64 Amendments of Maria HEUBUCH related to 2018/2003(INI)
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 31 a (new)
Citation 31 a (new)
– having regard to the High Level Expert Group final report on Sustainable Financing,
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 31 b (new)
Citation 31 b (new)
– having regard to the European Parliament resolution on Palm oil and deforestation of rainforests 2016/2222(INI),
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas forests provide essential ecosystem services, such as soil and water conservation and clean air;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas forests prevent land degradation and desertification and reduce i.e. the risk of floods, landslides and drought;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas clear, consistent and up- to-date information on forest cover is crucial for effective monitoring and law enforcement;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas FLEGT - VPA focus on industrial logging, while the vast majority of illegal logging stems from artisanal logging and timber from farms;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. whereas FLEGT - VPA has a too narrow definition of “legality”, leaving sometimes aside crucial issues related to land tenure and rights of local people;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D c (new)
Recital D c (new)
Dc. whereas FLEGT - VPA, REDD + and certification have remained separate initiatives, which should be further coordinated;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D d (new)
Recital D d (new)
Dd. whereas the implementation of FLEGT objectives depends heavily on major producing, processing and trading countries such as China, Russia, India, South Korea and Japan and their commitment to fighting against illegal logging and trade in illegal timber products; and whereas bilateral political dialogue with these partners have produced limited results to date;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D e (new)
Recital D e (new)
De. whereas a 2016 review of the EU Timber Regulation concluded that the implementation and the enforcement of the regulation was incomplete;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas a 2016 joint report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and INTERPOL1 identify forest crimes as being among the five most salient challenges to achieving the SDGs and state that illegal logging represents between 15 and 30% of the global legal trade; _________________ 1 Nellemann, C. (Editor in Chief); Henriksen, R., Kreilhuber, A., Stewart, D., Kotsovou, M., Raxter, P., Mrema, E., and Barrat, S. (Eds). 2016. The Rise of Environmental Crime – A Growing Threat to Natural Resources, Peace, Development And Security, A UNEP-INTERPOL Rapid Response Assessment, United Nations Environment Programme and RHIPTO Rapid Response, Norwegian Center for Global Analyses, www.rhipto.org.
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas forest crime can take several forms: illegal exploitation of high- value endangered wood species (CITES listed); illegal logging of timber for building material and furniture; illegal logging and laundering of wood through plantation and agricultural front companies to supply pulp for the paper industry and utilisation of the vastly unregulated wood fuel and charcoal trade to conceal illegal logging in and outside protected areas;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
Eb. whereas large-scale deforestation for agriculture, mining and infrastructure development is causing severe human rights violations with devastating impacts on forest peoples, such as land grab, forced evictions, police harassment, arbitrary arrest, and criminalisation of community leaders, human rights defenders and activists;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J a (new)
Recital J a (new)
Ja. whereas beef production, agricultural crops such as soy, and large industrial palm oil plantations and eucalyptus are the main drivers of deforestation in tropical countries;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J b (new)
Recital J b (new)
Jb. whereas soy expansion accounted for nearly half of all forest destruction embodied in EU crop imports and 19% of all global deforestation due to agriculture between 1990 and 20081; _____________________ 1 Final report of European Commission Study “The impact of EU consumption on deforestation: Comprehensive analysis of the impact of EU consumption on deforestation” (2013), pp. 21 - 22.
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J c (new)
Recital J c (new)
Jc. whereas soy expansion has led to social and environmental problems, such as soil erosion, water depletion, pesticide contamination, forced displacement of people; whereas indigenous communities have been among those most affected;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J d (new)
Recital J d (new)
Jd. whereas the expansion of palm oil plantations has led to massive forest destruction and social conflicts that pit plantation companies against indigenous groups and local communities;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J e (new)
Recital J e (new)
Je. whereas in recent years, many private companies have adopted commitments to eliminate or reduce deforestation associated with their supply chains, in particular focusing on commodities such as palm oil, soy, beef and timber; whereas public measures aimed at agricultural products remain nevertheless relatively rare;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J f (new)
Recital J f (new)
Jf. whereas forests are vital for sustainable agriculture and improve food security and nutrition;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J g (new)
Recital J g (new)
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J h (new)
Recital J h (new)
Jh. whereas primary forests are rich in biodiversity and store 30 to 70 percent more carbon than logged or degraded forests;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recalls that the Agenda 2030 recognises that forests play a critical role in sustainable development as well as for the Paris agreement;
Amendment 79 #
2. Notes with concern that the forest sector is particularly vulnerable to poor governance, including corruption, fraud and organised crime; deplores that even in countries that have good forest laws, implementation is weak;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Is alarmed that human rights violations, land grabs and the seizure of indigenous land have intensified, driven by the expansion of infrastructure, monoculture plantations for food, fuel and fibre, logging, and carbon mitigation actions such as biofuels, natural gas or large-scale hydropower development;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. DHighlights that illegal logging causes loss of tax revenues for developing countries; in particular, deplores the fact that offshore tax havens and tax avoidance schemes are being used to fund shell companies and subsidiaries of major pulp, logging and mining companies associated with deforestation, as confirmed by the Panama and Paradise Papers; urges once more the EU to show strong political will and determination against tax avoidance and evasion domestically and with third countries;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Recognizes that forests are estimated to be a major resource for more than 2.4 billion people, who rely on forest goods and services for the direct provision of food, woodfuel, building materials, medicines, employment, and cash income;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Notes with concern that space for civil society and communities to challenge weak governance is shrinking;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Stresses that reducing tropical deforestation is necessary to enhance the speed and scale and reduce the cost of climate change mitigation to limit climate change below 1.5 degrees; therefore urges the EU to use its global political influence to advance partnerships and progress towards Paris Agreement commitments on forests in the contexts of climate change mitigation and adaptation and to mobilize additional financing for its implementation, with the view to promote sustainable forest management in developing countries and to decouple development from deforestation;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Stresses the importance of the world’s