Page 42 - European Energy Innovation - Spring 2017 publication

42 Spring 2017 European Energy Innovation

EUROPEAN FORESTS

European forests at a crossroads

By Emma Berglund, Secretary General, Confederation of European Forest Owners (CEPF)

Two years ago, I wrote an for combatting climate change, and SEEING THE FORESTS FOR THE TREES
article for EEI on the topic the EU has put forward concrete Seeing these latest EU policy
“Forests are Europe’s green proposals with a direct impact developments and discussions in
gold”. I stated that “it’s on how we manage and use our Brussels, I’m starting to wonder if
easy to fall in love with the forest”, forests. Most pertinent for forests is we are really seeing the forests for
as it offers us so many diverse and the Commission’s proposal on how the trees. The coming years will be
important benefits, like climate change to account for the carbon dioxide decisive for bringing EU on track
mitigation, renewable materials and removals and emissions from forests, to combat climate change. In the
energy, jobs and growth, recreation the so called LULUCF regulation, development of EU climate and
and biodiversity. and the proposal for a Recast of the energy policy, decision makers must
Renewable Energy Directive, which strengthen the role of sustainably
Since then a lot has happened. The for the first time introduces managed forests and create
Paris Agreement was a milestone, sustainability criteria for forest frameworks that support forest
embracing the importance of forests biomass. management and the enhanced use of

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