R&I will play a major role in the new EU Forest Strategy, presented as part of a package of legislation towards the implementation of European Green Deal Goals.
On 16 July, the European Commission (EC) published a Communication for a new ‘EU Forest Strategy for 2030’. The strategy is part of the European Green Deal and shall contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels, and reaching climate neutrality by 2050. Forests are essential in fighting climate change and biodiversity loss and can contribute to sustainable growth. They cover more than 43.5% of the EU’s land space and are crucial for our air and water quality, a habitat for many species, and have played a role for the European economy and society for centuries. In spite of forest areas becoming bigger in Europe over the last years thanks to afforestation and sustainable management, they remain under increasing strain from climate change and human activity. The new EU strategy aims at overcoming challenges and unlocking the potential of forests for our future. It replaces the forest strategy from 2013, which was revised in 2018.
The forest strategy is built on six broad areas of action. It shall support the socio-economic functions of forests for thriving rural areas and boosting forest-based bio-economy within sustainability boundaries. Second, it aims at protecting, restoring and enlarging EU’s forests to combat climate change, reverse biodiversity loss and ensure resilient and multifunctional forest ecosystems. Third, the strategy suggests strategic forest monitoring, reporting and data collection. The fourth area consists of a strong research and innovation agenda to improve our knowledge on forests. Fifth, the strategy proposes an inclusive and coherent EU forest governance framework, and last, it aims at stepping up implementation and enforcement of the existing EU acquis.
Research and innovation will thus be key components of the forest strategy. Horizon Europe will contribute to increasing the knowledge on forests and promoting a science-based approach to the European Green Deal ambitions of climate neutrality and resilience, biodiversity and sustainable growth. The programme will support forest related activities mainly through its thematic Cluster 6 on ‘Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment’. The cluster offers opportunities for synergies between environmental, social and economic goals of forests and for setting human activities on a path towards sustainability. Additional contributions may come from Horizon Europe’s Cluster 3 on ‘Civil Security for Society’, which entails complementary actions in support for disaster risk reduction policies including forest fires. For the future, the EC is also planning to propose a partnership on forestry and developing a citizens’ science programme for forest biodiversity, which will engage the broad public in monitoring forests.
The new Forest Strategy is part of a package of proposals adopted by the EC on 14 July, to make the EU’s climate, energy, land use, transport and taxation policies fit for reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. The package provides supporting legislative tools to deliver on the targets agreed in the European Climate Law. Further proposals included in the package concern new elements within the EU Emissions Trading System and Efforts Sharing Regulation, which assigns strengthened emissions reduction targets to Member States. The amendment to the Renewable Energy Directive sets targets for production of energy from renewable sources and several other initiatives regulate emission standards and alternative fuelling of cars, ships and aeroplanes. The Forest Strategy pairs with the Regulation on Land Use, Forestry and Agriculture, which sets an overall EU target for carbon removals by natural sinks. It will contribute to these sinks with its plan to plant three billion trees across Europe by 2030.