Citizens of five European countries want the products they buy not to cause deforestation in third countries and are against delaying European legislation against deforestation, according to the results of a survey published on Monday.
The survey, released in a statement by the Portuguese environmental association Zero, was carried out in five countries, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
It indicates that “despite the disinformation campaign of the ‘lobby’ linked to the agri-food industries, in an attempt to delay the anti-deforestation legislation”, with the excuse of the war in Ukraine, seven out of 10 respondents believe that the war uses to continue promoting products that cause deforestation.
The European Commission presented last year a proposal for a regulation to ensure that European supply chains do not lead to deforestation and forest degradation.
The proposal is being debated this Tuesday at the European Council, but according to a Zero statement, there are environment ministers from several states “who are giving in to the industry lobby” and are “willing to weaken the final text.” .
The results of the survey indicate that almost nine out of 10 of those surveyed support the strengthening of the regulation proposal under discussion, which is generally the case, including supporters of the parties/leaders in power.
“The powerful lobbies of the meat, palm oil and chocolate industries exert political pressure in Brussels and in the main national capitals to dilute a proposed regulation that would require guarantees from companies that products sold in the European Union (EU) are free from deforestation,” says Zero.
“This survey shows that European citizens want improvements to the European Commission proposal (…). It is hoped that the Portuguese government will contribute effectively to the final proposal for a regulation that is robust and forceful in order to combat deforestation phenomena and attacks on the human rights of peoples and communities thousands of kilometers away, allowing products that they reach the consumer are guaranteed sustainable”, says the president of Zero, Francisco Ferreira, quoted in the document.
Europe is one of the biggest drivers of global deforestation, second only to China. The European Union is responsible for 16% of tropical deforestationthrough the importation of products such as beef, soybeans, palm oil, rubber, wood, cocoa and coffee and derivatives.
Agriculture drives nearly 90% of tropical deforestation, says Zero, citing the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The survey was commissioned by environmental organizations and 5,000 people were interviewed, 1,000 in each country.
Source: Observadora
