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BRUSSELS, Dec. 6 (AP) — European Union lawmakers and governments reached an agreement Tuesday that would ban imports of products that contribute to global deforestation.
The preliminary agreement, which still needs formal approval by the European Parliament, requires companies to verify that the goods they sell in the EU are not contributing to deforestation and forest degradation anywhere in the world by 2021.
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Companies need to demonstrate that the goods they import comply with regulations in the country of origin, including with regard to human rights and the protection of indigenous peoples.
Forests around the world are increasingly threatened by deforestation for timber and agriculture, including soy and palm oil. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 420 million hectares (1.6 million square miles) of forest were destroyed between 1990 and 2020, an area larger than the European Union.
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Pascal Canfin, chair of the European Parliament’s environment committee, said the agreement reached by the 27-nation bloc marked a “world first”.
“If importers can’t document that they don’t come from deforested areas, Europe will close its doors to everyday products that have the biggest impact on deforestation in the world,” he said. “It’s the coffee we drink in the morning, the chocolate we eat, the charcoal we use at our barbecues, the paper in our books. It’s radical, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
More than 100 countries committed last year to halt and reverse global deforestation by 2030 as part of efforts to combat climate change. Forests are an important natural means of removing greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere because plants absorb carbon dioxide as they grow. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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