Saturday , November 2 2024

Virginijus Sinkevičius is wrong about the proposed EUDR delay

A member of the European Parliament has described the EU’s decision to delay a key piece of green legislation as a mistake, calling it “a step backward in the fight against climate change”. Virginijus Sinkevičius, an MEP from Lithuania, was talking about the EU Deforestation Regulation, a sweeping new set of rules which has alienated EU allies around the world and created fears of significant trade interruptions. Delaying the EUDR is a good thing, if it happens.

In an effort to prevent deforestation in their supply chains, the EUDR enforces a stringent set of rules on products such as palm oil, cocoa, coffee, cattle, rubber, and wood. It is a bold and extensive piece of legislation that will necessitate intricate and expensive conformance from companies and their suppliers.

Companies will be required to allocate significantly more funds to the investigation of the origins of all of their constituents in order to demonstrate that they did not contribute to deforestation under the EUDR. Companies are likely to pass these costs onto their customers, who are European citizens who are trying to sustain their families, or their ingredient suppliers, who are often impoverished farmers. This will be exceedingly costly.

European consumers will not be the only ones affected by these severe new regulations. Additionally, they will have an impact on millions of the world’s most impoverished cultivators in countries such as Malaysia. The EU’s Deforestation Regulation would remain incomprehensible, even if we were to concede that the cost of evicting these farmers was a reasonable price to pay for achieving a significant victory against deforestation. This is due to the fact that the European Union’s approach to addressing deforestation is not as straightforward as simply submerging in red tape products that one does not prefer.

However, in light of the global economy’s ongoing challenges, including inflation, the Ukraine conflict, supply chain disruptions, and the escalating prices of global commodities, it appears to be particularly inappropriate to target some of the world’s poorest farmers in order to alleviate the concerns of middle-class shoppers and diners in Europe regarding their environmental impact.

Palm oil is a ubiquitous product, present in approximately 50% of domestic items and food staples in supermarkets. This includes toothpaste, makeup, pizza, and biscuit bases. These inept new rules will impact nearly every product group, as they impose new costs on supply chains without considering the individuals who will be responsible for paying them. According to a recent study conducted by Global Data, the EUDR could result in a substantial cost of $1.5 billion for palm oil, rubber, and its derivatives.

Perhaps most damningly, the European Union, which purports to advocate for the interests of ordinary European citizens, is almost certain to exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis. The poor will be the most affected by the policy, which is expected to increase European grocery shopping costs by a staggering $1.5 billion, according to recent research. This is due to the fact that they are the consumers who allocate the greatest portion of their income to food.

Regrettably, the EU’s Deforestation Regulation is on the brink of a catastrophic backlash. It is scheduled to be implemented on December 30, 2024, at the conclusion of this year. Consequently, the European Union lawmakers who are responsible for it have the opportunity to either modify the regulations or postpone their implementation until they can conduct additional consultations and mitigate their adverse effects.

 

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