Fires, clear-cutting, illegal and unsustainable logging and deforestation are putting forests and other vital ecosystems like grasslands and peatlands at risk.

This devastation of nature is happening fast - and it is directly connected to the meat, dairy, palm oil, coffee and chocolate we eat in Europe. From the Amazon to the Asian rainforests, the EU is responsible for more than 10% of global forest destruction.

The EU has the power to help stop this destruction: It can do this by passing a new law that would stop products linked to the destruction of nature from ending up on the EU’s supermarket shelves. 

Through the #Together4Forests campaign, 1.2 million people demanded a strong, new EU law to protect the world’s forests and other ecosystems, and fed straight into the European Commission’s public consultation on deforestation. Together, they sent a powerful message: It’s time for the EU to stop being part of the problem, and become part of the solution.

On 13 September 2022, the voices of over 200,000 citizens that sent personalised messages to Members of the European Parliament over the summer have been heard. MEPs voted for significant improvements of the proposal of the European Commission for a regulation on deforestation-free products.

They agreed on including “other wooded land” in addition to forests, a higher number of checks on products, clearer definitions for important terms such as “forest degradation” and an enlarged product scope covering more than beef, soy, palm oil, rubber, timber, cacao and coffee. 

In the next few months, the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council will negotiate the final text of the EU Deforestation law, so that only nature destruction-free products are found in our shops and on our tables.

Stay up to date following the #Together4Forests campaign.

To further the EU’s policy agenda on illegal logging, deforestation and forest degradation, we work on two important policy areas:
 
Illegal and unsustainable logging: WWF works to ensure that all wood products on the EU market are legally sourced. To achieve this we are working to make sure that both the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) and the EU Action Plan on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) are properly implemented and enforced.
 
Addressing the EU’s role in global deforestation and ecosystem destruction: WWF is advocating for strong EU action on deforestation and forest degradation but also on ecosystem conversion and degradation, including a new EU deforestation law. Other measures also include strengthening cooperation with other countries producing and consuming commodities to address the underlying drivers of nature destruction and human rights violations.