Jackson Harris

October 21, 2021 

On the eve of the crucial COP26 climate negotiations, due to begin in Glasgow at the end of the month, Mighty Earth activists from four continents are meeting this week with officials from the European Commission, urging them to strengthen pending legislation aimed at preventing consumer goods linked to deforestation from entering the European Union. The delegation has also been meeting with major European companies, industry associations, and journalists.

Following a 2019 EU Communication, and a 2020 resolution by the European Parliament, the Commission has been developing legislative proposal that will make it illegal to place goods into the European market that have been produced by destroying forests. This will most likely include commodities such as soy, palm oil, wood, beef, coffee, and cocoa.

While this represents a major step forward in the fight against global deforestation, Mighty Earth is concerned that the proposals may contain significant loopholes, including overlooking key forest-risk commodities such as natural rubber and leather. Worryingly, the draft legislation also excludes agricultural commodities grown in other threatened habitats and massive carbon sinks, such as Brazil’s Cerrado, Indonesia’s peatlands, and El Pantanal wetland ecosystems shared by Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay. Each one of these ecosystems have immense biodiversity importance and play a vital role in maintaining climate stability. Additionally, there is concern that human rights abuses associated with the production of commodities will also be ignored in this landmark legislation.

The “Fab five”

Mighty Earth’s five representatives – Gina Méndez, Nico Muzi, Julian Oram, Annisa Rahmawati, and Amourlaye Touré – have been bringing stories from the frontlines of deforestation and human rights abuses linked to agricultural production. Below, Gina, Annisa, Amourlaye and Julian explain why they have come to Brussels, and share the message they are bringing to the officials and companies they are meeting with.

Gina Méndez – Bolivia

I am from Bolivia, a country that in the last few years experienced the world’s second-highest rate of deforestation. Before we were one of the top three countries to protect our forest, now we hold the opposite position.

I am a former a Congresswoman, Minister of justice and human rights and the first female Mayor of Santa Cruz, my hometown, which is now the epicentre of deforestation in Bolivia.

Seeing the devastation of our incredible biodiverse forest made me determined to quit public administration after 15 years of service and start a citizens movement to protect and restore Bolivia’s forests from the devastating expansion of soy and cattle production. I named the movement El Llamado del Bosque. I ran a public campaign and gathered 600 signatures from national leaders of all walks of life, including journalists, historians, artists, indigenous leaders, businessmen and scientists.

Given the accelerating rate of forest destruction in my country – the Santa Cruz region lost 4 million hectares to the massive forest fires of 2019 – I see my visit to Brussels as a great opportunity to advocate for a strong EU anti-deforestation law. An ambitious EU regulation will provide our business leaders with a powerful incentive to produce soy, beef and leather without bulldozing our forests and savannahs. Thus, the upcoming EU law must include all types of beef (including processed beef) and leather, a co-product with huge profit margins for the industry.

We are also very concerned that by only protecting forests, soy and beef expansion in South America will shift from the Amazon basin and the dry forests of Gran Chaco to the savannahs of Brazil (Cerrado) and Bolivia, as well as El Pantanal wetlands. That’s why I am urging the cabinets of Commissioner SinkeviVius and Vice-President Timmermans to expand the scope of ecosystems to include savannas, peatlands and wetlands.

 Annisa Rahmawati – Indonesia

I took a long journey to come to Brussels all the way from Indonesia, a major producer of forest-risk commodities including palm oil and rubber. For many years, environmental activists in Southeast Asia have been calling on the industry to ensure that they protect our forests and other valuable ecosystems and uphold the human rights with the implementation of NDPE (No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation) commitments.

The EU move to propose a law to break the link between consumption in Europe and deforestation worldwide could become a powerful catalyst to align public-private commitments in Indonesia and Malaysia. It would also send an important signal to the world that we need to protect natural ecosystems to tackle the climate crisis threatening our very existence.

Throughout my life, I have witnessed the fires and haze caused by the destruction of our forests and peatlands, and how it has made our people suffer. These fires were started to make way for palm oil plantations to cater to EU demand for the edible oil. We have learned that peatlands are essential ecosystems for our survival in this climate crisis, and thus need to be protected by the upcoming EU law. Otherwise, it could create a perverse incentive to shift palm oil production from the rainforest to peatlands.

