The EU is facing unrelenting pressure from the US to reverse policies designed to protect the natural world and fight climate change (Report, October 9). This must be resisted.
An egregious example is Washington's use of ongoing EU-US trade talks to try to force the EU to gut its anti-deforestation law (EUDR).
This landmark legislation bans the import of goods including soy, timber and cocoa, if companies cannot prove that they are deforestation-free. It was passed with an overwhelming democratic mandate in 2023.
The European Commission appears willing to acquiesce to Washington's demands for special treatment under the EUDR, on the basis of US claims that it poses a negligible risk of deforestation and forest degradation.
As a US civil society organisation with decades of experience protecting forests, we can state unequivocally that such claims do not stack up.
In fact, the US administration is in the process of eliminating key environmental safeguards (including for forests), and has directed agencies to significantly increase timber production. This is likely to compound an already grim picture in many US forests. For example, government data and civil society reports document the widespread conversion of forests in the south-east to monoculture plantations for biomass production, with the EU as a major destination market.
Rather than appeasing an administration determined to dismantle environmental protections, it is more important than ever for the EU to maintain its global leadership and vision.