Activities of Dominique BILDE related to 2021/0366(COD)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the making available on the Union market as well as export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation and repealing Regulation (EU) No 995/2010
Amendments (36)
Amendment 2 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) Forests provide a broad variety of environmental, economic and social benefits, including timber and non-wood forest products and environmental services essential for humankind, as they harbour most of the Earth’s terrestrial biodiversity. They maintain ecosystem functions, help protect the climate system, provide clean air and play a vital role for the purification of waters and soils as well as for water retention. In addition, forests provide subsistence and income to about one third of the world’s population and their destruction has serious consequences for the livelihoods of the most vulnerable people, including indigenous peoples and local communities who heavily depend on forest ecosystems and income from the timber and forest-related economy.18 Furthermore, deforestation and forest degradation reduce essential carbon sinks and increase the likelihood of new diseases spreading from animals to humans, in addition to the consequences of climate change on the migration of species to more favourable climate areas. _________________ 18 Commission Communication of 27 July 2019 ’Stepping up EU Action to Protect and Restore the World’s Forests’, COM(2019) 352 final.
Amendment 3 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) Deforestation and forest degradation are taking place at an alarming rate., particularly in Africa, which is the only continent where deforestation has accelerated in the last decade, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020. 1 a The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that 420 million hectares of forest – about 10% of the world’s remaining forests and an area larger than the European Union – have been lost worldwide between 1990 and 202019. Deforestation and forest degradation are, in turn, important drivers of global warming and biodiversity loss — the two most important environmental challenges of our time. Yet every year the world continues to lose 10 million hectares of forest. _________________ 1 a ‘La pression sur les forêts en Afrique est toujours très forte’, Commodafrica, 12 May 2020. 19 FAO, Global Forest Resource Assessment 2020, p. XII, https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/c a9825en.
Amendment 5 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2 a (new)
Recital 2 a (new)
(2a) According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, Africa recorded the highest annual rate of net forest loss between 2010 and 2020, some 3.9 million hectares.
Amendment 6 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2 b (new)
Recital 2 b (new)
(2b) However, at the global level the rate of net forest loss is falling, in particular as a result of reforestation efforts in some countries and the fight against deforestation.
Amendment 9 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 3
Recital 3
(3) Deforestation and forest degradation contribute to the global climate crisis and biodiversity loss in multiple ways. Most importantly, they increase greenhouse gas emissions through associated forest fires, permanently removing carbon sink capacities, decreasing climate change resilience of the affected area and substantially reducing its biodiversity. Deforestation alone accounts for 11 % of greenhouse gas emissions20. _________________ 20 IPCC, Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems, https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/.
Amendment 11 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4 a (new)
Recital 4 a (new)
(4a) As the Commission stressed in its publication ‘Stepping up EU Action to Protect and Restore the World’s Forests’ (COM/2019/352 final)1 b, ‘Biological diversity underpins the productive value of forests and forest-ecosystem services, and is therefore essential to counteract forest degradation’. _________________ 1 b https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal- content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52019 DC0352
Amendment 12 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) Biodiversity is essential for the resilience of ecosystems and their services both on local and global level. Over half of the global gross domestic product depends on nature and the services it provides. Three major economic sectors – construction, agriculture, food and drink – all highly depend on nature. Biodiversity loss threatens sustainable water cycles, fishery resources and our food systems, putting our food security and nutrition at risk. More than 75% of global food crop types rely on animal pollination. Further, several industrial sectors rely on genetic diversity and ecosystem services as critical inputs for production, notably for medicines.
