The Parliament’s environment Committee discussed whether to move for a resolution to earmark some of the funding from the EU’s ETS (emission trading scheme) for tackling deforestation on 16 February. Although the resolution will probably be passed before EP elections in June, it is unlikely that it will impact directly upon climate legislation immediately, but paves the way for future developments.

The proposal which was co-drafted by Romanian MEP Magor Imre Csibi and Hungarian MEP Péter Olajos, says that activities should not be restricted to preventing deforestation, but should also include reforestation activities. Furthermore future EU policy on the issue should implement measures that not only recognise the need to preserve rainforests outside of Europe, but that Europe’s forests need protecting as well. Here the paper cites the need for preventing rapid deforestation in Eastern Europe in particular, where biodiversity is still much higher than the rest of the EU, due to its Communist and thus less developed past.

Although the idea of deforestation credits was not originally included in the ETS, the climate package agreed in December contained text stating that a framework for incorporating emissions related to forestry would have to be agreed by 2012, should a corresponding agreement fail to be reached in Copenhagen beforehand.

A further motivation for bringing forestry under the ETS is to change some of the counterproductive regulations that arose from the Kyoto protocol. Here Mr Olajos pointed to the additionality criteria of the deal as an example, which actually provides an incentive for forests to be cut down, since only growing new forests counts as an emission reduction effort.

Given Europe’s comparative advantage with respect to technology in the sector however, the challenge would in fact also present itself as an opportunity. Coming up with an appropriate deforestation framework is therefore, in the words of Mr Olajos, ‘not just of moral importance but a business advantage as well’.