Fern NGO

🌲 Our Annual Report is out!    In 2023, the increasingly volatile political landscape in Europe resulted in a growing backlash against policies to fight the #ClimateCrisis and protect the environment. Every forest-related file working its way through #EU lawmaking bodies faced fierce opposition by industry interests and Member States.     But we and our partners continued to push back and show that protecting #forests and the rights of those who live in them is vital to all our futures.     Read more 👇  https://lnkd.in/e4gNbQp5     Subscribe to our #ForestWatch monthly newsletter:  https://lnkd.in/d5ryPiKb 

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen: it’s time to defend the #EU deforestation regulation by ensuring timely & full implementation. Forest destruction is increasing across the world, fuelling the climate crisis and collapsing ecosystems. The #EUDR a key part of efforts to halt #deforestation and tackle the #ClimateCrisis. It is already improving forest monitoring & forest law enforcement in key producer countries. Delaying the Regulation would be a disaster for global forests and for the EU’s reputation. Environmental policy must not be determined by self-interest. Global forest protection is the key to a cleaner, greener, more prosperous future for the next generations. President von der Leyen, it’s time to fully implement the EUDR! #DefendEUDR

Fern is looking for a Communications Intern to help initiate, develop and disseminate its content! The role includes supporting the production and distribution of publications and videos, managing Fern’s website and social media pages, producing compelling visuals, and assisting with webinar and event logistics. The role is a six-month, paid internship and is based in Brussels. Click here to learn more and apply 👇 https://lnkd.in/epehda8A Please share and help us spread the word!

🤔 What are the problems with Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (#BECCS)? BECCS is increasingly being promoted as a #ClimateChange mitigation strategy, with governments developing funding and business frameworks to incentivize such projects. It is often classified as a 'carbon removal technology,' because of the false assumption that #biomass energy is carbon neutral and that capturing and storing CO2 from burning biomass makes it 'carbon negative.' But biomass energy removes carbon from forests, not the atmosphere! 🚨 BECCS has significant social, environmental, and economic costs and is promoted by #FossilFuel interests. It is a #FalseSolution distracting from the urgent need to phase out fossil fuels and protect ecosystems! Read Biofuelwatch and Fern NGO’s briefings to learn more 👇 https://lnkd.in/dy9jvxTV #cdr #RealZero

Despite years and years of talking, voluntary commitments and projects by companies, #cocoa farmers are still earning extreme poverty wages: most earn as little as $2 a day, less than the price of many chocolate bars. All this while chocolate companies have been making billions of profits. It’s not rocket science: farmers will continue to be poor so long as they are poorly paid. And it’s wrong for companies to be making vast profits when the people producing their goods are living in deplorable conditions. #Chocolate and cocoa companies need to: 👉 pay a price that enables a living income 👉 establish fair, long-term contracts with farmers 👉 publicly report their progress Read more here: https://lnkd.in/ezg9QGnV

🆕 The latest issue of our #ForestWatch newsletter is out!    👉 The Nature Restoration Law has finally been approved by EU environment ministers. (✍ by Siim Kuresoo)    The passing of the first comprehensive, continent-wide regulation of its kind is a defining moment in the fight to increase biodiversity and rehabilitate the continent’s damaged natural habitats. Forests, foresters, biodiversity and the climate are set to benefit.    👉 The Netherlands’ first transposition of the #RenewableEnergyDirective, adopted by the departing government, includes a ban on all biomass subsidies for electricity and restrictions on Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (#BECCS). (✍ by Martin Pigeon)    The Netherlands’ latest restrictions ensure their place as the frontrunner in ambitious science-informed #bioenergy policy. Other EU Member States would be well advised to follow the country’s lead.    👉 A new study has confirmed that tree harvesting is the main driver of European forest disturbances. (✍ by Sydney Vennin)    The EU needs to base its EU forest policies on scientific studies. This means removing subsidies from policies such as the Renewable Energy Directive which increase demand for wood and redirecting them to policies like the #NatureRestorationLaw.    👉 A consortium of Indonesian NGOs has urged the Commission to assess the risks of delaying action on the EU Regulation on deforestation-free products (#EUDR) – stating that more than #forests is at stake. (✍ by Perrine Fournier)    With palm oil production in Indonesia still leading to the loss of huge swathes of Indonesian forests, the EU needs to listen to watchdogs in producer countries and increase efforts to implement the EUDR.    👉 Some within the US administration have written to the European Commission to ask them to postpone implementation of the EUDR.     Mateus Carvalho from our partner organisation the Environmental Paper Network explains the paper company lobbying behind the US position and outlines why this destructive industry shouldn’t be exempt from rules to end #deforestation and human rights infractions.    Read more and sign up 👇  https://lnkd.in/dvD4_BuK 🔗 Links to the articles in the first comment! 

Fern is looking for a Communications Intern to help initiate, develop and disseminate its content! The role includes supporting the production and distribution of publications and videos, managing Fern’s website and social media pages, producing compelling visuals, and assisting with webinar and event logistics. The role is a six-month, paid internship and is based in Brussels. Click here to learn more and apply 👇 https://lnkd.in/epehda8A Please share and help us spread the word!

Compliance with the EU anti-deforestation regulation (#EUDR) is a significant challenge for Indonesian companies and farmers, and requires a collaborative approach between the #EU, local government & civil society that addresses the root causes of deforestation.     An EU-Indonesia partnership should be agreed and implemented in a multi-stakeholder and inclusive process including governments, the private sector (including smallholders), local and international NGOs, communities and #IndigenousPeoples representatives.     Any partnership should strengthen the position of #IndigenousPeoples, local communities & smallholders, tackle underlying drivers of #deforestation and human rights violations and support the transition to sustainable agriculture and #forestry.     Read our new briefing’s recommendations 👇  https://lnkd.in/eki7mWPC

🇪🇺 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are currently negotiating the policies their coalition will support over the next five year mandate. Conservative lawmakers from the European People's Party are asking to postpone and re-open the EU Deforestation Regulation in order to “address problems related to its implementation”. This is baffling given their previous support: the Regulation’s lead rapporteur was from their Party and his fellow MEPs overwhelmingly voted in favour just a year ago. 👉 Their indecision will hit European businesses and forests hard! Companies have spent millions preparing for implementation and many small-scale farmers are proactively making themselves compliant, seeing it as an opportunity to improve their livelihoods. They see the benefits of increasing traceability, and thereby reducing supply chain complexity, and the number of middlemen. The Regulation has already spurred long lasting improvements in producer countries.   🇧🇷 In Brazil, the Agriculture Ministry is setting up a tracking system to check whether cattle have been illegally grazed in protected areas or Indigenous territories. 🇮🇩 In Indonesia, authorities are improving national palm oil and timber traceability systems. 🇨🇮 In Côte D’Ivoire, the Regulation is encouraging technological innovations which could potentially lift smallholders out of poverty. Moving the goal posts at the last minute would be a blow to all of their efforts and damage the EU's domestic and international credibility!