FAM (Foundation Asset Management AB), which is owned by the three largest Wallenberg Foundations, commissioned a report from AFRY (AFRY AB, a Swedish supplier of engineering, design, and advisory services) to estimate the material substitution potential in the EU forest industry. The report was published on April 9th with the header “Substitution potential and climate impact in the EU forest value chain”. According to the report, forest products already contribute a climate benefit equivalent to the emissions of 50 million EU citizens. This climate benefit comes from what is known as the ..read more

EUSTAFOR is delighted to announce our new associate Ann-Mari Kuparinen from Metsähallitus, Finnish State Forests. She joined our team in the beginning of April and will work in Forestry House until February 2025. Ann-Mari graduated with MSc of Agriculture & Forestry from Joensuu University. Before that she obtained a BSc of Forestry in Rovaniemi Polytechnic. Ann-Mari has worked for Metsähallitus, the Finnish State Forest Organization, for the last 14 years, during which she has gained experience in several positions from forestry planning to timber logistics and land-use management. For th ..read more

During a plenary meeting held on 10 April, the European Parliament adopted the provisional agreement on a Regulation laying down an EU-wide voluntary framework to certify carbon removals as its first reading position on the file, with 441 votes in favour, 139 votes against and 41 abstentions. The European Parliament issued a press release following the adoption of its first reading position. Key takeaways: (i) quality criteria requiring that certifiable activities are quantifiable pursuant to a specific formula and accompanying rules for each activity, additional considering EU and national re ..read more

This week the New European Bauhaus Festival takes place in Brussels, with satellite event all over Europe. This event was organized to promote the New European Bauhaus initiative, which aims at accelerating the transformation of various economic sectors such as construction and textiles in order to provide access to all citizens to goods that are circular and less carbon intensive. An important element of this is of course the use of forest material as the basis of many products. Therefore, EUSTAFOR is proud to present a new video on how our state forests supply the European bioeconomy with su ..read more

On 20 April 2024, the Circular Choices alliance organized its event under the Belgian Presidency. The event’s central theme was EU competitiveness and how an innovative circular bioeconomy sector is contributing to the open strategic autonomy in Europe. After an opening statement by Mr Jérôme Noël, the General Delegate for Wallonia-Brussels to the EU, there were several presentations on case studies. One of the presentations was by Mr Gary Healy from Coillte, who is also Chairman of EUSTAFOR’s Advocacy Group. He presented the results of a study by Anna Kleissner on the economic impact of the b ..read more

On 20 April 2024, the Commission released the communication on their new Biotechnology & Biotechnology initiative. The document gives an overview of the current impact of biotechnology on the European economy and what the challenges are for the EU to remain competitive on the global market. Although forests and forestry are mentioned a few times in the document, it seems clear that the intended scope is very broad and that our sector plays only a minor role in the initiative. The initiative focuses mainly on innovative applications of wood components, algae, enzymes and other bioproducts t ..read more

On 6 & 7 March, EUSTAFOR had the honor to host the yearly General Assembly in Brussels. The two-day sequence started off with the second ExCom meeting of 2024, which took place in the European Forestry House. The most important topics on the agenda were the application of Catalonia for Voting Membership, which was accepted, and whether EUSTAFOR should publish a press release in which we demand postponement of the implementation requirements of the EUDR. The first day continued with the General Assembly in the COPA-Cogeca premises. This meeting gave the Brussels Office the opportunity to pr ..read more

HoliSoils is already in its third year, and this year’s annual meeting brought into focus the depth of work being carried out in the project, from soil and forest management strategies, biophysical research linked to disturbance and to microbiological processes, to modelling, data and monitoring frameworks for greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Considering that better understanding of forest soils will facilitate better planning of forest management practices to fit the needs in changing climate, as part of the project stakeholder advisory board and with a great interest, EUSTAFOR ..read more

The European Commission published its Guidelines for Defining, Mapping, Monitoring and Strictly Protecting EU Primary and Old-Growth Forests in March 2023. These guidelines set out the definitions and mapping criteria for identifying  as well as an indicative timeline for the mapping and protection of such forests by Member States. To get an overview on the process of developing and applying the mapping methods, the Commission organised a webinar on 5 March 2024. The webinar agenda included examples from 4 selected countries (Finland, Latvia, Romania and Bulgaria), detailin ..read more

Concerned about the excessive administrative burden that the EU Deforestation regulation would place on EU’s agricultural and forestry operations, at the recent AGRIFISH Council meeting from 26 March, Austria called for a “targeted and immediate revision” of the EU Deforestation Regulation. “The overall objective of combating deforestation in third countries must not be to the detriment of the European economy, and in particular of agriculture and the European forestry sector“1, indicates Austria in a document dated March 21. Presented behind closed doors to the Council of Ministers of Agricul ..read more