A joint NGO evaluation of the European Union Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan, the review of the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), and the EU’s commitment to halt deforestation and restore degraded forests by 2020.
This briefing is the contribution of Global Witness and other Non-Governmental Organisations to the policy debate related to the evaluation of the European Union Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan, the review of the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), and the EU’s commitment to halt deforestation and restore degraded forests by 2020.
Recommendations to the EU
- Demonstrate strong political commitment to the effective implementation of the VPAs and strengthen their impact, including through addressing governance, integrity and sustainability challenges.
- Ensure the EUTR is strictly and effectively enforced, its product scope extended to all wood-based products, and green timber procurement policies are increasingly taken up.
- Strengthen and encourage the development of rules governing the international timber trade and improve overall policy coherence.
- Adopt specific measures to address conflict timber, to stem the flow of conversion timber, and to shift investment away from forest-damaging activities as part of the FLEGT Action Plan implementation.
- Adopt additional measures to support the protection and restoration of forest ecosystems around the world and eliminate deforestation from the EU’s supply chains, as part of a new EU Action Plan on deforestation and forest degradation.
Download the briefing for more detail on the policy recommendations
You might also like
-
Campaign Forests
Irresponsible businesses including financial institutions are driving the destruction of climate-critical tropical forests, and the communities and biodiversity that rely on them.
-
Press release EU review finds European governments failing in fight against multi-billion euro trade in illegal wood
-
Press Release Global Witness welcomes new EU law banning illegal timber
The European Parliament has introduced new legislation banning the trade of illegally sourced timber and timber products in EU member states. Campaign group Global Witness warmly welcomed the reform as an important step towards cracking down on illegal logging around the world.