Media Release - Environmental Paper Network

Packaging: the EU Parliament in the hands of McDonalds?

Parliament trashes EU hopes to reduce packaging waste, siding with throwaway industry The European Parliament voted on the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation proposal issued by the European Commission in November 2022. The proposal sought to reduce record levels of packaging waste in Europe. Intimidated by unprecedented lobbying, parliament voted to delete almost all provisions […]

New database names companies blacklisted by global investors and banks

The Hague/San Francisco, Oct 2, 2023. A coalition of NGOs has launched the Financial Exclusion Tracker: a new website that tracks which companies are being excluded by investors and banks for sustainability reasons. Most excluded corporations are barred due to links to fossil fuels, weapons or tobacco. This public dataset is the first of its […]

End Public Funding of Large-scale Biomass Energy, Divert it to Forest Protection and Restoration

Media Release from the Biomass Working Group at the Bonn Climate Conference on June 6th 2023. Download it here. Funding the burning of forest wood at scale in biomass energy generators, is a prime example of the least effective and most destructive way to deploy forests to combat climate change, according to the Forests, Climate […]

Pulping Borneo

Jakarta, 23 May 2023 – A new investigative report, Pulping Borneo, finds that the Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) Group, the world’s largest viscose producer and major paper products company, continues to rely on deforestation in its supply chain despite a high-profile commitment to “No-Deforestation”. The report, co-published by five organizations, also reveals a chain of […]

Fears that forest biomass burning will expand to fulfil the EU’s renewable energy target, with serious implications for forests and climate

In a decision made today, EU negotiators have rejected the European Parliament’s call to constrain the burning of forest wood for energy.

On International Day of Forests, NGO’s demand an end to subsidies for burning forest biomass in pulp mills in Portugal

National and international organisations demand the end of subsidies for burning forest biomass in pulp mills in Portugal A report released on the International day of Forests (21st March) exposes the impacts of burning huge quantities of wood in power plants attached to Portugal’s pulp mills each year. This has implications for tackling wildfires in […]

Pulp & paper industry expansion in Cerrado risks fires, water shortage and climate damage, says new EPN report

New research released today by the Environmental Paper Network reveals the impacts of the ongoing and massive expansion of the pulp & paper industry in Mato Grosso do Sul, in Brazil’s Cerrado biome. Pulp production in the area around Três Lagoas, in the eastern corner of Mato Grosso do Sul,has exploded from zero to more […]

Investigation reveals giant North America pulp and forestry company’s links to deforestation and social conflicts through ownership structure

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 24, 2022 ASHEVILLE/TORONTO/SAN FRANCISCO – A new report released today by the Environmental Paper Network, together with Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network and Woods & Wayside International reveals in new detail the corporate ownership of Paper Excellence, which is about to become the largest pulp and forestry company in Canada. The investigation […]

Europe’s continued reliance on biomass burning undoes EU climate credentials

The European Parliament’s decision to retain subsidies for burning forest biomass for energy tarnishes the EU’s reputation of leadership on renewable energy as it ignores recommendations of the Parliament’s own environment committee and entrench reliance on this highly emissive and environmentally destructive substitute for fossil fuels. This decision may be entrenched in forthcoming trialogue deliberations […]