Status: 11/17/2021 3:57 p.m.
Whether chocolate, leather handbags or furniture – trees are cut down for the production of numerous goods, many in the rainforest. The EU Commission wants to ban the import of these goods in the future and also regulate waste exports more strictly.
The EU Commission no longer wants to allow goods such as soy and palm oil from plantations on newly cleared rainforest areas into the European Union. Overall, imports of goods for the production of which forests have been destroyed could soon be banned in the EU. At the same time, the export of waste from EU member states to poorer countries should be made more difficult.
The responsible EU commissioners Virginijus Sinkevicius and Frans Timmermans presented corresponding legislative proposals.
Where do the goods come from?
The law on the protection of forests is specifically about: In future, traders and producers will have to check, under the supervision of EU countries, whether goods come from recently deforested areas that have been deforested since the beginning of 2021. This initially applies to imports of beef, wood, soy, palm oil, coffee and cocoa as well as a list of goods that are produced from them – for example chocolate or leather.
The list could be expanded later, so Sinkevicius. The rule includes both illegal and legal deforestation and is intended to apply to EU countries and third countries. According to the commission, Brazil and Indonesia, among others, are likely to be affected.
The proposal comes just a few days after the World Climate Conference in Glasgow, where more than 100 countries pledged to stop deforestation by 2030, including Germany. Timmermans, who is responsible for climate protection, has now stated that the regulation should “minimize the European contribution to deforestation and stimulate sustainable consumption”.
According to the Commission, around 420 million hectares of forest were destroyed between 1990 and 2020 – an area larger than the EU. This should now be put to an end.
Corn and rubber should also be part of it
The Green MEP Anna Cavazzini called the proposal to protect the forests “overdue”. According to a study by WWF, the EU is the second largest driver of deforestation through trade after China. “Europe has an impact on forests worldwide and has to take responsibility for it,” said Christoph Heinrich from WWF. The law is a milestone for this. Activists from WWF and Global Witness called for other products for which forests are being cleared, such as corn and rubber, to be included in the list of goods.
33 million tons of waste abroad
At the same time, the export of waste from EU member states to poorer countries should be made more difficult. “The aim is for the EU to take on greater responsibility for the waste it produces,” said Sinkevicius. That is why the EU Commission has proposed stricter rules for waste exports.
Last year around 33 million tons of waste were sent abroad from the Union, around half of it to countries with lower recycling standards, said Sinkevicius. With the new rule, garbage can only be exported to countries outside the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) if the destination country explicitly agrees and can prove that the garbage is being processed in an environmentally friendly manner. The majority of the 38 OECD countries are considered to be rich industrialized countries.
Fight against pollution
The initiative is part of the Brussels fight against pollution. Materials like plastic, textiles and metals should be reused and recycled instead of being thrown away. “Just think of all the plastic waste that comes with poor waste management,” said Sinkevicius.
The two legislative proposals are the most ambitious in the world in the field, said Sinkevicius. They will now be presented to the European Parliament and the EU member states. You can still make changes before they are adopted – but that could take several years.