Overview

• The Commission has proposed pushing back the EU Deforestation Regulation by another year, a move that still requires approval from Parliament and member states.
• The law would require importers of palm oil, soy, cocoa, coffee, rubber, beef and timber to provide geolocation data proving products do not come from land cleared or degraded after 2021.
• The Forest Declaration Assessment 2025 reports about 8.1 million hectares of permanent forest loss in 2024, with Amazon-region fires emitting an estimated 791 million tons of greenhouse gases and global restoration efforts lagging.
• Environmental groups warn a delay could weaken safeguards if the file is reopened, and WWF estimates more than 30 million trees could be lost in an extra year without the rules in force.
• Research cited in the coverage links EU imports to roughly 190,000 hectares of annual forest loss, as Austrian officials and farm groups press for looser rules and Germany’s agriculture minister and industry lobby question the regulation’s practicality.