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Ariel Brunner, Senior Head of Policy of BirdLife Europe and Central Asia will resume his energetic engagement as a member of the European Commission’s Platform on Sustainable Finance (PSF).
On April 22nd 2021, BirdLife’s consultant within the PSF suspended his actions in protest in opposition to the European Commission’s ‘Delegated Act’ greenwashing of unsustainable logging and bioenergy by stating that forestry (logging bushes) and bioenergy (burning bushes and crops for power) make a “important contribution to local weather mitigation” and do “no important hurt” to biodiversity. This was completed in an untransparent method underneath heavy foyer by Member State governments and financial lobbies.
The choice to droop actions was taken in in coordination with PSF representatives from environmental teams WWF, ECOS and Transport & Environment, and shopper group BEUC.
Since the withdrawal of the customers and environmental NGOs, the Chair of the PSF has written to the Commission asking for reassurances on sound governance and due course of. We have now been made conscious of an official Commission reply that gives these essential reassurances.
Notably, the Commission has dedicated to hunt the formal opinion of the PSF on future Delegated Acts, permitting eventual dissenting opinions inside it, and to supply a written motivation of the scientific rational of the selections made within the ultimate adopted model of future Acts. We consider that, if adopted, these steps will significantly enhance the transparency and accountability of the decision-making course of. It will even present a readability of roles; whereas the Commission is entitled to not comply with the recommendation of consultants, they can not use consultants as a canopy for choices that don’t align with their recommendation.
In gentle of this growth, and trusting within the good religion of the EU Commission, Ariel Brunner, once more in coordination with BEUC, WWF, ECOS and Transport & Environment, will resume full engagement with the PSF. We hope that the work of the Platform will proceed in a serene local weather and be primarily based on current scientific proof.
BirdLife nevertheless maintains its place that the Delegated Act printed by the Commission [1] incorporates grave errors and isn’t match for objective. BirdLife will proceed to name on the European Parliament and the Council to reject the Delegated Act so the Commission can right these errors and undertake an Act that solely labels actions really good for the atmosphere as such.
Notes:
[1] The EU’s Taxonomy Regulation got here into pressure in July 2020. The Delegated Act offered particulars on how authorities and the market can adjust to the Regulation, by setting out which financial actions and sectors may be classed as ‘sustainable’. The Delegated Act is now topic to approval by the European Parliament and Council.
Source www.birdlife.org
