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âWe must take the responsibility to act at home,â EU Vice President Frans Timmermans said.
If approved by EU member states and the European Parliament, the Commissionâs proposal would force companies and producers to give assurances that products are âdeforestation-free.â
Deforestation in South America, Africa and Asia is driven mainly by agricultural expansion. The key commodities the EU is targeting are soy, beef, palm oil, wood, cocoa and coffee.
To compel company compliance, businesses would need to collect geographical coordinates from where the commodities were grown and make sure they did not impact deforestation. They would also need to perform due diligence to make sure everything meets EU standards.
The EU hopes that with the scheme it can save some 3.2 billion euros ($3.6 billion) annually in carbon emissions.
âOur deforestation regulation answers (the) citizensâ call to minimize the European contribution to deforestation and to promote sustainable consumption,â Timmermans said.
âIt ensures that we only import these products if we can ascertain that they are deforestation-free and produced legally,â he said.
At COP26, over 100 nations representing more than 85% of the worldâs forests pledged to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030. Among them were several countries with massive forests, including Brazil, China, Colombia, Congo, Indonesia, Russia and the United States.
Environmental groups cautiously welcomed the plan, even though they said the proposals still contained far too many loopholes.
âFor the first time there is a glimmer of hope that the EU â one of the worldâs biggest markets â could curb its destructive impact on the worldâs forests,â Greenpeace campaigner Sini Eräjää said .
âEU governments and the European Parliament must tighten up the law so people can be sure that whatâs in their shopping basket isnât linked to the destruction of nature,â Eräjää added.
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