It is disheartening that the EU has succumbed to the pressure of certain industry players and the US to prolong the implementation of the EUDR. This decision opens the door for deforested industries to continue their destructive practices for another year. It appears that the opportunity to prevent this extension has been missed. The pressing question now is, what steps can we take next?
1. Our advocacy efforts must persist to prevent the reopening of the EUDR for renegotiation. There's a genuine concern that certain lobbyist entities and countries are pushing for the EU to reconsider the EUDR, potentially diluting its current content or causing further delays. The implications of such a renegotiation could be severe, and we must continue our efforts to prevent it.
2. Documenting the preparedness of affected countries and small-scale farmers for the EUDR's implementation is crucial. While countries may be ready, assessing and documenting them is still prudent. If there are capacity gaps, we can consider initiatives such as training programs, financial support, and knowledge-sharing platforms to help them bridge them.
3. We also need to keep the momentum by creating awareness among small-scale farmers about the EUDR.
NB: One year seems long, but it is just around the corner, and we should not give room for the lobbyists to come back in a year to give the same excuse of counties and small-scale farmers not being ready.
I am always available for further deliberation.
Antonie FountainJulia Christian
Integrated Water Resources Management(IWRM); Climate change vulnerability and adaptation: Disaster Risk Reduction: Evaluation and Research.
1moThe MoU between the Water Research Commission (WRC) and the University of Mpumalanga was indeed a critical milestone for the water sector in Mpumalanga. As a Catchment Management Agency, the Inkomati-Usuthu CMA (IUCMA), stands to benefit from this collaboration in many ways. Water quality in the Catchment is impacted greatly by various activities including Wastewater Treatment Works, mining activities, agricultural operations amongst many. Water availability on the other hand is also facing various challenges including over abstraction, unauthorised use and climate change impacts that result in the drying of rivers and that of dams. We are faced with too little, too much and too polluted! Solid waste dumping into our rivers is becoming a serious threat to the resource. The issue of illegal sand mining adds another strain to the already impacted resource.