Along with our oceans, forests are our best line of defence against climate change and animal and plant extinction. Millions of people depend on forests for their livelihood. The European Union and other industrialised economies have a major responsibility to cut their forest footprint.
May 2021
The European Commission has committed to publish in June 2021 its long-awaited legislative proposal to minimise the risk of deforestation and forest degradation associated with products placed on the European
April 2021
The European Commission has greenwashed green investment rules published today under the EU’s so-called EU taxonomy, said Greenpeace.
March 2021
Forest restoration must not be used to offset climate inaction in the agriculture, energy, housing, industrial and transport sectors.
March 2021
We wrote to European Commission Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans and European Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius asking them to introduce a strong EU law to keep products linked to destruction of forests…
March 2021
Brussels – Products linked to forest and ecosystem destruction, land disputes and human rights abuses continue to access the EU market labelled as ‘sustainable’ by many certifications schemes, according to…
March 2021
Brussels – European retailers are selling beef and leather linked to the record destruction of one of the world’s largest wetlands, in Brazil’s Pantanal region, a new investigation has revealed.…
December 2020
Brussels – A landmark 1,193,652 people made submissions to the EU’s public consultation on deforestation, demanding a strong EU law to protect the world’s forests. The European Commission received the…
December 2020
Brussels, 11 December 2020 – A deal to creep up the EU’s climate target for 2030 at a summit in Brussels exposes a reluctance by governments to follow the science…
December 2020
Brussels – With the European Union’s climate credibility hanging by a thread, activists floated a 27-metre hot air balloon at a make-or-break summit on Thursday to warn that governments are…
December 2020
Brussels, 3 December 2020 – If managed differently, the EU’s forests could absorb twice as much CO2 every year, according to new research by Naturwald Akademie. [1] The study, commissioned…
December 2020
Untapped potential for nature conservation and climate change mitigation
October 2020
Greenpeace Germany activists projected the slogan “Stop driving the climate crisis #TransformTransport” onto the Germany Ministry of Transport in Berlin early this morning to stop the expansion of freeways and…
October 2020
The European Union urgently needs an emission reduction target in line with science that does not rely on an increasingly fragile nature. Accounting tricks that allow governments to compensate carbon…
October 2020
The European Parliament has voted to call for a strong law which would go a long way towards ending the EU’s complicity in deforestation, ecosystem…
October 2020
Brussels, 9 October 2020 – There are no sanctionable clauses requiring the EU and Mercosur countries to respect climate or environmental protection in the treaty under negotiation between the two…
September 2020
Berlin - Ten Greenpeace activists greeted EU environment ministers arriving for a meeting in Berlin with a four-metre high image of a burning planet and the words: “1.5°C is the…
September 2020
Analysis by eight leading green NGOs.
September 2020
A European Commission analysis to back up its climate plans for 2030 has revealed an attempt to fudge its target to cut EU-wide emissions by at least 55%, said Greenpeace,…
September 2020
Brussels – Ursula von der Leyen has backed a revised EU climate goal at her first ‘state of the union’ speech as president of the European Commission, where she outlined…
September 2020
Brussels – Five activists scaling the 14-storey facade of the European Commission headquarters in Brussels hung a 30-metre banner mimicking a hole burned through the building, revealing the Amazon in…
August 2020
Despite government promises and corporate pledges to halt deforestation, the world continues to lose priceless natural habitats.Between 1990 and 2016, 1.3 million square kilometres of forest was lost. This is…
April 2020
Read the full letter to European Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans, Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius and Commissioner Phil Hogan here.
