The European Union In Global Forest Governance

This book analyses and develops overarching concepts for forest policy and forest governance and includes a detailed investigation into the historical discussion on forests. It examines opportunities and limits for negative emissions in a sector that – like peatlands – appears significantly less ambivalent compared to highly technical large-scale forms of climate geoengineering. The analysis shows that the binding climate and biodiversity targets under international law are much more ambitious than most people assume. Measured against that, the volume critically reviews the potentials of afforestation and reforestation for climate mitigation, which is often presented as the new saviour to fulfil the commitments of the Paris Agreement and to reach climate neutrality in the future. It becomes clear that ultimately only biodiverse and thus resilient forests can function as a carbon sink in the long term. The volume shows that the existing European and international forest governance approaches fail to comply with these targets and insights. Furthermore, the book develops a bundle of policy measures. Quantity governance systems for livestock farming, fossil fuels and similar drivers of deforestations represent the most important approach. They are most effective when not directly targeting forests due to their heterogeneity but central damaging factors. With regard to the dominant regulatory and subsidy-based governance for forests we show that it remains necessary to supplement these quantity governance systems with certain easily graspable and thus controllable regulatory and subsidy regulations such as a regulatory protection of old-growth forests with almost no exceptions; extension of the livestock-to-land-ratio established in organic farming to all farming; far-reaching restriction of bioenergy use to certain residues flanked by import bans; and a national and international complete conversion of all agricultural and forest subsidies to “public money for public services” to promote nature conservation and afforestation in addition to the quantity control systems.

This brochure presents a general factual overview of current EU efforts aiming to contribute to sustainable development of forestry, both within Europe and also at global level through the EU development co-operation policy. The objective is to present in simple terms the main ongoing EU actions and activities related to the forest sector, which are complementing and reinforcing the forest policies of the Member States.

In this insightful book, Martin Hedemann-Robinson appraises the European Union’s development of its legal framework to assist in combating one of the foremost challenges facing the international community: global deforestation. He provides an analytical overview of the evolving Union legislation, discussing its impact both within the single market as well as internationally.

Over the past five decades, the European Union (EU) has developed into the most legally and politically authoritative regional organization in the world, wielding significant influence across a wide range of issue areas. European Union and Environmental Governance focuses on the growing global role of EU environmental and sustainable development policies in Europe and around the world. Written in a concise and accessible manner, this book introduces and examines the major European and global environmental issues, debates, and policies and provides a critical, evidence-based evaluation of the achievements and shortcomings to date in EU environmental and sustainability governance. Providing both an historical overview and a discussion of the major future legal, political and economic challenges to the realization of EU goals related to better environmental governance, the authors offer a comprehensive introduction to this key issue. This book will be useful reading for students of global environmental politics, comparative environmental politics and policy, international organizations, European politics, and environmental studies.

This book considers the environmental policies that the EU employs outside its borders. Using a systematic and coherent approach to cover a range of EU activities, environmental issues, and geographical areas, it charts the EU’s attempts to shape environmental governance beyond its borders. Key questions addressed include: What environmental norms, rules and policies does the EU seek to promote outside its territory? What types of activities does the EU engage in to pursue these objectives? How successful is the EU in achieving its external environmental policy objectives? What factors explain the degree to which the EU attains its goals? The book will be of interest to students and academics as well as practitioners in governments (both inside and outside of the EU), the EU institutions, think tanks, and research institutes.

A 'new generation' of EU trade policies aims to advance public goods - such as promoting sustainable development, protecting human rights and enhancing governance in third states. The pursuit of these objectives raises important questions regarding coherence, effectiveness, legitimacy and extraterritoriality. In Global Governance through Trade leading scholars from different disciplines address these topical questions. The book contains a comprehensive analysis of the concept of governing through trade and investigates how the EU ‘exports’ regulation through conditional market access regulation, bilateral trade agreements and unilateral trade policy. Several case studies complement the general analysis and provide an in-depth assessment of the European Union's new trade policies. This multidisciplinary book will be an enlightening read for a wide-ranging audience encompassing academics, policymakers, policy analysts and students of, amongst others, trade law and policy, global governance, sustainable development, human rights and labor standards.