Historic EU Deal on Deforestation

Eat4Change - Preserving forests through active citizenship and global advocacy 

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#Eat4Change contributed to the #Together4Forests campaign with 200+ civil society organisations, scientists, companies, and 1.2 million citizens. Since 2020, the campaign had been advocating for a new EU law that prohibits products that contribute to global deforestation and forest degradation from entering the EU market. The EU Deforestation Regulation, which includes many of the campaigns’ asks, was passed in 2023. 

The project played a key part in the campaign. It helped to mobilise over 53 000 citizens across Europe to send letters to their governments asking them to support the EU Regulation. People and organisations posted over 1.1 million responses in 2020 on the European Commission’s official public consultation about the Regulation - marking the 2nd highest number of responses in EU consultation history. 

#Eat4Change partners also held their own consultations about sustainable food systems with over 500 corporations, producers and associations - including at the UN Food Systems Summit. 78 companies signed the Industry Statement asking for new legislation to ensure that products placed on the EU market are not linked to deforestation, ecosystem conversion, or human rights violations. 

Nearly 50 young advocates trained by #Eat4Change researched the impact of EU consumption on deforestation. Based on their findings, they developed the Youth Voices Statement with testimonies from young people from Europe and Latin America about how deforestation affects their lives. Their “call to action” was shared with 42 Member of the European Parliament (MEPs) during the #Eat4Change Youth Summit in Brussels in 2021. 

Many of the 42 MEPs voted for the new EU Deforestation Regulation. Finnish MEP Nils Torvalds publicly stated that the #Eat4Change meeting had influenced his vote. Watch the MEP’s comments (at 1min 15sec).  The EU Deforestation Regulation entered into force on 29 June 2023. 

More info, sights & sounds: #Eat4Change's video stunt & street action in front of the European Parliament in Brussels.  

For an overview of DEAR Programme impact, read other Stories of Change.