Debate: Land grabbing and deforestation in the Amazonas
Date: FRIDAY, 19 JUNE 2020
Speaker: Virginijus Sinkevičius
Language: EN

The challenges that affect the Amazon Basin are complex, multi-faceted and require close regional cooperation among the countries that share it. The environmental dimension of these challenges is closely interconnected with fundamental socio-economic factors, as well as issues such as widespread poverty, corruption, human rights abuses, stability and security.  Territories of indigenous people and local communities in the Amazon overlap to a very large degree with the world’s best-preserved biodiversity and ecosystems. The indigenous people and local communities have therefore to be part of the solution. Tackling deforestation in the Amazon is essential not only to fight global biodiversity loss and climate change, but also to achieve sustainable development and poverty eradication. In line with the ambitions set out in the European Green Deal and the new EU biodiversity strategy for 2030, the EU is fully committed to tackling deforestation. We are determined to take a leading role internationally and to use diplomacy, trade policy and development cooperation tools. At the global level, the EU will push for an ambitious post-2020 global biodiversity framework to ensure that by 2050 all of the world’s ecosystems, including forests, are restored, resilient and adequately protected.  The global framework should include specific targets for halting the loss of primary forests and for preserving ecosystems’ health, in line with the proposals in the EU biodiversity strategy. We will continue to support action against deforestation and forest degradation as a part of the implementation of the Paris Agreement, including through continued commitment to raise the ambition of forest competence, of nationally determined contributions and continued support to the international initiative on reducing emissions for deforestation and forest degradation.  With regard to EU policies, the Commission is working on a series of actions to fight deforestation as a part of the follow-up to our communication on stepping-up EU action to protect and restore the world’s forests adopted in July 2019. As part of the follow up to last year’s communication, the Commission will present in 2021 a legislative proposal and other measures to avoid or minimise the placing of products associated with deforestation on the EU market and to promote forest-friendly imports and value chains. We are currently conducting the related impact assessment.  Instruments could include voluntary commitment of the industry, mandatory labelling, due diligence, certification schemes, approaches similar to the EU system against illegal fishing, bilateral agreements or other measures.  We very much welcome the European Parliament’s engagement on deforestation and look forward to Ms Burkhardt’s draft legislative initiative report, which once adopted, we will evaluate carefully. To tackle the issue of deforestation, we also need to engage more with the private sector, especially with the EU, to get stronger commitments from their side on sustainable sourcing.  As announced in the biodiversity strategy, the Commission will also put forward a new initiative in 2021 on sustainable corporate governance. This initiative will address human rights, environmental duty of care and due diligence across sectors. Other action taken by the Commission includes the creation of a multi-stakeholder platform on deforestation, which will meet for the first time in October and of an EU observatory that will use the earth observation and trade data to facilitate information on global deforestation.  The EU is determined to work in partnership with, and support efforts by partner countries in the Amazon to tackle deforestation. Human rights, including those of indigenous people, and local communities in the Amazon, as well as environmental protection are at the core of the values underpinning the EU relations with third countries, including the countries of the Amazon basin.  Therefore, these issues are systematically raised within our established mechanisms for political dialogue and cooperation. Our dialogue is not limited to central government. We are also actively engaging with a broad range of stakeholders including sub-national local governance, judiciary authorities, civil society and progressive business associations. Our dialogue is key to success.  Free trade agreements with countries in the region are another way to engage and promote cooperation on international commitments on climate and the environment in particular, in the context of their trade and sustainable development chapters.  The EU is addressing the root causes of deforestation through our significant development assistance to forests, land use, sustainable livelihoods and indigenous people in the Amazon basin, with a total of ongoing projects amounting to EUR 166 million.  Protecting biodiversity and fighting deforestation requires protected areas and good governance. It also goes hand in hand with improving the livelihoods of local populations and respecting the rights of indigenous people. This integrated sustainable development approach is at the centre of our development cooperation policy. The Commission supports the implementation of the ILO Convention 169 on the indigenous and tribal people as well as the implementation of the UN voluntary guidelines on governance of tenure of land and forests. Finally, our human rights instruments have been mobilised on rights of indigenous people and of environmental defenders, unfortunately too often at stake in the Amazon region. I look forward to working closely with you on this important issue.