Amendment 15 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) Forests provide a broad variety of environmental, economic and social benefits, including timber and non-wood forest products and environmental services essential for humankind, as they harbour most of the Earth’s terrestrial biodiversity. They maintain ecosystem functions, help protect the climate system, provide clean air and play a vital role for the purification of waters and soils as well as for water retention. In addition, forests provide subsistence and income to about one third of the world’s population and their destruction has serious consequences for the livelihoods of the most vulnerable people, including indigenous peoples and local communities who heavily depend on forest ecosystems and income from the timber and forest-related economy18 . Furthermore, deforestation and forest degradation reduce essential carbon sinks and increase the likelihood of new diseases spreading from animals to humans, in addition to the consequences of climate change on the migration of species to more favourable climate areas. _________________ 18 Commission Communication of 27 July 2019 ’Stepping up EU Action to Protect and Restore the World’s Forests’, COM(2019) 352 final.
Amendment 16 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) Deforestation and forest degradation are taking place at an alarming rate., particularly in Africa, which is the only continent where deforestation has accelerated in the last decade, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020. 1 a The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that 420 million hectares of forest – about 10% of the world’s remaining forests and an area larger than the European Union – have been lost worldwide between 1990 and 202019 . Deforestation and forest degradation are, in turn, important drivers of global warming and biodiversity loss — the two most important environmental challenges of our time. Yet every year the world continues to lose 10 million hectares of forest. _________________ 1 a "La pression sur les forêts en Afrique est toujours très forte", Commodafrica, 12 May 2020 19 FAO, Global Forest Resource Assessment 2020, p. XII, https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/c a9825en.
Amendment 18 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2 a (new)
Recital 2 a (new)
(2a) According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Africa recorded the highest annual rate of net forest loss between 2010 and 2020, some 3.9 million hectares.
Amendment 19 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2 b (new)
Recital 2 b (new)
(2b) However, at the global level the rate of net forest loss is falling, in particular as a result of reforestation efforts in some countries and the fight against deforestation.
Amendment 22 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 3
Recital 3
(3) Deforestation and forest degradation contribute to the global climate crisis and biodiversity loss in multiple ways. Most importantly, they increase greenhouse gas emissions through associated forest fires, permanently removing carbon sink capacities, decreasing climate change resilience of the affected area and substantially reducing its biodiversity. Deforestation alone accounts for 11 % of greenhouse gas emissions20 . _________________ 20 IPCC, Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems, https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/.
Amendment 24 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4 a (new)
Recital 4 a (new)
(4a) As the Commission stressed in its publication ‘Stepping up EU Action to Protect and Restore the World’s Forests’ (COM/2019/352 final) 1 b, ‘Biological diversity underpins the productive value of forests and forest-ecosystem services, and is therefore essential to counteract forest degradation’. _________________ 1 b https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal- content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52019 DC0352
Amendment 25 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) Biodiversity is essential for the resilience of ecosystems and their services both on local and global level. Over half of the global gross domestic product depends on nature and the services it provides. Three major economic sectors – construction, agriculture, food and drink – all highly depend on nature. Biodiversity loss threatens sustainable water cycles, fishery resources and our food systems, putting our food security and nutrition at risk. More than 75% of global food crop types rely on animal pollination. Further, several industrial sectors rely on genetic diversity and ecosystem services as critical inputs for production, notably for medicines.
Amendment 27 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6 a (new)
Recital 6 a (new)
(6a) A balance must also be struck between the need to combat deforestation and the needs, particularly economic needs, of local populations, including by developing new forest-related activities that can reduce poverty and ensure development while contributing to the conservation of forest resources.
Amendment 30 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 7 a (new)
Recital 7 a (new)
(7a) The EU’s renewable energy targets could also contribute to a considerable increase in demand for wood, partly on account of the need for balsa wood to produce wind turbines.
Amendment 31 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8 a (new)
Recital 8 a (new)
(8a) The imposition of an export moratorium this year by Russia, the world’s largest exporter of logs, is likely to contribute to increasing demand from some foreign actors, notably China, for European timber resources. Chinese demand for French wood increased sevenfold between 2007 and 2019, leading to supply difficulties for French operators in this sector. It is therefore crucial for the European Union to preserve the Member States’ own timber resources.
