EPN Reports & Publications
Pulp Fiction: What is Sustainable about the World Bank’s “Scaling Up Financing for Sustainable Forestry” in Paraguay
This brief from EPN, Bank Information Center, AXIAL Naturaleza y Cultura, Instituto Maira, and Heñoi critically examines the World Bank’s proposed $100 million loan for industrial tree plantations in Paraguay, detailing concerns about deforestation, indigenous rights, and the lack of real economic benefits for local communities.
Date: January 2025
Topics: Deforestation, Finance, Indigenous Rights, Paraguay, World Bank
Burning Up the Biosphere: A Global Threat Map of Biomass Energy Development
A new report from EPN’s Biomass Action Network warns that plans to triple woody biomass energy by 2030 will drive deforestation, biodiversity loss, and land grabs while worsening climate change. The report calls for ending subsidies and policy support for large-scale biomass, exposing its flawed carbon accounting and devastating environmental impact.
Date: January 2024
Topics: Biodiversity, Biomass, Climate, Deforestation, Global Threat
Suzano’s Pulp Fiction
Suzano, the world’s largest eucalyptus pulp producer, markets itself as a responsible company. This report examines the gap between Suzano’s sustainability claims and the real impacts on communities, forests, and the planet.
Date: January 2024
Topics: Brazil, Communities, Greenwashing, Suzano
Briefing: Co-firing is not abatement
This briefing draws attention to the unacceptable acceleration of burning wood together with coal as a so-called form of abatement of fossil fuel emissions, and how Parties at the UNFCCC Conferences should not include this interpretation of ‘abatement’ in their plans.
Date: January 2024
Topics: Biomass, Carbon Accounting, Co-firing, UNFCCC
A Climate and Biodiversity Loophole: Support for Biomass Power Undermines Global Targets – A South Korea Case
In this report, Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC) and the EPN Biomass Action Network (BAN) expose how biomass energy subsidies and carbon accounting loopholes undermine global climate and biodiversity targets.
Date: January 2024
Topics: Biodiversity, Biomass, Carbon Accounting, South Korea
Deforestation Anonymous: Rainforest destruction and social conflict driven by PT Mayawana Persada in Indonesian Borneo
Deforestation in Indonesia is resurging, led by PT Mayawana Persada, which has cleared over 33,000 hectares since 2021, causing social conflicts and threatening wildlife. Investigations link Mayawana to the Royal Golden Eagle Group through opaque ownership structures, highlighting a broader trend of ‘shadow companies’ enabling deforestation while avoiding accountability.
Date: January 2024
Topics: Borneo, Deforestation, Indonesia, Royal Golden Eagle, Social Conflict
Co-firing with biomass in Indonesia: Debunking Emission Reduction Claims
This brief from Trend Asia and EPN Biomass Action Network reveals that Indonesia’s plan to co-fire coal with biomass is driving deforestation and increasing carbon emissions, undermining claims of carbon neutrality. The policy fuels forest conversion for tree plantations, harming the environment and local communities.
Date: January 2023
Topics: Biomass, Carbon Emissions, Co-firing, Indonesia
How UNFCCC carbon accounting has created a biomass delusion and is contributing to climate change and global inequity
This briefing exposes how UNFCCC carbon accounting rules create a false perception of biomass energy as carbon neutral — fueling deforestation, climate harm, and global inequity while diverting resources from real renewable energy solutions. Unlike fossil fuels, biomass combustion emissions are not recorded in the energy sector of the country that burns them, externalizing responsibility onto the nations that supply the wood.
Topics: Biomass Energy, Carbon Accounting, Climate Colonialism, Deforestation, Reduce Greenhouse Gases, UNFCCC
Paper packaging industry myth busting
The EU’s proposed packaging regulations challenge the booming single-use paper packaging industry. Reuse systems offer a sustainable alternative, creating jobs and reducing waste.
Date: January 2023
Topics: EU, Myth Busting, Packaging, Single-use