last remaining intact primary forests for the important wildlife and disproportionally high amount of ecosystem services they provide, notes with concern the increasing rates of deforestation within these wilderness areas and the lack of global or EU policies, targets or finance dedicated to protecting them;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Welcomes the announcement byCalls on the Commission thato make the FAO VGGT will become binding for the External Investment Plan; stresses that compliance with VGGT requires the existence of effective independent monitoring and enforcement, including appropriate dispute resolution and grievance mechanisms; insists that standards on land tenure are included in project design, monitoring and annual reporting and become binding for all EU external action funded by ODA;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Urges the European Commission and the Member States to establish, as an immediate step, an effective administrative complaint mechanism for victims of human rights violations and other harmful impacts induced by ODA- funded activities to initiate investigation and reconciliation processes; this mechanism shall have standardized procedures, be of administrative nature, thus be complementary to judicial mechanisms, and EU Delegations could act as entry points;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Encourages corporations to take actions to prevent corruption in their business practices, especially related to the allocation of land tenure rights and to enlarge their external monitoring systems on labour standards to broader deforestation-related commitments;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8b. Calls on the Commission and Member States to address the risk of conflict timber, to ensure that it is defined as illegal through the VPA process; believes that the definition of legality of the Timber Legality Assurance System (TLAS) should be enlarged to include human rights, in particular community tenure rights in all VPAs;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Deplores that defective local participation and lack of forest community agreements in land use zoning and concession allocation are common in many countries; Takes the view that the Timber Legality Assurance Systems (TLAS) should include procedural safeguards that empower communities, with the aim to reduce the likelihood of corrupt or inequitable allocation or transfers of land;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses that transparency of data, better data, mapping, independent monitoring and auditing tools are essential to improving governance and facilitating compliance with zero- deforestation commitments; to these ends, calls on the EU to provide capacity building resources to developing countries;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Asks the EU to support the integration of forest and land governance objectives in the Nationally Determined Contributions of forested developing countries;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10b. Calls on the Commission and Member States to use the proposed ‘FLEGT structured dialogue’ to undertake a proper assessment of corruption risk in the forest sector and develop measures to strengthen participation, transparency, accountability and integrity, as the elements of an anti-corruption strategy;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 c (new)
Paragraph 10 c (new)
10c. Recalls that greater access to customs data on imports entering the EU would increase global value chain transparency and accountability; calls on the Commission to extend customs data requirements and include the exporter and the manufacturer as mandatory customs data elements, thereby enhancing the transparency and traceability of global value chains;
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Calls for the EU to introduce mandatory requirements for the financial industry to undertake robust due diligence when assessing financial and non-financial environmental, social and governance risks; calls equally for public disclosure of due diligence process, at minimum through the annual reporting of investors;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls for the EU to address global deforestation by regulating European trade and consumption of forest-risk commodities, such as soy, palm oil, eucalyptus, beef, leather and cocoa, based on lessons learned from the FLEGT Action Plan, the Timber Regulation, the Conflict Mineral Regulation, the Non-Financial Reporting Directive, legislation on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) and other EU initiatives to regulate supply chains;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 – point c
Paragraph 14 – point c
(c) enforce traceability of commodities and transparency, through labelling, throughout the supply chain;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Calls for the EU to introduce cross- compliance criteria for animal feed in the CAP reform with the objective of reducing imports of protein feed crops and livestock, while incentivising and enhancing domestic protein crop production, and reducing EU consumption level of meat and dairy;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Stresses the need to improve the reliability of voluntary certification schemes, through labelling, with a view to guaranteeing that only palm oil free from deforestation, forest degradation, illegitimate appropriation of land and other human rights violations enters the EU market, and that schemes such as the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) include all end-uses of palm oil;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Calls on the EU and its Member States to ensure the EUTR is strictly and effectively enforced and its product scope extended to all wood-based products;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16b. Calls on the EU to develop a green timber procurement policy to support the protection and restoration of forest ecosystems around the world;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 c (new)
Paragraph 16 c (new)
16c. Recalls that deforestation accounts for nearly 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Is alarmed that EU’s high dependence on imports of animal feed in the form of soybeans causes deforestation abroad; is worried about the environmental impact of increasing imports biomass and rising wood demand in Europe, notably to meet the EU renewable energy targets; Calls on the EU to comply with the principle of policy coherence for development (PCD), as enshrined in Article 208 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and to reform i.e. its energy, agricultural and trade policy accordingly;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. NRecalls that 80% of the forests is the traditional land and territories of indigenous peoples and local communities; notes with concern that the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples has reported receiving an increasing number of allegations concerning situations where climate change mitigation projects have negatively affected the rights of indigenous peoples; stresses the need to secure tenure rights for local forests communitie, notably renewable energy projects such as biofuel production and the construction of hydroelectric dam; stresses the need to secure tenure rights for local forests communities; highlights results-based payments and REDD+ as an opportunity to enhance forest governance, tenure rights and livelihoods;
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Stresses the vital role of indigenous people for sustainable management of natural resources and biodiversity conservation; recalls that UNFCCC calls upon its state parties to respect the knowledge and rights of indigenous peoples as safeguards in implementing REDD+; urges partner countries to adopt measures to effectively engage indigenous peoples in climate change adaptation and mitigation measures;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)
Paragraph 18 b (new)
18b. Notes that the aviation industry relies heavily on carbon offsets, including forest; stresses however that forest offsets face serious criticism, since they are difficult to measure and impossible to guarantee; believes that ICAO should exclude forest offsets from the CORSIA1 mechanism; 1Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA).