Amendment 32 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8 b (new)
Recital 8 b (new)
(8b) According to the European Commission, ‘from 1990 to 2015, forest cover increased by an area the size of Greece, thanks to afforestation and reforestation programmes and natural regrowth.’ It is notable that ‘forests account for half of the nature protection areas of the Natura 2000 network’.
Amendment 36 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) The European Parliament highlighted that ongoing destruction of the world’s forests is linked, to a large extent and in certain countries, to the expansion of agricultural production, particularly commercial agriculture — in particular by converting forests to agricultural land dedicated to producing a number of high- demand products and commodities. The Parliament adopted on 22 October 2020 a resolution32 , in accordance with Article 225 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) requesting the Commission to submit, on the basis of Article 192(1) TFEU, a proposal for an “EU legal framework to halt and reverse EU-driven global deforestation”. _________________ 32 European Parliament resolution of 22 October 2020 with recommendations to the Commission on an EU legal framework to halt and reverse EU-driven global deforestation (2020/2006(INL) Available at https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/doc ument/TA-9-2020-0285_EN.html.
Amendment 38 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 11 a (new)
Recital 11 a (new)
(11a) The European Union must, in particular, rethink its trade policy, particularly in view of the disastrous impact the free trade agreement with Mercosur will have on deforestation.
Amendment 39 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) Agricultural expansion, particularly commercial agriculture, drives almost 90% of global deforestation, with more than half of forest loss due to conversion of forest into cropland, whereas livestock grazing is responsible for almost 40 percent of forest loss34 . _________________ 34 FAO new Global Remote Sensing Survey, 6 Nov. 2021 - FAO Remote Sensing Survey reveals tropical rainforests under pressure as agricultural expansion drives global deforestation.
Amendment 42 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14
Recital 14
(14) The Union imported and consumed one third of the globally traded agricultural products associated with deforestation between 1990 and 2008. Over that period, Union consumption was responsible for 10% of worldwide deforestation associated with the production of goods or services. Even if the relative share of EU consumption is decreasing, EU consumption is a disproportionally large driver of deforestation. The Union should therefore take action to minimise global deforestation and forest degradation driven by its consumption of certain commodities and products and thereby seek to reduce its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and global biodiversity loss as well as promote sustainable production and consumption patterns in the Union and globally. To have the greatest impact, Union policy should aim at influencing the global market, not only supply chains to the Union. Partnerships and efficient international cooperation with producer and consumer countries are fundamental in that respect. Preference for local European production and the promotion of short supply chains are two other fundamental pillars in the fight against deforestation.
Amendment 43 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14 a (new)
Recital 14 a (new)
(14a) In the context of the fight against deforestation, Member States must also preserve their resources, given the high demand from outside the European Union for the import of logs, which also causes difficulties for economic operators in the timber industry in some Member States such as France.
Amendment 48 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 17
Recital 17
(17) This Regulation should also respond to the 2021 Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use37 that recognises that “to meet our land use, climate, biodiversity and Sustainable Development Goals, both globally and nationally, will require transformative further action in the interconnected areas of sustainable production and consumption; infrastructure development; trade, finance and investment; and support for smallholders, family farming, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities”. The signatories also stressed in that Declaration that they will strengthen their shared efforts to facilitate trade and development policies, internationally and domestically, that promotes sustainable development, agricultural self-sufficiency in some developing and least developed countries, and sustainable commodity production and consumption, that work to countries’ mutual benefit, and that do not drive deforestation and land degradation. _________________ 37 https://ukcop26.org/glasgow-leaders- declaration-on-forests-and-land-use/.
Amendment 52 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 19 a (new)
Recital 19 a (new)
Amendment 59 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 21 a (new)
Recital 21 a (new)
(21a) Conservation policies must be developed in consultation with indigenous peoples, and must take into account their interests, including economic interests.
Amendment 65 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 24 a (new)
Recital 24 a (new)
(24a) However, according to a May 2021 study, ‘identifiable illegal deforestation is pervasive’, particularly for certain crops such as soya and certain livestock activities. On the other hand, in some developing countries the relevant legislation is sometimes inadequate or poorly applied. 1 c _________________ 1 c "Illicit harvest, complicit goods : the state of illegal deforestation for agriculture. C. Dummett et A. Blundell. Forest Trends. May 2021.
