Nine European countries strengthen cooperation against deforestation

Norway is the current chair of the Amsterdam Declarations Partnership and Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg announced the following  statement today at the One Planet Summit January 11.

“We need to promote sustainability in agriculture. Eliminating deforestation in relation to agricultural commodities is a key issue. I am pleased that Norway has just signed the renewed Amsterdam Declarations Partnership statement for 2025 together with eight other European countries, aiming to move this agenda forward in close cooperation with tropical forest countries,” says Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg.

The countries in the Amsterdam Declarations Partnership now consists of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom.

“We all share the great concern that considerable efforts are still urgently needed to reverse the alarming rates of deforestation and forest degradation worldwide. I therefore welcome very much that agreement could be reached amongst these nine major European consumer countries on a renewed Ambition Statement for 2025”, says German Federal Minister for Agriculture and former chair of the Partnership, Julia Klöckner.

Please see quotes from other partner countries below, and read the full statement here.

Sustainable recovery from the pandemic

Through the Amsterdam Partnership, the nine countries will work together to deliver ambitious action, aiming to grow the European market for sustainable commodities.

One of the Partnership’s key messages is that the world now faces an additional major challenge to deliver an inclusive and sustainable recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The countries agree that sustainably produced agricultural commodities and forest ecosystems will play a vital role in helping to build back better, supporting livelihoods and overall recovery, while meeting shared climate change and biodiversity goals.

Partnership since 2015

The Amsterdam Declarations Partnership was first launched in 2015 in the context of the Paris Climate Agreement and build on the New York Declaration on Forests’ commitments. The Partnership also joins efforts to meet the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the  UN Strategic Plan on Forests.

Quotes from other Amsterdam Declaration Partnership countries

 – The partnership represents a considerable lever to build a dialogue with all stakeholders: the private sectors, civil society, producer countries and other major consumer countries. I am hopeful that this approach will help reduce the biodiversity and climate impacts of our imports and eliminate imported deforestation.
Zakia Khattabi, federal Minister of Climate, Environment, Sustainable Development and the Green Deal of Belgium.

– By signing the Partnership’s renewed ‘Statement of Ambition for 2025’, the Netherlands and its ADP partners underscore our continued commitment to ending agriculture-related deforestation. We have to work together with other European and global partners, and scale our efforts. The European Union is one of the world’s biggest importers of agricultural commodities. We encourage the early adoption of ambitious, WTO-compliant legislative proposals and other initiatives at EU level, in the framework of the European Green Deal
Sigrid Kaag, Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation

– The green transition is changing the global agriculture and the food industry as we know it. I am proud to be a part of the Amsterdam Partnership that leads the way and inspire global action. We are heavily dependent on the world’s forests for social, nature, biodiversity and climate reasons. Sustainability knows no borders and we must bear in mind the global impacts of all the commodities we import. We need to make sure that agricultural goods are both responsible produced and deforestation-free. A challenge that can only be solved through joint efforts and the Amsterdam Partnership is a unique example.
Rasmus Prehn, Denmark’s Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries.

– France is committed to fighting deforestation from agricultural commodities, at the national level through its national strategy, and with its European partners within the framework of the Amsterdam declarations. Spain and Belgium are joining us. Together, we will put in place an import policy allowing for sustainable development in producing countries.
Ms. Bérangère Abba, Secretary of State for Biodiversity of France.