March 2020
Brussels, 26 March 2020 – The European Union’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic must focus on saving lives and help make our societies fairer, greener and more resilient to future…
January 2020
The European Commission could derail the prospects of a global climate deal at the end of this year by delaying a plan to upgrade the European Union’s 2030 emission reduction…
January 2020
Brussels, 15 January 2020 – The European Parliament is set to adopt a resolution on actions to combat the biodiversity crisis and protect nature, including a call to protect half…
December 2019
Brussels, 16 December 2019 – Agriculture and forest ministers are expected to issue a strong call to the Commission today to “step up EU action” on deforestation and forest protection.…
December 2019
Brussels, 11 December 2019 – The European Commission officially presented its plan for a European Green Deal today. Greenpeace warned that although the volume of policies is impressive and the…
December 2019
Greenpeace sent a letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and her team, calling on them to use the European Green Deal to restructure the economic system that for…
December 2019
Brussels, 4 December 2019 – The European Environment Agency (EEA) has warned in a new report that “Europe will not achieve its sustainability vision of ‘living well within the limits…
November 2019
Brussels, 29 November 2019 – Draft plans for a European Green Deal would have minimal impact on the worsening climate and ecological emergencies, warned Greenpeace. Greenpeace has obtained a recent…
November 2019
Protest with flaming tree trunk brings Amazon fires to Brussels Brussels, 5 November 2019 – Leaders of indigenous communities in Brazil are in Brussels to ask European Commission vice-president Frans…
October 2019
Read the full briefing here. If everybody in the world lived like the average EU resident, humanity would have consumed the equivalent of 2.8 planets by the end of 2019.…
October 2019
Brussels – Virginijus Sinkevičius’s near silence on an EU plan to tackle deforestation is disgraceful, said Greenpeace. The nominee to be the next European commissioner on environment and oceans, answered…
September 2019
Incoming EU Commission President greeted in The Hague with burning globe The Hague – Greenpeace activists greeted incoming President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, this evening in…
August 2019
Twenty-six NGOs sent an open letter to European leaders urging them to end European complicity in the fires raging in the Amazon. NGOs believe the EU can act decisively in…
August 2019
EU Green Deal must begin shift to climate change-resilient farming, Greenpeace Brussels – A landmark UN report on the impact of human land exploitation has exposed a giant gap in the…
July 2019
Brussels, 24 July 2019 – A deforestation action plan released today by the European Commission paints a bleak picture of Europe’s responsibility for global deforestation, but fails to address the…
June 2019
The trade deal that could be agreed this weekend between the EU and Mercosur countries is a disaster for the environment on both sides of the Atlantic, said Greenpeace.
June 2019
Brussels – In an open letter published today, over 340 civil society organisations are demanding that the European Union immediately halt trade negotiations with the Mercosur bloc (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay…
May 2019
Brussels, 21 May 2019 – An overwhelming majority of Europeans want new laws to ensure that the food they eat and the products they buy don’t drive global deforestation, according…
April 2019
Brussels – Over 600 scientists from across Europe and representatives of 300 Indigenous groups from Brazil have called on the European Union to make trade talks with Brazil conditional on the…
February 2019
In December 2018, the European Commission announced plans to act on deforestation and forest degradation. It published a roadmap towards a Communication, which the Commission is expected to adopt in…
December 2018
Brussels – In a roadmap released today, the European Commission has promised to address global deforestation and cut the EU’s footprint on the world’s forests. The roadmap highlights the link between…
November 2018
Brussels – Seven European governments have ramped up pressure on the European Commission to deliver a long-awaited action plan by the end of the year to tackle global deforestation. The letter…
September 2018
Brussels – The European Parliament has demanded swift action from the European Commission to cut Europe’s footprint on the world’s forests and its associated impact on climate change, species loss and…
March 2018
Brussels/Manaus, Brazil– A Greenpeace investigation has exposed widespread fraud in the Brazilian forestry sector, which may have allowed massive quantities of illegal timber to reach the EU. Under the EU…
March 2018
Despite promises, Commission remains silent on EU plans to tackle deforestation Brussels – A long awaited European Commission study, released late on Friday, lays out policy options for the EU…
February 2018
All eyes on the European Commission, as crucial EU decision on deforestation due “in a matter of weeks” In the coming weeks, the European Commission is set to make a…
June 2017
Forests are essential for life on earth. Three hundred million people worldwide live in forests and 1.6 billion depend on them for their livelihoods. Forests are the largest stores of…
April 2017
Palm oil industry identified as major cause of forest destruction The European Parliament voted in favour of a report calling on the EU to stop funding and contributing to deforestation.…