CNA
BRUSSELS: The European Parliament on Thursday (Nov 14) approved a one-year delay on implementing the bloc’s sweeping anti-deforestation rules but also voted to loosen some requirements – raising fresh uncertainty over the landmark law.
The move triggered an outcry from environmental groups, which accused lawmakers of adding loopholes to a bill hailed as a major breakthrough in the fight to protect nature and combat climate change.
“It’s a dark day for Europe’s environmental credentials,” said Julian Oram, policy director at advocacy group Mighty Earth. Global Witness said lawmakers had taken a “chainsaw” to the deforestation ban.
Parliament was called to sign off on a delay requested by the European Commission following pressure from trading partners such as Brazil and the United States, and some member states including Germany.
But lawmakers on the right used the vote to bring new amendments, passed with support from both right-wing and far-right groups.
Centrist lawmaker Yvan Verougstraete said the amendments had emptied the bill of its substance and could for instance see China – a major contributor to global deforestation – relieved of “all obligations”.
Environmentalists said the changes would amount to exempting some EU nations entirely from the scope of the law.
The amendments de facto restart the legislative process, as the new text needs to be re-discussed by the commission and member states.
But environmental groups are calling on the former to pull the plug on the process by withdrawing its initial postponement request.
“The European Commission should never have opened the door to this chaos in the first place, and must now withdraw its proposal to prevent further damage. The world’s forests cannot wait,” said Greenpeace EU forest policy director Sebastien Risso.
A spokesman for the EU executive said “the commission needs to analyse the result of the vote before taking a position”.
“For now we have taken note,” he added.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/sustainability/european-union-delay-deforestation-law-4748316
