Every second counts in protecting forests and ecosystems: urgent EUDR

“Every second counts in the protection of forests and global ecosystems” is the title of the letter that will be sent this Wednesday (May 15) to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, by Brazilian civil society organizations. The implementation postponement of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) has generated warnings in Brazil in favor of the defense of the Cerrado and the Amazon, biomes that may lose even more native vegetation with the eventual delay in putting into practice the requirement of deforestation-free imports.

In 2023, each day, an area of more than one and a half cities in Brussels, the main headquarters of the European Commission, was deforested or converted in these two biomes. Thus, the signatories of the letter call for transparency and traceability of imported goods to be established in order to avoid further destruction and violence in Brazil and many other commodity exporting countries.

Brazilian civil organizations call on the European Union to make a firm commitment to the implementation of the EUDR in 2025, emphasizing that any delay could aggravate biodiversity loss and intensify climate change. “We strongly support the regulation as an essential tool to ensure traceability and transparency in commodity production and trade, crucial to protecting vital ecosystems and indigenous and traditional communities,” says Guilherme Eidt, Public Policy and Advocacy coordinator at ISPN.

“Delaying the entry into force of the European legislation would be a bad sign for the Brazilian agricultural sector, which has already been resisting the deforestation control policies of the federal government. At a time when the signs of uncontrolled climate crisis hit us in the face, with the floods in Rio Grande do Sul, Kenya and Central Asia, giving up an important emission control instrument like the EUDR would mean ordering more tragedies in the future,” says Mariana Lyrio, Public Policy Advisor at the Climate Observatory.

The European regulations represent a chance for European citizens to curb global deforestation and control the origin of the products they consume. The main products at risk of deforestation, such as beef, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soy, rubber and wood, imported and manufactured in Europe, will need to have their origins traced back to the land where they were grown, using geolocation data, to prove that they are not linked to any deforestation or illegality.

“This groundbreaking regulation is an ambitious attempt to address issues like these around the world, with the potential to serve as a benchmark for similar regulations in China, India, the US and Japan, eliminating most of the world’s deforestation related to raw materials,” reads an excerpt from the letter.

Deforestation has a huge impact on human rights, through land appropriation (land grabbing), forced evictions and the widespread violence they cause in the countryside. Territories of Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Peoples and Communities, in addition to Family Farmers, are constantly invaded by agribusiness. “Every second counts to protect human lives today as well as the future of humanity, prevent climate change and halt biodiversity loss,” highlights the letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Real the full letter.

Sign the letter:

1. Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil – APIB (Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, 8 member organizations)
2. Associação Alternativa Terrazul
3. Associação Soluções Inclusivas Sustentáveis – SIS
4. Centro de Agricultura Alternativa do Norte de Minas – CAA
5. Centro Internacional de Água e Transdisciplinaridade – CIRAT
6. Coordenação Nacional de Articulação das Comunidades Negras Rurais Quilombolas – CONAQ (National Coordination for the Articulation of Black Rural Quilombola Communities – 3.500+ local Community representations from 24 subnational States)
7. Fundação Ecotrópica
8. Fundação Pró-Natureza (Funatura)
9. Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica
10. Grupo Ambientalista da Bahia – Gambá
11. ⁠Instituto Cerrados
12. Instituto Clima de Eleição
13. Instituto Centro de Vida – ICV
14. Instituto de Estudos Socioeconômicos – INESC
15. Instituto Sociedade, População e Natureza – ISPN
16. Instituto Socioambiental – ISA
17. Kurytiba Metropole
18. Mater Natura – Instituto de Estudos Ambientais
19. Observatório do Clima (Brazilian Climate Observatory, 106 member organizations)
20. Observatório do Código Florestal – OCF (Forest Code Observatory, 40+ member organizations)
21. Observatório de Conflitos Socioambientais do Matopiba
22. Rede Cerrado (Cerrado Network, more than 50 member organizations)
23. Rede Mata Atlântica – RMA (Atlantic Forest Network, 121 member institutions)
24. World Animal Protection Brazil
25. WWF Brasil