Activities of Heidi HAUTALA related to 2023/0222R(NLE)
Shadow reports (1)
INTERIM REPORT on the proposal for a Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the Union, of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire on forest law enforcement, governance and trade in timber and timber products to the European Union (FLEGT)
Legal basis opinions (0)
Amendments (11)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 9 a (new)
Citation 9 a (new)
– having regard to the Paris Climate Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) on halting and reversing nature loss,
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 9 b (new)
Citation 9 b (new)
– having regard to the UN Sustainable Development Goals,
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas approximately 11 % of the land area in Côte d’Ivoire is covered by forests, half of which is tropical rainforest; whereas the forest cover of Côte d’Ivoire has decreased considerablydramatically with a loss of 75% of the country’s forests since 1960, largely due to the expansion of cash crops in the country, notably cocoa, but also rubber, coffee, cashew and palm oil plantations; whereas the forest cover loss in Côte d’Ivoire has gone from an average of 275 000 ha per year between 1990 and 2000, to 71 600 ha per year between 2015 and 2021, and 26 000 ha per year between 2019 and 2021;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas in recent years, forestry as a share of the country’s economy has decreased and in 2019 it only accounted for 1 % of GDP, according to the Ministry of Water and Forests (Ministère des Eaux et Forêts); whereas the forest sector is still the fourth largest source of export revenue and a major employer, but the future of the sector has been threatened by high deforestation rates and unsustainable practices in recent decades; whereas the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) process, which emphasises legality and good governance, is helping the forest sector to increaste its share, provide rural jobs and generate income for Ivoriansustainable rural jobs, preserve biodiversity and carbon sinks, restore nature and generate income for Ivorians by following sustainable forest management practices;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses that the implementation stage requires continued consultations and stakeholder involvement including stakeholders from both within and outside the forestry sector, in particular of the local communities and indigenous populations; while also ensuring the gender factor is taken into account for its implementation; recalls in this respect the need to comply with the principles of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), which shall among others be obtained as a condition of the purchase or the use of customary forest lands, in compliance with international human rights laws, namely the ILO Convention N°169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples and the standards set out in the FAO Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests; calls on the Commission and the EU Delegation in Côte d’Ivoire to provide sufficient capacity-building and logistical and technical support in the framework of present and future development cooperation instruments in order to enable Côte d’Ivoire to fulfil the commitments for the implementation of its TLAS and related measures;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses that the success of the FLEGT also depends on tackling fraud, organised crime and corruption throughout the timber supply chain; urges the Government of Côte d’Ivoire to work to stop widespread corruption and address other factors fuelling illegal logging and forest degradation, with particular regard to customs andin cooperation with other authorities that will play a pivotal role in the implementation and enforcement of the VPA;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes the commitment from the Ministry of Water and Forests to take measures to effectively integrate women into the management of the country’s forest resources; further stresses the importance of the inclusion of women and other vulnerable groups in forest management in future VPA negotiations; calls for gender analysis to be mainstreamed into all activities and projects linked to the implementation of the FLEGT VPA; urges other Ivorian public bodies to adopt gender strategies in forest management;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Recognises that the process of negotiating a VPA can allow sectors to identify shared goals and priorities to work towards sustainable forest management, as well as offer an important opportunity for sociecommunities to allow for participative management of their forests at local, community and regional levels and even up to national or federal level;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Stresses the need to address the root causes of deforestation in Cote d’Ivoire; in this respect, recalls that Côte d'Ivoire is the world’s biggest cocoa producer, and around 40 per cent of it is destined for the European Union (EU); but notes with concern that it only receives between 5% and 7% of the profit generated by this sector globally. As a result, although this sector provides income to one-fifth of the Ivorian population, farmers can usually not make a living from their work and their production. It is estimated that 54.9% of Ivorian cocoa producers and their families currently live below the poverty line ; recalls that the best way to make cocoa sustainable is to ensure companies pay a fair price for cocoa and adequate remuneration for farmers while abolishing child labour in cocoa production;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Emphasises the importance of land use in forest governance and that a strategic vision in forest governance linked to climate change and biodiversity issues is needed; calls on the Government of Côte d’Ivoire to ensure close coordination between the existing different initiatives in the forest sector, such as REDD+, the FLEGT VPA and nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement and national targets under the Kunming- Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)