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 c (new)
Paragraph 18 c (new)
18c. Calls on the EU and its Member States to enhance synergies between FLEGT-VPA and REDD+;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Recalls that EU policy on biofuel should be consistent with the SDGs and the principle of PCD; reiterates that EU should phase out all policy incentives for agrofuels at the latest by 2030;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Deplores that the ongoing revision of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) does not introduce social sustainability criteria and other indirect land use consequences taking into account risks of land-grabbing; recalls that the Directive should be consistent with international tenure rights standards, i.e. ILO Convention No 169; FAO Voluntary Guidelines on Land Tenures and Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems; stresses equally the need to introduce more stringent criteria on forest biomass to avoid that the promotion of bioenergy triggers off deforestation abroad;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Stresses the need to restore natural, biologically diverse forests; believes that forest restoration programmes should recognize local customary land rights; be inclusive and tailored to local conditions; promote nature-based solutions such as forest landscape restoration (FLR) to balance land uses, including protected areas, agroforestry, farming systems, small-scale plantations and human settlements;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Recognises that sustainable wood value chains, sourced from sustainably managed forests, including sustainable forest plantations and family tree farming, can deliver important contributions to achievement of the SDGs and climate change commitments, in particular enhancement of rural livelihoods, food security, sustainable growth and reduced carbon and material footprints of the planet;
Amendment 182 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Underlines that forest crime, from unregulated or illegal burning of charcoal to large-scale corporate crimes concerning timber, paper and pulp, have major impact on global climate emissions, water reserves, desertification and rain fall patterns;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 b (new)
Paragraph 22 b (new)
22b. Notes with concern that, according to UNEP - INTERPOL, legislation to tackle environmental crime is deemed to be inadequate in many countries, due i.e. to lack of expertise and personnel, low fines or absence of criminal sanctions, etc. which constitute obstacles to the effective fight against these crimes;
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Stresses the need to address the root causes of environmental crime; calls on the EU and its Member States to strengthen the share of ODA to governance and judicial sector reform to combat and prevent environmental crime, especially in LDCs;
Amendment 191 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Stresses the need to upgrade implementation and enforcement of international law of relevance to the promotion of transparent and accountable forest management, inter alia through exchange of best practices; stringent information disclosure; robust sustainability impact assessments, monitoring and reporting systems, taking into account the need to protect forest guards; enhanced cross-sectorial and cross-agency collaboration both at national and international levels, particularly with INTERPOL and UNODC, intelligence sharing and judicial cooperation and the enlargement of the scope of the ICC to cover environmental criminality;
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24a. Calls on the Commission to include ambitious forest-specific provisions in all EU trade and investment agreements, stresses that these provisions shall be binding, enforceable through effective monitoring and sanctions mechanisms that allow individuals and communities, outside or within the EU, to seek redress;
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 b (new)
Paragraph 24 b (new)
24b. Urges the Commission to use FTA anti-corruption chapters to address deforestation and illegal logging;
Amendment 195 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 c (new)
Paragraph 24 c (new)
24c. Calls on the EU to integrate forest diplomacy into its climate policy, with the aim to encourage countries which process and/or import significant quantities of tropical timber, like China and Vietnam, to adopt effective legislation banning the importation of illegally harvested timber and requiring operators to conduct due diligence (similar to the EU Timber Regulation), to this end, calls on the Commission to upgrade transparency on the discussions and actions taken under the BCM - FLEG with China;
Amendment 196 #
24d. Calls on the Commission and its Member States to adopt a policy stipulating that public funding, including climate finance and development funding, shall not be used to support the expansion of industrial scale logging, agriculture, mining, resource extraction, or infrastructure development into intact forest landscapes, and to co-ordinate donor policies in this respect;