June 22, 2020 (BERLIN): CDP Europe has been appointed to the European Commission’s newly- expanded Expert Group working under its EU Communication (2019) on Stepping up EU Action to Protect and Restore the World’s Forests.
The new group, renamed “Commission Expert Group / Multi-Stakeholder Platform on Protecting and Restoring the World’s Forests, including the EU Timber Regulation and the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Regulation”, will be divided into two strands.
Mirjam Wolfrum, Director Policy Engagement, will represent CDP Europe on the strand working on the follow up to the Commission Communication on Protecting and Restoring the World’s Forests. The other strand will work on the implementation of the EU Timber Regulation and the FLEGT Regulation.
The overall objectives of the EU Communication are to protect and improve the world’s forests and increase the coverage of biodiverse forest worldwide. Promoting multi-stakeholder and Member State dialogue is a key commitment.
Priorities include to support the availability, quality, and access to information on commodity supply chains, to reduce the footprint of EU consumption on land and encourage deforestation-free supply chains, and to redirect finance in support of more sustainable land-use practices.
The expanded Expert Group includes a wide range of expertise, such as Member States’ competent authorities, organizations representing industry, civil society, and forest/land owners, and international organizations.
CDP’s strand of the Expert Group contains around 45 members, including organizations like ClientEarth, FERN, Global Canopy, the World Resources Institute, and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The Expert Group will begin meeting on October.
Mirjam Wolfrum, Director Policy Engagement at CDP Europe, said:
“I am delighted to offer CDP’s expertise and evidence to support the EU Directorate-General for Environment’s work to protect and restore the world’s forests. 40% of tropical deforestation is driven by four commodities, and the EU must urgently act to reduce its footprint, build deforestation-free supply chains, and redirect capital towards businesses which use land sustainably. Our data shows that companies are not doing enough to end deforestation, and EU policies can play a major role in improving the transparency and action we need.”
Ms. Wolfrum is also a member of the European Reporting Lab @EFRAG’s Project Task Force on reporting of non-financial risks and opportunities and linkage to the business model.
CDP Europe staff are well represented on EU advisory groups. CDP Europe’s Managing Director, Steven Tebbe, is a member of the European Corporate Reporting Lab @EFRAG Steering group. Nico Fettes, Head of Climetrics, is a member of the European Commission Technical Expert Group for Sustainable Finance and the Sustainable Finance Committee of the German Government. Torun Reinhammar, Senior Account Manager Investor Operations, is a member of the EIOPA’s stakeholder groups on Insurance and Reinsurance and on Occupational Pensions.
Ms. Wolfrum leads CDP Europe’s policy engagement activities in continental Europe, which works closely with European Union and national government policymakers to improve corporate reporting and sustainable finance legislation in Europe. CDP runs the world’s most widely used environmental reporting system for companies and subnational governments to report data on climate change, forests and water security.
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About CDP Europe
CDP Worldwide (Europe) gGmbH - 'CDP Europe' - is a wholly owned subsidiary of CDP Europe AISBL, a charity based in Brussels, Belgium. CDP Europe is part of the global CDP system that drives companies and governments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard water resources and protect forests. Voted number one climate research provider by investors and working with institutional investors with assets of US$106 trillion, we leverage investor and buyer power to motivate companies to disclose and manage their environmental impacts. Globally, over 8.400 companies with over 50% of global market capitalization disclosed environmental data through CDP in 2019, including more than 2.100 European companies representing approximately 76% of European market capitalization. This is in addition to the over 950 cities, states and regions globally who disclosed – including more than 215 in Europe – making CDP’s platform one of the richest sources of information globally on how companies and governments are driving environmental change. CDP, formerly Carbon Disclosure Project, is a founding member of the We Mean Business Coalition. Please visit cdp.net or follow us @CDP to find out more.