Combating Deforestation

In this insightful book, Martin Hedemann-Robinson appraises the European Union’s development of its legal framework to assist in combating one of the foremost challenges facing the international community: global deforestation. He provides an analytical overview of the evolving Union legislation, discussing its impact both within the single market as well as internationally.

The book meticulously assesses the evolution of EU policy intervention regarding global deforestation, which commenced with the Union''s 2003 Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade Action Plan. Subsequent chapters discuss the development of voluntary partnership agreements forged with non-EU countries in tropical forested regions, as well as analyse the EU’s 2010 Timber Regulation designed to exclude illegal timber from being sold on the single market. Hedemann-Robinson then examines more recent and profound adjustments to the EU''s policy framework, notably the 2023 Deforestation-Free Product Regulation (DFPR) which phases in a ban of certain imported agricultural produce associated with contributing to the problem of global deforestation. Finally, the book places these developments in a broader international context, considering the extent of political and legal co-operation across the globe.

Comprehensive and precise, Combating Deforestation will prove an invaluable resource for students and scholars of law, geography, ecology and political science. It will also interest practitioners and policymakers involved in environmental protection, international public law and international trade.