The EUDR and forest protection at the crossroads

In 2023, the EU has enacted its most ambitious legislation to protect global forests: the EU-Deforestation Free Regulation (EUDR), the first to ever directly address the leading cause of deforestation - agriculture. Yet, two months before its actual start, the global response has been so intense that the Commission itself has proposed a one year delay in its implementation, and its future is still unclear. The debate is now so fierce that it has involved not only Member States but trading partners from all over the world, from Indonesia to Brazil and the US. And yet, the EUDR must not fail: the downfall of such a far-reaching regulation could dramatically slow down or compromise global efforts to protect forests in the next years.

The event will discuss the relevance and structure of the EUDR, and debate which solutions could be implemented to solve the issues it is still facing, from the perspective of both the EU and its trading partners.

A IAI Commentary has also been published on the topic.