; Nestle; Enveritas; European Coffee Federation (ECF); Global Coffee Platform; International Coffee Organization; VOCAL (Voice of Organisations in Coffee Alliance); Mariana Broitman; Fairfood; Abdulahi Aliyu; Rikolto; Bart Van Besien; Oxfam Fair Trade; Evelyn Bahn; INKOTA-netzwerk; Anne-Sofie Sadolin Henningsen; Forests of the World; Antonie C. Fountain; Carla Hoinkes; Georgina Barker; Antoine Haouchine; Hannelore Beerlandt

🔴 Last week, the European Scientific Board on Climate Change (#ESABCC) released a report analysing the current state of #CO2 sequestration in the EU, along with policy recommendations on ways to scale up Carbon dioxide removal (#CDR). 🔎 The report promotes #CCS-based CDR technologies such as #bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (#BECCS) and direct air carbon capture and storage (#DACCS). However, these recommendations risk legitimizing dangerous and expensive technologies and distracting European Union policymakers from real, effective climate action. 📢 The EU must focus on solutions that prioritize people, protect & restore ecosystems, and deliver real emission reductions! 👉 Read more in Lili Fuhr and Kelsey Perlman’s reactions (links in the first comment) #RealZero Fern NGO Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy SOMO Oil Change International Corporate Europe Observatory Corporate Accountability Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland e.V. (BUND Bundesgeschäftsstelle) Friends of the Earth Europe ClientEarth

🆕 This month’s issue of #ForestWatch is out! 🌱 The European Commission’s Vision for #Agriculture and #Food reinforces polarisation by focusing excessively on production and ignoring consumption. It fails to pursue many of the proposals agreed by the multi-stakeholder Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture, writes Julia Christian, specifically recommendations about subjects affecting consumers, unhealthy diets or unaffordable food. 🔎 The European Parliament’s draft report significantly weakens the proposed Forest Monitoring Law. Robust and usable data is essential for effective forest monitoring, says Kelsey Perlman. The law’s ability to provide good information about #forests is dramatically reduced without key provisions related to Earth Observation, data precision and transparency. 🪵 The development of large-scale heat pumps is providing super-efficient, domestic and decarbonised heat generation for district heating networks across #Europe. However, increases in #biomass use are still planned, supported by the EU’s renewable energy “technology neutral” approach to co-funding biomass projects, notes Martin Pigeon. This approach will protect neither forests nor #health. 🇮🇩 Indonesian CSO Pusaka, focused on land conflicts and deforestation impacts on Indigenous communities in the last remaining intact rainforest of #Indonesia in Papua, joined scores of Indonesian CSOs to call on the #EU to use its Regulation on #Deforestation-free Products (#EUDR) and other trade instruments to signal concern over what is happening in Papua. Read more and sign up 👇   https://lnkd.in/eA2B699c     🔗 Links to the articles in the first comment!

New study: using wood for insulation rather than fuel (wood pellets) to generate the same heat uses 9 times less wood, releases 21 times less greenhouse gases, and delivers massive health benefits. But it costs more... Wood is precious, beautiful, and has multiple uses, but not all are equally beneficial. And there is only a limited amount available. Despite forests being under increasing strain, wood demand is increasing, for energy, materials, chemicals and more. The supply gap is already huge, meaning there’s not enough wood for all industries planning to use it. How to get the priorities right? To help answering this question, we commissioned scientists from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences to evaluate the respective benefits of using wood for insulation and fuel. The results are clear: over a period of 35 years, using wood for #insulation rather than fuel (wood #pellets) offers comparable heat benefits while using nine times less #wood, and releasing 21 times less greenhouse gases. The #health benefits are also massive. Incredibly, due to current pricing conditions, installing this wood as insulation is still 16% more expensive than burning it, even after 70 years of use. Redirecting #bioenergy subsidies to support EU residents to insulate their homes rather than reward wood burning would massively reduce wood use, air pollution and greenhouse gases emissions, while offering comparable heat benefits. https://lnkd.in/dYvA6saa Fern NGO Ragnar Jonsson Maximilian Schulte European Environmental Bureau

