G8: ILLEGAL LOGGING IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The leaders of the world’s eight wealthiest countries at the G8 Environment and Development Ministers’ meeting on 17-18 March in Derbyshire, England, agreed to step up efforts to reduce the supply and demand in illegal timber. However, they fell short of adopting binding measures to restrict imports of uncertified timber as proposed by the UK government, following opposition by the US.
Among the actions adopted by the G8 ministers, they agreed to "halt the import and marketing of illegally logged timber, for example by giving appropriate powers to our border control authorities through voluntary bilateral trade agreements or other arrangements, consistent with WTO rules". They also decided to "encourage, adopt or extend public timber procurement policies that favour legal timber, where they can influence the private sector to use legally sourced timber". Moreover, ministers acknowledged the need to increase support to developing countries to enforce forest law and improve governance. Progress on these commitments will be reviewed next year.
The commitments, however, fell short of the binding initiatives that the British government had hoped for, primarily due to opposition by the US. In a leaked US State Department memo, Head of Forest Policy Stephanie Caswell said that plans to restrict trade in illegal timber was a "watch out item" for the US. "Demand side actions involving new import or procurement regulations/restrictions are unacceptable and should not be high-lighted," the memo noted, indicating that the US would make efforts to dissuade Russia and Japan from supporting the UK.
UK Secretary of State for International Development Hilary Benn, who had led efforts to garner support among G8 countries to sign on to commitments to combat illegal logging, said his government was "delighted" with the agreement by Ministers, pointing out that "it does not make sense to give development assistance on the one hand while importing cheap illegal timber on the other". European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis Michel welcomed the UK’s initiative to place illegal logging on the G8 agenda. "The practice is responsible for vast environmental damage in developing countries and impoverishes rural communities which depend on forest products for a living", Michel said. However, he also expressed "disappointment at the lack of new concrete outcomes".
Many environmental groups sharply criticised what they saw as weak commitments. "US business simply doesn’t want any restrictions on its own practices", said Faith Doherty of the Environmental Investigation Agency in the UK. Stephen Tindale, the head of Greenpeace Britain, noted, "From our point of view this is another missed opportunity. They know what needs to be done but just lack the political will". His colleague Nathalie Rey also criticised the policy for ignoring "the huge impact that legalised, but unsustainable, logging has on the world’s forests and the millions of people that rely on them directly for their livelihood". "This is like putting a band-aid on a gunshot wound", she added.
"G8 Environment and Development Ministers Agree Action on Illegal Logging and Put Climate Change in Africa on Agenda for G8 Heads," UOFT G8 CENTER, 18 March 2005; " Illegal Mahogany Logging Exposed in Peru’s New National Park," ENS, 31 March 2005; " US tries to sink forests plan," THE GUARDIAN, 16 March 2005; "G8 Agrees Need for Action on Logging, Africa," REUTERS, 21 March 2005; "G8 Ministers Pledge to Curb Illegal Logging, Climate Change," IPS, 21 March 2005.