The European Union and Côte d’Ivoire announced today that they will launch negotiations of a new trade agreement to combat illegal logging. This scourge affects millions of poor people who depend on forests for their livelihoods, deprives governments of billions of euros every year and the associated deforestation worsens climate change.
In the last 50 years, the country has seen its forests reduced by 75%, due among other factors to pressures from the exploitation of timber and fuel wood. European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs said: “Illegal logging continues to have a devastating impact on some of the world’s most valuable forests, and the people who depend on them to live and to make a living. Côte d’Ivoire exports 80% of its forestry products to the EU and as one of the biggest global markets for timber, the EU is part of both the problem and the solution. I hope that these negotiations will deliver a new agreement, which will be a crucial step forward in protecting this valuable forest before it’s too late”.
