About: agroforestry Archives

The European Commission on Thursday (17 September) defended its plan to bring carbon removals from agriculture, land use and forestry into the EU’s updated climate target for 2030, saying this was in line with UNFCCC standards.

The European Commission's commendable move to aim for emission reductions of "at least 55%" by 2030 risks being completely undermined if the target also takes into account “reductions and removals” from forest growth and tree planting schemes, warns Bert Metz.

EU lawmaker Jytte Guteland has proposed ambitious EU climate targets, but a cornerstone for reaching them remains shaky, says Kelsey Perlman.

The forests in Europe that can be considered “old growth” – and therefore declared protected areas – depends on the definition, says Petri Sarvamaa. “And that’s where the political fight begins,” he told EURACTIV in an interview.

The Green Deal promoted by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has the potential to strengthen European, as well as global, forests and make a significant contribution to the fight against climate change, writes Hannah Mowat.

Donald Trump surprised environmentalists when he announced the US would join the World Economic Forum’s one trillion tree planting initiative, writes Peter Wohlleben. However such schemes can turn into disasters if they aren't implemented the right way, he warns.

The forest continues to expand in France, according to industry figures, but the industry is not making the most of it. EURACTIV France reports.

Bioenergies, including wood, biofuels and forest-based industries, should be recognised under the EU’s draft sustainable finance taxonomy, in line with the recently-updated renewable energy directive, an industry coalition has claimed.

Climate change is causing problems for Germany's forests, as large woodland areas are dying. The ministry of agriculture is now planning to unlock millions of euros in aid to help prevent new forests from dying out. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Almost three out of four companies with a significant footprint on the world's forests have failed to provide data on their impact on global deforestation in 2018, according to a study published by environmental non-profit organisation CDP on Tuesday (16 July).

A new label aims to encourage the emergence of projects that reduce and sequester greenhouse gas emissions. EURACTIV’s partner le Journal de l’environnement reports.

There is no debate that burning wood for energy emits more greenhouse gases per unit of energy than burning fossil fuels. Yet the EU's renewable energy directive continues to uphold that burning forest wood is "carbon neutral," write Jean-Pascal van Ypersele and Mary S. Booth.

A group of plaintiffs from Estonia, France, Ireland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, and the US are filing a lawsuit against the European Union on Monday (4 March) to challenge the inclusion of forest biomass in the bloc’s renewable energy directive.

A lower carbon balance can be achieved by sequestering CO2 through plant growth, a notion that has a major influence on how Finland manages its forests and croplands, says Liisa Pietola. EURACTIV Germany spoke to the Finnish agronomist in an interview.

As the world awakes to the threat posed by palm oil and soy to our forests, it’s in danger of overlooking how paper and packaging drives industrial logging, mis-shapes millions of hectares of forest landscapes and creates monoculture plantations, writes Sini Eräjää.

The international trading system is facing a crisis – but protectionism isn’t the biggest test EU leaders must deal with, writes Perrine Fournier.

As a new round of free trade negotiations between the European Union and Indonesia begins in Brussels, Perrine Fournier argues that improving forest governance should be central to any agreement.

In addition to halting deforestation, the European Union must support efforts to allow forest regeneration and sequestering more carbon dioxide, write Heidi Hautala and Carlos Zorrinho.

Campaigners have warned about the environmental dangers of bioenergy, saying burning wood is not low-carbon. However, forests can – and must – be managed in a sustainable way that maintains or even increases the carbon stock, writes Tony Juniper.

Opposition to the use of forest biomass for energy generation is going mainstream, writes Linde Zuidema, as evidence builds that wood is being burnt in large scale inefficient coal-fired power stations.

Biomass is only sustainable and renewable when sourced from responsibly managed forests that are growing, not from old growth, primary forest or protected biodiverse areas. And this should be independently verified, writes Dr Rebecca Heaton.

Forests are uniquely linked to climate change because they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. So why is the EU on the verge of following a disastrous path in a key area of climate policy? wonders Hanna Aho.

A group of scientists has sent an open letter to EU decision-makers, warning that a planned increase in harvesting levels for EU forests for bioenergy use risk having a negative impact on the climate.

Ahead of a European Parliament vote on land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF), Hannah Aho explains how MEPs have both strengthened and weakened draft forest rules she says are essential in the fight against climate change.