*[Enwl-eng] Save our trees
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Europe’s forests are disappearing at an alarming pace - because we burn them. The EU calls it “green energy” and gives industry subsidies to do it! Now, EU leaders will finally look into it. This is our chance to save Europe’s forests. |
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“I recently wanted to go for a walk in the forest I know from my childhood, near my grandparents’ house. But what I remembered as a peaceful, green sanctuary, looked like the picture of misery - stretches of bare tree stumps, perfectly healthy trees cut down in hundreds. I felt like crying.”
My colleague Monika shared this story with me and she is not alone. Europe’s forests are disappearing at a pace unseen for decades. [1] There is a whole industry that cuts and burns forest and the EU calls it “green energy”. We even support it with our taxpayer money!
But there is a glimpse of hope: Right now, the EU is looking at how to change the law about what counts as green energy and hence receives EU subsidies. This is our opportunity to exclude energy linked to deforestation. [2]
We know they will hear from some of the world's biggest companies, so let’s make sure they also listen to our voices from across Europe.
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Across the EU, the subsidies this industry gets from the state are enormous and growing. For example, in Germany in 2017 they filled their pockets with over €1.7 billion of public funds: this would amount to €20 per German citizen. [3]
And it’s not just EU forests that are suffering. The EU imports an increasing amount of wood from the US, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, and even Brazil - all to be burnt in the EU. [4] One of the world’s leading climatologists, professor Bill Moomaw sums up: “I’m at loss to understand how this policy went forward unless you discover there was total government capture by the forest products industry.” [5]
Rarely a small change in the rules can mean so much for the future of our planet. We can save our forests by just removing trees from the list of “green” energy sources - so let’s put pressure on the EU to do just that.
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Our community has come together to save forests before, and succeeded in Romania, Bulgaria and Poland! [6] Now is our chance to stand up for all forests, in Europe and beyond.
Thank you!
David (London), Marta (Warsaw) and the entire WeMove
Europe team
PS: Burning trees also impacts our health. Wood burning is a major source of the air pollution that already kills over 1,000 people per day in the EU. [7] Sign!
References:
[1] See the findings in “Nature”: Between 2011–15 and
2016–18, harvested forest area in Europe increased from 0.76 million hectares to
1.13 million hectares.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01848-x
[2]
https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12553-EU-renewable-energy-rules-review/public-consultation
[3]
See the detailed report:
https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/burnout-eu-clean-energy-policies-forest-destruction-ip.pdf
[4]
A recent article:
https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/are-forests-the-new-coal-global-alarm-sounds-as-biomass-burning-surges/
and a more detailed
report:
https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/biosustain_report_final.pdf
[5]
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/3/4/18216045/renewable-energy-wood-pellets-biomass
[6]
Romania:
https://you.wemove.eu/campaigns/romania-save-europe-s-last-large-virgin-forests;
Bulgaria:
https://act.wemove.eu/campaigns/Save-the-Kresna-Gorge, Poland:
https://act.wemove.eu/campaigns/defend-forest?utm_source=civimail-34134&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20201217_EN
[7]
https://op.europa.eu/webpub/eca/special-reports/air-quality-23-2018/en/
You Move Europe is an online action platform dedicated to help making Europe a more democratic, environmentally and socially just place. You Move Europe puts power in your hands. If you have an idea to make Europe a better place, You Move Europe helps you make it a reality. Petitions on this platform are started and run by civil society groups and members of the public. WeMove Europe hosts these petitions and they are in line with our values but they are not necessarily endorsed by WeMove Europe.
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