The European Union has just agreed an EU Regulation on deforestation-free supply chains. The new law will ensure that a set of key goods placed on the EU market no longer contribute to deforestation and forest degradation in the EU and elsewhere in the world. This major agreement came just before the start of the milestone Conference on Biodiversity (COP15) which defined protection goals for nature for decades to come. When the new rules enter into force, all relevant companies will have to conduct strict due diligence if they place on the EU market, or export from it: palm oil, cattle, soy, coffee, cocoa, timber and rubber as well as derived products (such as beef, furniture, or chocolate).

To explore this new regulation and the concerns surrounding deforestation a panel event was held at Europe House. Opening the event Deputy Ambassador Nicole Mannion highlighted the centrality of forests in furthering biodiversity and climate goals and opened the floor to the panel which included notably Bojan Grlaš from DG Environment and Emma Donnelly, Deputy Director International Nature, Climate and Development at Defra. Bojan Grlaš outlined the newly agreed EU policy on deforestation – including that the EU will restrict imports of commodities linked to all forms of deforestation, illegal and "legal" as defined locally. Fellow panellists Celine Lim, a Malaysian environmental activist, Kaja Blumtritt, Law and Policy Advisor at Client Earth and Mike Senior, Deputy Director, Conservation and Land Use at Proforest further expanded on the challenges inherent in the protection of forests and the safeguarding of biodiversity. Blumtritt underlined to the room the importance of the EU's newly agreed regulation, calling it a ‘big deal’ that would significantly alter the demand-side of the supply chain equation. For the UK’s part, Emma Donnelly explained the remit of the UK Environment Act – specifying that it only targets "illegal" deforestation and reiterated the value of international, holistic partnerships between importing and exporting countries.

For more on the EU regulation on deforestation in supply chains see here and to re-watch the event please visit the Delegation facebook page.