In its forest strategy tabled in July, the European Commission has underlined the crucial role played by forests in absorbing carbon dioxide and meeting the EU’s climate targets, setting out plans to plant 3 billion trees before the end of the decade.
But forests also fulfil other functions, like providing jobs to local communities and offering substitutes to fossil fuels, which also weigh in the balance when putting together an EU forest policy. Find out more in this EURACTIV special report.
[Edited by Alice Taylor]
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Hackles raised over ‘unbalanced’ forest policy ahead of EU ministerial meeting
EU countries, industry and lawmakers are pushing back against the European Commission’s new forest strategy, criticising a lack of balance between the different roles performed by forests – economic, social and environmental.
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Finnish MEP: ‘I’m against the power creep in the EU’s forest strategy’
There is no such thing as a European forest, and those trying to introduce an EU-wide forest strategy that does not take account of regional differences “live in Fantasyland,” Finnish lawmaker Nils Torvalds told EURACTIV.
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What role for forests and the forest-based sector in the EU Green Deal?
The new Forest Strategy is an important piece of the European Commission architecture to deliver on the European Green Deal together with the Fit for 55 package. Everybody agrees that forests play a key role in combating climate change together with …