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Brussels<\/b>\u00a0\u2013 The European Parliament has demanded swift action from the European Commission to cut Europe\u2019s footprint on the world\u2019s forests and its associated impact on climate change, species loss and human rights violations.<\/span><\/p>\n Despite commitments by world leaders to tackle <\/span>climate change<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>end deforestation by 2020<\/span><\/a>, and an EU pledge to deliver an action plan in the EU\u2019s 2013 <\/span>7th Environmental Action Plan<\/span><\/a>, the Commission has so far failed to table any concrete measures.<\/span><\/p>\n The Parliament highlighted the impact of the production and trade in agricultural and animal products, and the role of the financial sector as major drivers of deforestation.<\/span><\/p>\n Greenpeace EU forest policy director S\u00e9bastien Risso <\/b>said: <\/span>\u201cThe Parliament is clear: there\u2019s no excuse for the Commission\u2019s deafening silence on Europe\u2019s response to global deforestation. Deforestation contributes massively to climate change, as well as species loss and human rights abuses, and the EU is clearly part of the problem. Juncker\u2019s team only has a handful of months before next year\u2019s European elections to pull its head out of the sand and table the action plan the Commission has so far failed to deliver.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n The Parliament called for a <\/span>\u201cmeaningful\u201d<\/span><\/i> action plan that includes <\/span>\u201cregulatory measures to ensure that no supply chains or financial transactions linked to the EU cause deforestation, forest degradation, or human rights violations\u201d<\/span><\/i>, and urged <\/span>\u201cenhanced financial and technical assistance\u201d<\/span><\/i> to developing countries, <\/span>\u201cwith the specific aim of protecting, maintaining and restoring forests, and enhancing the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities\u201d<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n The Parliament also:<\/span><\/p>\n In March 2017, the Commission released a <\/span>study on the policy options<\/span><\/a> to step up EU action to combat deforestation and forest degradation, although the Commission is yet to announce how it intends to follow up and what action, if any, will be taken.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Contacts:<\/b><\/p>\n S\u00e9bastien Risso \u2013 Greenpeace EU forest policy director:<\/b> +32 (0)496 127009, <\/span>sebastien.risso@greenpeace.org<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Greenpeace EU press desk:<\/b> +32 (0)2 274 1911, <\/span>pressdesk.eu@greenpeace.org<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n