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Why isn't EU selling FLEGT as such as it is?

Nowadays most of EU's programs is

  • fighting climate change or/and
  • combating the world economic crises

This knows no halt, not even for initiatives like fighting illegal logging - FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade) in short.

The idea of FLEGT was born a couple of years ago by the European Commission when starting to listen to the moaning of specific G-NGO’s. The thoughts standing behind FLEGT might have been quite chivalrously and honest.
But there was politics behind from the very first. Otherwise how could it happen to name this new initiative “FLEGT” by knowing from the beginning, there is no chance to realize what “Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade” suggests to do – that is to say “fighting illegal logging”.

But from the very first, EU came up with this simple formula:
FLEGT = fighting illegal logging = fighting deforestation

When starting to implement FLEGT, involved protagonists began to understand the real problems behind. End of days all of them realized, the only chance to influence “illegal logging” at national level is by controlling the timber trade into the EU.
But this is a far cry from the primary idea of fighting illegal logging! In the meantime all EU officials accepted: FLEGT is enforcing legal timber imports to and trade of legal timber within the EU.  No more, no less.

BUT – yes, and this BUT is the crucial one!

BUT the official ‘political’ communication by the EU in the field of FLEGT is still:

FLEGT = fighting illegal logging = fighting deforestation.

BUT, in reality 

  • FLEGT isn't fighting illegal logging (at least globally) AND
  • FLEGT isn't fighting deforestation

This puts EU down as not reliable.

► Do you want to know why the EU is risking its credibility?

 

Want to read more on this topic? Look here...

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FLEGT - what is the EU fighting indeed?


 



Blog | by Dr. Radut