🌲 #Wood demand is increasing - for energy, materials, chemicals and more - despite #forests being under increasing strain. The supply gap is already huge: there is not enough wood for all industries planning to use it.  Fern commissioned scientists Ragnar Jonsson and Maximilian Schulte from SLU - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences to evaluate the respective benefits of using wood for #insulation and #fuel as wood pellets. The results are clear. Over a 35-year period, using wood for insulation rather than fuel:  ➡️ uses nine times less wood and releases 21 times less greenhouse gases ➡️ improves air quality, lowers fire risk and reduces the use of toxic synthetic petrol-based insulation  ➡️ remains 16% more expensive than burning wood, even after 70 years of use Redirecting #bioenergy subsidies to support #EU residents to insulate their homes would reduce air pollution and #GHG emissions, while offering comparable heat benefits. Read the study here: https://lnkd.in/ewN9iWKp

The European Commission has released its new #EU Vision on #Food and #Agriculture. It overwhelmingly focuses on what is happening on #farms and ignores almost every other part of the food sector. It also largely overlooks crucial players including the large food companies who shape every aspect of the agri-food sector, as well as consumers who are struggling to access healthy food. “European diets are fundamentally shaped by an industrial food system that makes it hard for people to choose healthy, sustainable food,” responds Julia Christian, our Forests and Agriculture Policy Adviser. ❝Instead of supporting measures to encourage consumers to eat more vegetables, pulses and fruits—such as a dedicated EU Plant-Based Action Plan—the Commission has focused almost exclusively on agricultural production, missing the bigger picture of food system reform.❞ Read more here 👉 https://lnkd.in/e2RaeD3s

The #EU needs more equitable and fair #trade partnerships, based on solidarity and cooperation. Not deals that rest on exploitation, extractivism and resource grabs.  🇮🇩 As negotiators rush to finalise the #Indonesia-EU free-trade agreement (#CEPA), 120+ civil society organisations and trade unions have signed a joint statement, warning that the agreement threatens the #environment, the #climate, and the rights of women, Indigenous Peoples, workers, small farmers and fisherfolk.  What’s at stake? ⚠️ Irresponsible #mining driven by rising demand for #CriticalRawMaterials - leading to over-exploitation, extraction of natural resources and devastating environmental and social consequences  ⚠️ Lack of added-value, undermining Indonesia’s industrial development   ⚠️ Corporate protections for the supply of #CriticalMinerals in Indonesia, undermining Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities’ rights and welfare   We call on the European Union and the Indonesian government to stop the negotiations, and shift towards a truly equitable partnership, one that does not force Indonesia to liberalise its raw material exports or give up sovereignty to set prices. The EU must show willingness to support Indonesia to achieve sustainable economic development.  Read our full joint statement 👉 https://lnkd.in/eRVJbz_h Kathleen Van Brempt Marina Mesure Catarina Vieira Bart Groothuis Bernd Lange Maroš Šefčovič Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe Climate Action Network Southeast Asia (CANSEA) EU Raw Materials Coalition European Coordination Via Campesina Friends of the Earth Europe Publish What You Pay Regions Refocus SIRGE Coalition Transnational Institute

📢  Scientists urge #EU to preserve satellite monitoring in new forest law    Experts in #Earth Observation have written to the European Union to highlight the importance of remote sensing in monitoring European #forests, such as the EU’s new Forest Monitoring Law (FML).    Signed by 78 experts, the open letter outlines recent advances in #satellite monitoring and explains how they can be used in conjunction with ground-gathered data to deliver timely and comparable information across #Europe. Such data would help the EU deliver on plans to adapt to #ClimateChange, advance the #bioeconomy, and simplify reporting obligations.    The signatories are concerned about how the proposed FML has been received by the Council of the European Union and European Parliament, and fear that both parties may use recent articles challenging the accuracy of remote sensing as an excuse to scrap or limit its use in the FML. They explain that Earth Observation is always meant to be supplemented with ground-truthing.    Although some FML critics argue that it increases bureaucracy, harmonised data actually reduces reporting obligations. Rather than increasing red tape, the FML reduces it while meeting agreed targets and aims. Fern is glad to see that experts are actively challenging the spread of false concerns.     ❝We are ready to collaborate with policymakers, forest managers, and other stakeholders to develop and implement an efficient and integrated forest monitoring framework.❞    Read the full letter here: https://lnkd.in/eGgt97kP