Amendment 66 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 25
Recital 25
(25) The impact assessment of possible policy measures to address Union-driven deforestation and forest degradation, Council conclusions and the 2020 resolution of the European Parliament clearly identify the need to establish deforestation and forest degradation as one of the guiding criteria for future Union measures, particularly when it comes to trade policy and the possible conclusion of trade agreements with third countries. Therefore, the new Union legal framework should address both legality and whether the production of relevant commodities and products is deforestation-free.
Amendment 67 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 27 a (new)
Recital 27 a (new)
(27a) According to the May 2021 study referred to above, ‘identifiable illegal deforestation is pervasive in the expansion of croplands for soy (93 percent of agroconversion across all soy-growing countries in this study), cocoa (93 percent), and cattle products (beef 81 percent...).’
Amendment 70 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 32 a (new)
Recital 32 a (new)
(32a) Producer countries must, where appropriate, be encouraged to update their legislation and apply it in an optimal way.
Amendment 76 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 40
Recital 40
(40) Responsibility for enforcing this Regulation should lie with the Member States, and their competent authorities should be required to ensure that this Regulation is fully complied with and set out the applicable sanctions. A uniform enforcement of this Regulation as regards relevant commodities and products entering or leaving the Union market can only be achieved through systematic exchange of information and cooperation amongst competent authorities, customs authorities and the Commission.
Amendment 221 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 27 – paragraph 2 – point f
Article 27 – paragraph 2 – point f
f) whether the country concerned has adequate national or subnational laws in place, including in accordance with Article 5 of the Paris Agreement, and takes effective enforcement measures to avoid and sanction activities leading to deforestation and forest degradation, and in particular whether sanctions of sufficient severity to deprive of the benefits accruing from deforestation or forest degradation are applied and, in general, whether the relevant national legislation is applied effectively.
Amendment 238 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 28 – paragraph 1
Article 28 – paragraph 1
1. The Commission shall engage with producer countries concerned by this Regulation to develop partnerships and cooperation to jointly address deforestation and forest degradation. Such partnerships and cooperation mechanisms will focus on the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of forests, deforestation, forest degradation and the transition to sustainable commodity production, consumption processing and trade methods and technical assistance with legislation or certification systems. Partnerships and cooperation mechanisms may include structured dialogues, support programmes and actions, administrative arrangements and provisions in existing agreements or agreements that enable producer countries to make the transition to an agricultural production that facilitates the compliance of relevant commodities and products with the requirements of this regulation. Such agreements and their effective implementation will be taken into account as part of the benchmarking under Article 27 of this Regulation.
Amendment 240 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 28 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 28 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. In their cooperation with third countries, the Commission and the Member States shall ensure that the interests of local communities and populations are taken into account in any conservation programme or effort, in particular as regards the need to preserve or adapt forest-resource-based economic sectors.
Amendment 247 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 28 – paragraph 2
Article 28 – paragraph 2
2. Partnerships and cooperation should allow the full participation of all stakeholders, including civil society, indigenous people, local communities and the private sector including, SMEs and smallholders active in the timber sector in particular.
Amendment 255 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 28 – paragraph 3
Article 28 – paragraph 3
3. Partnerships and cooperation shall promote the development of integrated land use planning processes, the energy transition, relevant legislations, fiscal incentives and other pertinent tools to improve forest conservation, such as reliable certification systems, and biodiversity conservation, sustainable management and restoration of forests, tackle the conversion of forests and vulnerable ecosystems to other land uses, optimise gains for the landscape, tenure security, agriculture productivity and competitiveness, transparent supply chains, strengthen the rights and preserve the interests of forest dependent communities including smallholders active in the timber sector, indigenous peoples and local communities, and ensure public access to forest management documents and other relevant information.