The European Commission published additional guidance documents and an international cooperation framework to support global stakeholders, Member States and third countries in their preparations for the implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation. Given feedback received about their state of preparations, the Commission also proposes to give concerned parties additional time to prepare. If approved by the European Parliament and the Council, it would make the law applicable on 30 December 2025 for large companies and 30 June 2026 for micro- and small enterprises. Since all the implementation tools are technically ready, the extra 12 months can serve as a phasing-in period to ensure proper and effective implementation. …The Commission considers that a 12-month additional time to phase in the system is a balanced solution to support operators around the world in securing a smooth implementation from the start. ….The extension proposal in no way puts into question the objectives or the substance of the law.
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LONDON — British power generator Drax could invest up to $12.5 billion developing biomass plants with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) in the US over the next decade. Drax, which generates around 6% of Britain’s electricity, said it is still committed to the UK but sees opportunities in the US for its technology. Its 
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Ireland’s cool summers and frequent showers provide the ideal conditions for growing coniferous trees at a faster rate than in other European countries. …With significant steps being taken to reduce Ireland’s carbon footprint and with challenging carbon reduction targets in place, there is an accelerating need to build more with Irish wood to help decarbonise our built environment and support the delivery of Ireland’s climate targets. …our climate positions us uniquely to grow the softwood required for our low-carbon homes of the future. Building with wood helps to reduce carbon emissions, and it also supports local jobs and the local economy. …Conifer trees can mature in Ireland in just 35 years. It takes twice that time in other parts of Europe. …Increased adoption of wood in construction not only supports the delivery of climate action targets but would also accelerate the delivery of sustainable new homes, a critical imperative for Irish society.
Laminate flooring in particular and all MDF/HDF containing products in general, are often considered as hardly recyclable and such products commonly end in landfills or incineration at the end-of-life… In order to close the recycling loop, a revolutionising technology has been developed by Unilin based on steam explosion. This allows the extraction of valuable wood fibres from MDF/HDF containing products (in particular laminate flooring). These fibres are then prepared for reuse and used as a replacement of virgin fibres in an HDF production process. This allows to recycle the main part of a laminate flooring, being the core HDF… [The pilot project produces] over 1 ton of recycled fibres per hour, and these fibres are immediately reused in the production of new MDF/HDF products on a continuous basis.
The European Union’s chief negotiator on a United Nations compact to reverse biodiversity loss denies postponement of anti-deforestation law undermines credibility just weeks ahead of crunch summit in Colombia. The European Commission’s proposal to delay implementation of the Deforestation Regulation will not undermine the EU’s position in upcoming UN biodiversity talks, its lead negotiator has claimed, saying the postponement was a recognition that further preparatory work with trading partners was needed. The 16th conference of parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity later this month will be the first since the landmark COP15 in Montreal two years ago that yielded an agreement to place 30% of land and sea under conservation status by 2030. Environmental groups were outraged when the EU yielded to pressure for a delay to the law, which requires proof that no forests were cleared in the production of a range of goods from coffee to beef and timber.
ATHENS – When a wildfire tore down a hillside towards Athens last month, its southernmost flank halted in a treeless area burned by fire two years before. A few miles west, however, the blaze found fresh fuel and a path towards the city’s suburbs. …The devastation is a familiar sight across the Mediterranean where increased fires are driven by climate change. … The U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has highlighted the Mediterranean region as a ‘global climate hotspot’, with an increase in surface temperatures of 1.5C from pre-industrial levels. Wildfires are also a growing threat in the United States, Canada, Australia, and even the rainy United Kingdom. With that threat has come a debate about what to do with a forest once it has burned. …Some want to replant trees to restore root systems and to recover lost carbon sinks. Others say forests and fire zones do not mix.
Wildfires are burning through the carbon budget that humans have allocated themselves to limit global heating, a study shows. The authors said this accelerating trend was approaching – and may have already breached – a “critical temperature threshold” after which fires cause significant shifts in tree cover and carbon storage. …Forests are going up in smoke in Brazil, the US, Greece, Portugal and even the Arctic Circle amid the Earth’s two hottest years in recorded history. Each fire has a double impact on the global climate: first, by emitting carbon from the burned trees, and second, by reducing the capacity of forests to absorb carbon dioxide. …Other research showed the Amazon is undergoing a “critical slowing down”, with more than a third of the rainforest struggling to recover from drought after four supposedly “one-in-a-century” dry spells in less than 20 years. These compounding impacts are turning forests from carbon sinks into carbon sources.
Forest carbon credits, which pay governments and private landowners to conserve carbon-rich forests as a way to slow climate change, face mounting criticism for being less effective than advertised. Brazil’s top climate official is pushing back on their dubious reputation… In Brazil, fighting deforestation is synonymous with fighting climate change. The country has about 60% forest cover and is home to the majority of the Amazon rainforest. More than half of Brazil’s emissions are tied to changes in land use and deforestation… Companies, governments and others can sell forest carbon credits to groups looking to offset their own emissions. But the credits have not always worked as intended: Investigations have pointed to flawed accounting and exaggerated claims.
UK — Wood and coal-burning homes in the UK now produce more particle air pollution than the vehicles on our roads. …The campaign group Mums for Lungs have called for a ban on stove sales and a public health campaign, but government action is based on helping people to burn better rather than not burning at all. …Dr James Heydon from the University of Nottingham has carried out a 
