Officials weaken hard-won protections designed to safeguard global resources: 'Raising concerns'
The European Commission has eased an anti-deforestation law to impose less of a burden on companies.
Critics of the change are worried that this move will make the law less effective at the expense of the environment.
As Reuters reported, the European Union will require less paperwork from companies to prove they are not destroying forests.
Starting in December, companies will only need to submit due diligence statements once per year instead of per shipment or batch of goods for sale on the European market.
The EU will soon categorize countries as low, standard, or high risk regarding deforestation. Then, it will impose easier compliance requirements on lower-risk countries.
This decision is a response to industry complaints and calls from governments, such as the U.S. paper industry, for lighter reporting obligations.
However, some people are concerned that easier requirements could lead to increased deforestation.
"Reducing the reporting requirements from every batch to merely once a year is the pendulum swinging extremely from one side to the other, raising concerns about how effective monitoring and enforcement can still be," said Antonie Fountain, director of the VOICE Network.
The deforestation reporting legislation in the EU bans imports of palm oil, cocoa, beef, soy, and other goods linked to forest destruction. Without strict requirements, laws like this can become less effective in protecting the planet's forests.
Forests are essential for maintaining ecological balance because they absorb and store carbon dioxide. This gas would otherwise contribute to air pollution and the planet's overheating.
Should the government be allowed to control how restaurants run their business?
Never
Only in some cases
Only for chain restaurants
Yes in all cases
Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.
Meanwhile, anti-deforestation laws often address the livelihoods and rights of indigenous people who rely on forests in daily life. They help preserve native people's ways of life while encouraging sustainable supply chains worldwide. They also hold corporations accountable for environmental destruction if their practices involve clearing forests for sales and profit.
Fortunately, many positive actions are occurring worldwide to protect forests. However, companies must be monitored closely to ensure they aren't harming protected forests while producing goods.
Elsewhere, such as in Indonesia, the government is working to convert palm oil plantations back into natural forests to preserve the land. In Japan, conservationists are chopping down monoculture plantations to save dying forests. In the U.S., Indigenous communities have collaborated with a nonprofit to protect vulnerable trees like the white oak.
As an individual, you can volunteer your time or donate money to forest conservation and restoration organizations that share your values. You can also educate yourself about critical climate issues like deforestation and the benefits of rewilding projects, sharing what you learn with people around you.
Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Politicians don't want to admit the truth about the Northern Ireland riots
The scenes of violence that have gripped Northern Ireland this week have evoked unwelcome memories of the province's turbulent recent history. But the working-class communities there have found a very different 'grievance' from the one that wreaked devastation on their towns and cities during the Troubles. In the past, the 'enemy' was defined by Northern Ireland's complex divisions over civil rights, religion and the prospect of a united Ireland. In the last few nights, the target has been the local immigrant population. Police have come under attack from violent mobs throwing firebombs, bottles and rocks after demonstrations against Roma residents escalated. Cultural tensions were already high, with locals voicing their objections to the influx of Roma into their communities, even before it was reported that a teenage girl from Ballymena had allegedly suffered a sexual assault at the hands of two teenage Roma boys. The list of complaints is a familiar one: they claim few of the new arrivals speak English and require the support of translators in order to be able to access local services. There are concerns that the Roma people are more likely to be on benefits compared to other ethnic groups. Local women have complained about harassment from groups of Roma men (and women) as they walk to and from their homes. And to complicate matters, no one seems quite sure whether the new arrivals have crossed the border from the Republic of Ireland or are in the UK legally, having arrived in the UK before EU Freedom of Movement was scrapped on December 31, 2020. Similar tensions over the Roma emerged in areas of Britain during the UK's EU membership, when local, usually poorer, areas of some large cities attracted large numbers of those originating in parts of eastern Europe where the Roma have historically suffered persecution and discrimination. In Glasgow, the Govanhill area in the city's south side gained a reputation as the centre of a new Roma community without much civil upset. But unlike Glasgow, Northern Ireland has a recent history of civil unrest, not to mention a folk memory of burning resentment against the establishment, that has proved all too easily exploited by racist elements. Roma families, many with young children, have been forced to flee the mobs who have targeted, and on some occasions, destroyed their homes. Uncomplimentary comparisons have already been made with last year's summer riots that followed the murder of three young girls at a local dance class in Southport. It is tempting now, as it was then, to conclude that this is nothing more than attempts by the 'far-Right' to foment civil disturbance for their own ends. It is more complicated than that. Do local communities have any right to object to the imposition of alien, or at least unfamiliar, cultures upon them? Is it always irrational and xenophobic to resent someone because of their apparent refusal to learn the language of the country in which they have chosen to live? Is it similarly unreasonable to object to the amount of local authority resources devoted towards easing that problem? And while it is both dangerous and unjust to make blanket assumptions about any nationality's attitudes to women and sex, it is undeniable that certain cultures have, by western standards, an outdated view of women's roles in society. Until relatively recently, it was decreed by our political masters that we should never cast aspersions on such attitudes and cultures, but such restrictions are no longer taken seriously, not after the grooming gangs scandal, or Kemi Badenoch's warning that not all cultures are equally valid. An entire community cannot and should not be held accountable for the alleged sexual assault on a teenage girl. But to dismiss local anger as racism, to order people to accept whatever changes are imposed on their communities by their political betters without demur, is simply storing up greater trouble for the future. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Most G7 members ready to lower Russian oil price cap without US
By Julia Payne and John Irish BRUSSELS/PARIS (Reuters) -Most countries in the Group of Seven nations are prepared to go it alone and lower the G7 price cap on Russian oil even if U.S. President Donald Trump decides to opt out, four sources familiar with the matter said. G7 country leaders are due to meet on June 15-17 in Canada where they will discuss the price cap first agreed in late 2022. The cap was designed to allow Russian oil to be sold to third countries using Western insurance services provided the price was no more than $60 a barrel. The European Union and Britain have been pushing to lower the price for weeks after a fall in global oil prices made the current $60 cap nearly irrelevant. The sources, who declined to be named, said the EU and Britain are ready to lead the charge and go it alone, backed by the other European G7 countries and Canada. They said it is still unclear what the U.S. will decide, though the Europeans are pushing for a united decision at the meeting. Japan's position also remains uncertain, they said. "There is a push among European countries to reduce the oil price cap to $45 from $60. There are positive signals from Canada, Britain and possibly the Japanese. We will use the G7 to try to get the U.S. on board," one of the sources said. The White House had no immediate comment. During the G7 finance ministers meeting in the Canadian Rockies last month, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent remained unconvinced there was a need to lower the cap, according to sources. However some U.S. Senators may endorse the idea, including Lindsay Graham, who in recent weeks told reporters he supports lowering the cap. Graham is pushing a hard-hitting new set of Russia sanctions that could impose steep tariffs on buyers of Russian oil. The Canadian foreign ministry was not immediately available for comment. The EU has proposed lowering the price to $45 a barrel in its latest 18th package of sanctions. The package must have unanimity from member states in order for it to be adopted, which could take several weeks. Russia's largest export grade, Urals, trades at around a $10 a barrel discount to the Dated Brent benchmark out of Baltic ports. Brent futures have been trading below $70 a barrel since early April. Sources said Washington's buy-in was not essential to lower the cap owing to Britain's dominance in global shipping insurance, and the EU's influence on the Western rules-abiding tanker fleet. The U.S., however, does matter when it comes to dollar-denominated payments for oil and its banking system. The EU and its Western allies have been progressively cracking down on Russia's shadow fleet of tankers and related actors, which work to circumvent the cap. The pressure has started to hurt Moscow's revenues and Western allies hope this will push more of the oil trade back under the cap. Russia's state-owned oil producer Rosneft reported a 14.4% slump in profits last year.
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
EU adopts new tariffs on Russian and Belarusian agricultural imports
The European Union has approved fresh tariffs on agricultural goods and fertilizers from Russia and Belarus in an attempt to curb Russian funding for the war in Ukraine. A regulation was adopted on Thursday by a majority of EU countries at a meeting in Luxembourg. The European Parliament has already given its green light. The regulation extends duties to products not covered by existing tariffs, including sugar, vinegar, flour and animal feed. When the legislation enters into force by July 1, all Russian agricultural products will be subject to duties, a statement from EU member states said. The tariffs apply to products that made up around 15% of all agricultural imports from Russia in 2023, the statement said. According to the European Parliament, imports of such products from Russia rose significantly again in 2024. The regulation also provides for a 6.5% tariff on fertilizers imported from Russia and Belarus. In 2023, the EU imported around a quarter of the fertilizers affected by the new duties from Russia, corresponding to a value of €1.28 billion ($1.49 billion), the parliament said. The new duties will be increased gradually over three years, from between €40 and €45 per ton in 2025-26 to between €315 and €430 per ton by 2028.
