- NGOs call on Energy Council to end support for burning forests as renewable energy
The current reform to forest biomass policy supported by the Council will lead to ecosystem and climate collapse - NGOs file two ground-breaking lawsuits to protect the forest carbon sink and demand real climate action
Using all the tools in the toolbox – including litigation – is the only path forward now to secure a livable future for people and ecosystems. - EU climate, nature and air quality goals are in jeopardy because of wood-burning for energy, new study shows
Climate-critical land carbon sink is rapidly declining, while harvesting and burning wood for biomass energy continues to grow - Environmental coalition sues the European Commission over inclusion of biomass and forestry activities in EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy
NGOs say finance rules will greenlight projects that increase climate warming and destroy forests - European Parliament vote signals the beginning of the end for forest biomass as renewable energyNGOs Call on EU Leaders to Strengthen Provisions in Trilogue
- OECD Watchdog Advances Greenwashing Complaint Against Biomass Giant Drax
EU policymakers and investors take note: biomass company claims about carbon neutrality don’t survive scrutiny. - Court greenlights NGO challenge to logging permits in Estonian Natura 2000 sites after just one day
Case has high probability of success, Court says - European Parliament’s Environment Committee recommends curtailing burning forest biomass for renewable energy
Vote is positive step toward restoring forests for climate and nature, but more is needed, NGOs say - Yes, Finland is devouring its forests for biomass fuel
The evidence that Finland is burning up its carbon sink – and its old-growth forests – couldn’t be clearer. - New Report Shows Biomass Industry Is Lighting Facts on Fire With Sustainability Claims
Many countries make misleading claims about wood use and so-called “climate benefits” of burning forest wood - Environmental Coalition Challenges Sweeping EU Finance Policy, Seeking to Block Investment in Bioenergy & Unsustainable ForestryEuropean Commission has greenwashed climate pollution, put forests at risk, & ignored science
- EU climate plan bets on non-existent technology to reduce emissions
Doubling down on burning biomass, and then counting on BECCS to hide the carbon later – what could possibly go wrong? - The Glasgow Declaration on Forests doesn’t go far enough
The €10.3 billion paid out in one year of EU bioenergy subsidies is equivalent to total public financing for the Forest Declaration – a kind of reverse offset. - Forest Biomass Media Monitor
Curated summaries and excerpts of biomass media coverage from month to month. - Review of final EU Forest Strategy, July 16, 2021
The document still gets it wrong on the bioeconomy, but at least finally admits that increasing logging for wood products won’t help with climate mitigation in line with the EU’s 2050 goal. - Proposed EU bioenergy rules are empty green rhetoricDespite cosmetic changes, the proposal will continue to send tens of millions of trees up EU smokestacks each year
- Leaked draft of EU Forest Strategy: A lot to like, undermined by one glaring anti-science error
Ongoing faith in the “bio-economy” for climate mitigation is shown to be magical thinking by the European Commission’s own top scientists - Leaked EU proposal for biomass reform denounced as dangerous greenwashing by NGOs
Advocates insist on science-based policies to protect forests and the climate - Stop burning forest wood for renewable energy, says Polish Chamber of Commerce for the Wood Industry
Message to Policymakers: we urge you to withdraw forest biomass from the EU’s renewable energy targets and to stop supporting it. - The EC offers business-as-usual in their proposal to reform biomass policies
If the EC were serious about stopping the catastrophic decline of forest ecosystems and the carbon sink, they’d take forest biomass out of the RED altogether.
Forest Defenders Alliance
Forests for life