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CEPF President Sven-Erik Hammar outlined European forest owners’ priorities at a European Commission high-level policy dialogue on forests and forest-based value chain in the EU’s climate transition, chaired by Commissioner Hoekstra. CEPF called for realistic and flexible post-2030 climate targets, a voluntary Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming Certification Framework, and policies supporting active, sustainable forest management to strengthen forest resilience, support the bioeconomy and reduce fossil dependence.

On 17 March, Member States adopted their position on the EU Bioeconomy Strategy. CEPF, together with Copa and Cogeca welcome the Council Conclusions, which underline the strategic role of forest owners in contributing to Europe’s strategic autonomy by providing sustainably sourced homegrown renewable materials for a widening range of use in the bioeconomy, ensured through the management of healthy and resilient forests. European forest owners especially welcome Member State’s explicit call for a predictable coherent policy framework around the European bioeconomy, where the “efficient implementation of the sustainability criteria for biomass set out in current Union legislation” is central for primary producing sectors.

CEPF welcomes the adoption of Commission’s communication the new EU Bioeconomy Strategy, which is regarded as an important step in the right direction. Looking to the further formulation of the EU’s bioeconomy policy framework, European forest owners call on the EU co legislators to:
•Recognize and strengthen the role of family forest owners as central actors in Europe’s bioeconomy and forest based value chains
•Signal strong political commitment to increasing the production of domestic, sustainably sourced renewable biomass, which is essential for Europe’s strategic autonomy
•Prioritize locally adapted Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) as the guiding principle, supported by continued cooperation with Forest Europe
•Shift climate policy emphasis from “sink-only” to “sink-substitution”, with clear recognition in future LULUCF revisions beyond 2030