The EU’s deforestation regulation (EUDR) got here into pressure on June 29. By the top of 2024, the EU Fee should classify all producer international locations or areas inside them as both low, normal, or excessive danger.
Constructing belief
Engagement with governments and different stakeholders in producer international locations on the design of the danger benchmarking system can be vital in constructing belief within the system, mentioned Trase and Proforest. Their new coverage briefing units out suggestions for an “goal and data-driven” framework.
A partnership strategy is especially essential when appearing in high-risk areas of deforestation by means of governance reforms, together with assist for compliance, with a concentrate on smallholders, and incentives for the transition to extra sustainable manufacturing, in accordance with these our bodies.
“Designing a good and efficient danger benchmarking system is not any small enterprise. It must cowl a wide range of commodities together with beef, cocoa, palm oil, soy and wooden produced in a variety of nations from Brazil and Indonesia to Sweden and Côte d’Ivoire. Current international datasets on deforestation are sometimes patchy, counting on crude estimates of the affect of commodity growth.”
Trase and Proforest mentioned thier suggestions draw on expertise designing a danger benchmarking system in partnership with the Client Items Discussion board’s Forest Optimistic Coalition (CGF-FPC) to assist its member firms to implement their voluntary zero-deforestation commitments. A key perception from its analysis, mentioned Trase, is that commodity deforestation is commonly concentrated in a handful of nations and regional hotspots.
“Furthermore, completely different commodities can have completely different ranges of deforestation danger in the identical nation. Trase and Proforest suggest that the EU ought to make full use of subnational danger benchmarking – not only for high-risk international locations – however for any nation with a big variation in regional deforestation charges. Threat benchmarking also needs to be performed on a commodity-specific foundation the place ample knowledge is offered.”
Filling the information gaps
The 2 organizations recognized the necessity to put money into producing higher knowledge to assist danger benchmarking together with enhancing and sustaining updated, globally constant datasets on commodity deforestation.
“Subnational danger benchmarking requires extra granular knowledge that will require entry to nation or region-specific data. Trase and Proforest’s strategy to danger benchmarking demonstrates that it’s potential to beat knowledge gaps by integrating completely different datasets and safeguards, however this will increase complexity. Filling the information gaps is subsequently a vital precedence.”
Additionally it is essential to combine knowledge on authorized compliance and human rights into the danger benchmarking system, they famous.
