"EU Anti-Deforestation Talks Shouldn’t Sideline Frontline Communities," 17 September 2024

...European Union officials are preparing to implement a crucial law that will require EU-based companies to ensure their imports and exports are “deforestation-free” and not driving human rights abuses... Last week, I [Myrto Tilianaki] traveled to Brussels with partners from Malaysia and international groups to attend a meeting between the European Commission and government officials from Malaysia and Indonesia on the EU’s anti-deforestation law.

Upon arrival, we found out the Malaysian and Indonesian governments sought to deny civil society access to the meeting... This prevented communities on the front lines of deforestation and the organizations that support them from providing their input and contesting Malaysian and Indonesian officials’ claims that the EU regulations are an unnecessary imposition.

Here are three critical points we would have made at the meeting, drawing on our work on deforestation in Malaysia:

First, timber and palm oil companies in Malaysia are routinely encroaching on Indigenous territories. Malaysia’s laws to protect Indigenous rights are woefully inadequate...

Second, the Malaysian government’s forest data is unreliable. Anything the government has legally designated as natural forest counts as such in its estimates, even if it has been demolished...

Third, while Malaysia insists that the EU use its certification programs as a guarantee for EU Deforestation Regulation compliance, there are glaring issues. For example, the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme has been plagued by complaints about a lack of transparency from auditors and the inability of companies to be penalized for noncompliance.

For the EU deforestation law to work, the EU’s task force needs to hear from the frontline communities most directly affected by deforestation.