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European Union's Regulation on Deforestation-free Supply Chains: Green Protectionism or Paving Way for Global Decarbonization Pathways
Time:
Wednesday, 25/Oct/2023:
12:30pm - 2:00pm
Location:GR 1.129
Session Conference Streams:
Inter- and Transdisciplinarity for Sustainability Transformations
Presentations
European Union's Regulation on Deforestation-free Supply Chains: Green Protectionism or Paving Way for Global Decarbonization Pathways
Chair(s): Hans Bruyninckx (European Environment Agency)
Presenter(s): Sven Wunder (European Forest Institute), Eeva Primmer (WWF Netherlands), Seline Meijer (Forests at Friends of the Earth Netherlands), Danielle van Oijen (European Forest Institute), Darren Thomas (Double Helix Tracking Technologies)
For over three decades now the European Union and its member states have helped develop, promote, and in some cases administer, a range of global policy interventions for reducing tropical deforestation. From promoting eco-labelling initiatives such as the Forest Stewardship Council, to participating in criteria and indicators for sustainable management following the Rio Earth Summit to subsequent efforts on forest legality compliance, the EU has played a key role in global efforts to develop sophisticated market mechanisms with which to help maintain, conserve, and restore tropical forest ecosystems.
The purpose of this dialogue is to generate thinking about the potential challenges and opportunities behind the EU’s latest attempt: this time centring around the specific task of fostering “deforestation free” supply chains known as the “European Union’s no deforestation regulation”. This effort is both narrower, but also in many ways bolder, than its emphasis on “voluntary partnership agreements” as a means to foster and reinforce, domestic forest sustainability initiatives.
What do we make of this latest effort from the EU? Is it destined to become yet another policy tool demarked by the “policy creation euphoria, implementation depression” phase of global environmental governance? Or, will it best seen as part of a “green protectionism” that, as highlighted by EU-US debates over domestic green subsidies, has spurred a range of cross border adjustment mechanisms that target production and responsibilities beyond national and regional borders. Or might it be designed to help foster and accelerate what are now a flurry of decarbonization efforts taking place at multiple scales?
This panel seek to bring together ESG network scholars to explore these questions and generate a dialogue on how to engage in, and think about, policy calibration and settings in the EU context that might foster, rather than detract from, just transitions and tropical forest conservation.
The dialogue is a follow-up on the semi-plenary session on 24th October (12.30-2.00 pm), discussing the implications of EU’s deforestation regulation policy changes on the demand-supply dynamics in Europe & beyond. It aims to bring together ESG network scholars and EU based policy practitioners to explore potential challenges and opportunities of this latest policy intervention that aims to drive deforestation free supply chains. Through engaged deliberations, we hope to generate meaningful insights about how to engage in, while considering policy calibrations and settings in the EU context that might enhance, rather than detract from, just transitions and tropical forest conservation.
Speakers:
Dr. Eeva Primmer (Research Director, Finnish Environment Institute)
Dr. Seline Meijer (Senior Advisor Food & Agriculture at WWF Netherlands)
Ms. Danielle van Oijen, Programme Coordinator, Forests at Friends of the Earth Netherlands)
Dr. Sven Wunder (Principal Scientist, European Forest Institute)
Mr. Darren Thomas (Co-founder & CEO, Double Helix Tracking Technologies)
