Author: Isabel Clarke - CircuLaw
The EU Deforestation Regulation and the Supply Chain
CircuLaw White Paper
Forest and woodlands are vital to the stability of the planet due to their ability to capture and store carbon dioxide, soaking up roughly thirty percent of global emissions. Nonetheless, according to the United Nations Environmental Programme, the world continues to lose 10 million hectares of forests, equating
to an area larger than Portugal, every year. As the loss of biodiversity continues to increase globally, the Council and the European Parliament have provisionally agreed to a deal to minimise the EU’s contribution to deforestation and forest degradation (hereinafter Deforestation Regulation). Presently, deforestation
is being driven by the expansion of agricultural land and the production of commodities and products for the global population. According to the United Nations, in the last thirty years alone, the world has lost 420 million hectares of forest, an area comparable and larger than the EU, due to deforestation. As the EU is a large consumer and trader of commodities that heavily contribute to deforestation and forest degradation, the proposal is intended to reduce the EU’s contribution to the problem and to shift production means towards a more sustainable system. Overall, the aim of the proposed Regulation is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and global biodiversity loss generally while still stimulating the production of deforestation free commodities and products within the EU single market.
To expand on the specifics held within the proposed Deforestation Regulation, this white paper will: 1) highlight the wider connected EU strategies; 2) provide an explanation of the legal implications of the Regulation; 3) exploring the provisional implementation timeline for the Regulation; and 4) identifying areas of Municipal significance.
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