Victory: Mighty Earth celebrates European Parliament’s vote to include rubber in legislation aimed at ending deforestation in EU supply chains
Forest campaigners are celebrating an important win in the European Parliament, which this week voted overwhelmingly to strengthen proposed legislation preventing goods linked to deforestation from being sold in the European Union. Sustained and effective lobbying by Mighty Earth and others means natural rubber is now on that list.
Why Rubber Must be Kept in the EU’s Anti-Deforestation Law
Mighty Earth is deeply concerned that natural rubber has been excluded from the European Commission’s forthcoming anti-deforestation law to tackle EU-driven deforestation and ecosystem loss. Due for release in December 2021, the EC’s proposed new supply chain anti-deforestation law will apply to a list of key Forest and Ecosystem Risk Commodities (FERCs) – which until recently was anticipated would cover key known forest-risk commodities[1], including natural rubber.
Learning how to ‘do’ sustainable rubber
As part of Mighty Earth’s continuing efforts to advance sustainability within the natural rubber sector, we are thrilled to be co-publishing a new practical guide for rubber industry actors, entitled “Sustainable Natural Rubber: pathways, policies and partnerships”.
Lobby group representing Michelin, Goodyear and Continental pressures EU Commission to exclude rubber from deforestation law
A row has erupted between NGOs and the rubber industry following lobbying by the EU tyre and rubber industry association to the European Commission, pressing for natural rubber to be excluded from forthcoming new EU due diligence regulations designed to stamp out deforestation, ecosystem loss and human rights abuses in key global commodity supply chains.
Towards Accountability?
Companies like Vietnamese rubber and agribusiness giant HAGL Agrico quietly took to destroying lands and forests in Cambodia belonging to Indigenous communities, disrupting ecosystems, and desecrating sacred places in order to use the land for unsustainable mono-cropped industrial agriculture.
Mighty Earth submit $1bn ‘Green bond’ application to convert Central Park and Hyde Park into rubber plantations
Two of the world’s most famous recreational parks – Central Park in New York and Hyde Park in London – could be razed and transformed into huge new industrial rubber plantations under a proposed $1billion ‘Green bond’ application submitted today by environmental campaign group Mighty Earth.
Peugeot Must Act Against Land-Grabs in Cambodia
On June 10, 2021, Mighty Earth, Equitable Cambodia, and Inclusive Development International sent an open letter to Peugeot, a global automobile brand. Despite new leadership and a strong commitment to sustainability, Peugeot has repeatedly refused to publicly condemn land grabbing and environmental damage perpetuated and caused by a subsidiary of their business partner, Truong Hai Auto Corporation (THACO).
Looking at Opportunities for Sustainability in Rubber
Join us for a multi-stakeholder dialogue near some of the most interesting sustainable rubber farming innovation in Hat Yai, Thailand.