EU Forest Watch
EU Forest Watch
Issue 46 Sept/Oct 2000
Published by Fern
EU must hold line on
carbon sinks
With just six weeks to go before COP61 in November, NGOs are expressing their support for the EU position on carbon sinks as intergovernmental opinion remains deeply divided on many key climate change issues.
At the final preparatory meeting in Lyon, in September, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan continued to argue for broad and largely unrestricted use of carbon sinks to meet CO2 emission targets in opposition to the EU's position. Many NGOs, including Fern, support the EU and urged EU negotiators to hold their line, believing that the environmental integrity of the Kyoto Protocol is under threat.
With the US and Japan consistently resisting greenhouse gas emission reduction measures, the EU is one of the last influential parties defending the environmental integrity of the Kyoto Protocol. The EU must now find strong allies among those G77 countries that are wary of tying up land in long term carbon projects that benefit the North.
In the few weeks remaining before COP6, the EU will have to bring on board the few member states with interests in forest-related activities who are threatening to undermine the unity of the EU's position. But the EU must make haste. Maintaining the credibility of the Kyoto Protocol is for the common good and weak negotiation could be costly for us all. The Tree Trouble report is available from Fern.
1
The 6th Conference of the Parties to the
UNFCCC will be held 13-24 November 2000 in The Hague.
2
The Clean Development Mechanism is one of
the Kyoto Protocol's Flexible Mechanisms designed to help countries meet their
emission targets by means other than domestic reductions.
3 Report Tree Trouble, available from Fern.
Last chance for forest
biodiversity as Action Plan nears completion
A coalition of NGOs including Fern has warned the Commission that the final draft of the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) for Natural Resources must include substantial changes if biodiversity loss is to be halted in Europe and the credibility of the EC Biodiversity Strategy maintained.
Focusing on the link between forests and biodiversity, the NGOs said that the objectives of the EC Biodiversity Strategy would not be achieved unless the Biodiversity Action Plan was able to counterbalance shortcomings in the EU's Forestry Strategy and draft Rural Development Biodiversity Action Plan. The Biodiversity Action Plan must therefore include substantial action points on forests to meet the objectives of the EC Biodiversity Strategy.
Despite the Biodiversity Strategy commitment to integrate biodiversity concerns in wider EU policies these are absent or weak in many emerging areas, such as the EU's trade strategy and the development policy under discussion, leading to concerns that the Strategy is being undermined.
Many forest-related objectives in the 5th Environmental Action Plan should be reinforced in the BAP to avoid any policy erosion. Comments on the draft BAP are available from Fern.
Dutch label to get green light
Timber sold in the Netherlands will soon be required to display a red or green label to show whether it comes from a sustainably managed forest. Support for a Bill to implement the idea was reconfirmed by the Dutch Parliament this month, two years after the Bill was first adopted, and is expected to be made law in the coming months.
The current Bill is a watered down version of the 1998 original which aimed to gradually introduce a total ban on the sale of timber from non sustainable sources. WTO members and EU member states forced out the ban idea and left only the requirement that all timber products be labelled by 2003. Even this has provoked negative responses from the European Commission and most member states. Poland, Malaysia, Norway, Canada, Indonesia and Thailand also sent comments on the Bill to the WTO.
Critics of the Bill within the EU argue that it is a barrier to trade and therefore contravenes Article 28-30 of the Amsterdam Treaty. A similar point is made by WTO members based on article 2.2 of the Technical Barriers to Trade agreement. However, the response of the Dutch MEP who proposed the law has refuted all of these arguments.
Dutch NGOs support the Bill, although concerns about its implementation remain, particularly as establishing and maintaining high standards for green label products may prove difficult. Even so, the Bill is seen as addressing the growing problem of illegally produced logs being imported to the Netherlands.
News in Brief
BUDGET LINE PROGRESS
Regulations for the new Tropical Forest and Environment budget lines are expected to come into force by the end of the year. Joint reports from the Council and Parliament Conciliatory Committee were approved by the Parliament on 21 September. The regulations must now be formally adopted by the Development Council and Parliament in November so they can be published in the Official Journal before 2001. A call for project proposals is expected soon. The annual budget allocation this year is 30 million euro.
FSC DIRECTOR
Dr Maharaj Muthoo has been appointed as the new executive director for the Forest Stewardship Council. The current executive director, Tim Synott, will become policy director.
GOOD BEHAVIOUR GUIDE
NGOs seeking information from the EU can now expect a fast response following the publication of a Code of Good Behaviour aimed at improving the Commission's relations with the public. From 1 November 2000 the legally binding code will expect officials to:
l respond to written enquiries within 15 working days;
l allow those with an interest in Commission business to express their views;
l make clear the reasons on which decisions are based;
l identify themselves or their departments on the phone and return calls promptly;
l be courteous and impartial.
Commission staff will be trained to work within the Code, which will be widely publicised. Complaints from the public may be directed to the Commission or the European Ombudsman.
G8 tackle illegal logging
The UK is the first G8 member to follow up on commitments to do more to halt illegal logging. Actions include introducing new government procurement rules for sustainably-sourced timber and timber products, and working directly with affected countries to combat illegal logging. It is hoped that such a course of action will be taken by all G8 members, as well as the EC.
Forest Agenda
3 October, Presidency's Working Group Meeting on Carbon Sinks, Brussels.
10 October, Environmental Council meeting.
16 October, Commissioner Wallstrom meeting with NGOs to discuss climate change issues.
17 October, Commissioner Wallstrom meeting NGOs on 6th Environmental Action Programme.
EU
Forest Watch
informs NGOs, MEPs and European Commission officials about the forest debate in
Brussels. It is published by Fern,
an NGO created by the World Rainforest Movement.
Fern advocates changes in EU activities in order to achieve:
conservation and sustainable management of
forests,
respect for the rights of forest peoples,
greater transparency in EU aid to tropical forest countries.
For more information visit our website
http://www.greennet.org.uk/fern
Contacts
Chantal
Marijnissen & Sofia Ryder,
Fern,
20 Av des Celtes,
1040
Brussels, Belgium.
Tel:
32 2 742 24 36 / 733 36 53
Fax:
32 2 736 80 54
fern@arcadis.be
Saskia
Ozinga & Jutta Kill
Fosseway
Business Park,
1C
Stratford Road
Moreton-in-Marsh
UK - GL 56 9NQ
Tel:
44 1608 652 895
Fax:
44 1608 652 878
saskia@gn.apc.org