Furthermore, the law also needs to protect local communities and tackle human rights abuses linked to commodity production in countries like Indonesia. Goods imported to Europe should not be tainted by environmental destruction or human rights violations.

 Amourlaye Touré – Ivory Coast

I live and work in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), where I have worked on human rights and environmental justice issues for over 20 years.

In the space of a century, Côte d’Ivoire has lost 70% of its forests, mainly for agriculture, with cocoa (of which the country is the leading producer) as the primary cause of deforestation. The situation is almost identical in neighbouring Ghana, with both countries producing 65% of the world’s cocoa each year. The remaining little forest cover is under threat, despite official proclamations.

The Cocoa and Forests Initiative (CFI) raised high hopes when it was launched in late 2017. However, its promises regarding the fight against any further deforestation are not being fulfilled in any meaningful way. Today, the situation is no longer tenable, especially since only about 6% of the annual $100 billion from cocoa goes to producers living in poverty. Alarming estimates have been made of when the Ivorian forest and certain endemic animal species will likely disappear.

There is an urgent need for the EU to act, especially since cashew nuts, of which Côte d’Ivoire is also the world’s leading producer, are attacking the savannah in the centre and the north. The country is thus caught between two deforestations at its southern (cocoa) and northern ends (cashew nuts). This threat is vital for the countries of Africa’s hinterland. Indeed, the greener, forested West Africa Atlantic coast countries constitute a barrier that was supposed to slow the advance of the desert.

Hence, we urge the EU to think holistically and cover all critical natural ecosystems and commodities with their anti-deforestation law.   

Julian Oram – UK

For the past twenty years, I have been working to promote more sustainable models of tropical agriculture and forest commodity production, having witnessed first-hand the devastation and terrible rights abuses associated with exploitative commodity production systems in many parts of the world. Since 2019 I’ve led Mighty Earth’s work on rubber, and more recently also on cocoa.

While cocoa is likely to be covered by the pending EU legislation, rubber is potentially excluded. This would be a terrible mistake. Over the past 20 years, rubber has been a major driver of tropical deforestation and wildlife habitat destruction, particularly in the Greater Mekong region of SE Asia. The EU has conducted an impact assessment which deemed rubber less significant than other tropical commodities. However, this assessment only considered unprocessed rubber imports, whereas the large majority of rubber imported into the EU is embedded in processed consumer goods, such as automobile tires.

From our work, we also know that rubber has been linked to terrible human rights abuses and extensive land-grabbing. With the EU’s demand for natural rubber set to rise steadily over the next decade, its crucial the legislation covers this essential and irreplaceable commodity.

 Nico Muzi – EU

I have been campaigning and communicating on climate change in Brussels for the past 15 years. My passion for land issues and connection with agriculture is deeply rooted:  I grew up in Argentina, watching my dad rearing cattle and planting wheat to the south of Buenos Aires.

My passion is clearly shared by a large proportion of EU consumers. A record 1.2 million citizens urged the Commission to go beyond forest protection and include natural ecosystems such as savannas, wetlands and peatlands in the law – the second most participated public consultation in the history of the EU.

Businesses also support strong regulation: more than 70 big companies such as supermarket chains Carrefour and Lidl, food processors like Danone and Ferrero (and even Groupe Avril, France’s largest animal feed producer) urged the EU to protect other threatened habitats and protect human rights.

Unfortunately, the leaked EU anti-deforestation law has several loopholes big enough to drive a bulldozer through! These are:

• Exclusion of natural ecosystems such as savannas, peatlands and wetlands
• Exclusion of top forest-risk commodities and co-products: rubber, leather and processed beef
• Exclusion of international human rights standards, especially customary land rights
• Weakened liability

If Vice President Timmermans and Commissioner SinkeviVius are serious about protecting and restoring the world’s forests and other key biodiversity hotspots, the upcoming law must close those loopholes. European citizens and local communities in the frontlines of deforestation will thank them for their service to humanity, wildlife and the global climate. The Commission is clearly not alone in this fight.