Ref. Ares(2020)1090734 - 20/02/2020

Mr Frans Timmermans Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for the European Green Deal

Brussels 19th February 2020

Dear Vice-President,

We welcome the commitment of the EU to be climate-neutral by 2050. As highlighted by the Commission itself, biodiversity and climate are two sides of the same coin. Resilient and diverse forests, including old-growth and primary forests as one of the most precious terrestrial natural jewels we have, are the best allies we have in the ongoing crises.

We, the undersigned Members of the , therefore demand concrete, binding and ambitious actions related to EU forests to be proposed by the European Commission in the EU Biodiversity Strategy in the field of both protection and restoration, including the commitment on effective enforcement of the current legislation on nature protection.

The Conference on Forests for Climate and Biodiversity organised on the 4-5th February 2020 showed that science is backing up the need for an ambitious policy and bold strategic actions in the field of protection and restoration of forests. Moreover, science is clear that the recast of the Renewable Energy Directive fell short of the aim to further prevent climate and environmentally harmful subsidies previously legally awarded in accordance with the RED I. Clear rules need to be set to prevent forests being burnt for energy purposes. We call for bringing up-to-date science-based policy measures to the climate and energy package in articles and annexes affecting forest ecosystems. In order to choose a correct policy action we also need to actively and transparently work with all relevant carbon pools and with the fact that forests growing old keep sequestering carbon, including in the soil, as opposed to the popular view that they become emitters.

Best regards, Carmen Avram (S&D) Manuel Bompard (GUE) Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg (Greens/EFA) (Greens) Heidi Hautala (Greens/EFA) Anja Hazekamp (GUE) Martin Häusling (Greens/EFA) Martin Hojsík (Renew) Pär Holmgren (Greens) Radan Kanev (EPP) (Greens) Ville Niinistö (Greens) (Greens) Sirpa Pietikäinen (EPP) María Soraya Rodríguez Ramos (Renew) Nicolae Ștefănuță (Renew) Michal Wiezik (EPP)

cc: Mr Virginijus Sinkevičius Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries