CIVIL SOCIETY POSITION STATEMENT ON The proposed EU regulation on deforestation-free products

A coalition of civil society organisations advocates for a more ambitious EU regulation on deforestation-free products. They propose expanding the scope to include other natural ecosystems like peatlands and savannahs, broadening the list of covered commodities to include all livestock, rubber, and maize, and implementing stricter due diligence requirements. The statement emphasizes the need for mandatory traceability to the plot of land, the removal of 'simplified' due diligence, and the inclusion of civil and criminal liability for non-compliance to protect indigenous peoples' rights and global biodiversity.

• The signatories argue that the definition of 'deforestation' should be expanded beyond conversion to agricultural use to include any other land use, such as mining, infrastructure, or conversion to tree plantations, and that 'forest degradation' should be defined to prevent any changes that negatively affect a natural ecosystem's function, structure, or species composition.
• The statement calls for the regulation to cover other natural ecosystems, such as wetlands, peatlands, and savannahs, from the start to prevent agricultural expansion from simply shifting from forests to these other pressured ecosystems.
• The coalition demands a broader product scope that includes all livestock, maize, and rubber, as well as all derived products, and insists that 'simplified' due diligence be removed so that all operators face the same obligations regardless of size or risk level.
• The position statement emphasizes the need for mandatory, results-based due diligence with full geolocation traceability to the plot of land, and argues that third-party certification schemes should not absolve operators of these obligations.
• The organisations advocate for the inclusion of civil and criminal liability for serious non-compliance to provide victims of impacts, particularly indigenous peoples and local communities, with rights of redress and access to justice.

APA

ClientEarth (n.d.). CIVIL SOCIETY POSITION STATEMENT ON The proposed EU regulation on deforestation-free products. https://www.clientearth.org/media/1sshyvfp/en_civil-society-position-statemet_proposed-eu-regulation-on-deforestation-free-products.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. CIVIL SOCIETY POSITION STATEMENT ON The proposed EU regulation on deforestation-free products. n.d. https://www.clientearth.org/media/1sshyvfp/en_civil-society-position-statemet_proposed-eu-regulation-on-deforestation-free-products.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=CIVIL SOCIETY POSITION STATEMENT ON The proposed EU regulation on deforestation-free products |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/1sshyvfp/en_civil-society-position-statemet_proposed-eu-regulation-on-deforestation-free-products.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearthndcivil, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{CIVIL SOCIETY POSITION STATEMENT ON The proposed EU regulation on deforestation-free products}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/1sshyvfp/en_civil-society-position-statemet_proposed-eu-regulation-on-deforestation-free-products.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }