Irish parliament clears proposed moratorium on logging, habitat destruction by logging companies

INDEPENDENCE, Ireland – The European Parliament on Thursday voted in favour of a motion to suspend the logging and habitat destruction legislation that is due to be put to a national referendum in 2018.
The vote, which also passed the European Commission, comes as a number of EU countries, including the United Kingdom and Poland, are pushing for a moratorium on the logging industry in order to help tackle deforestation in parts of the continent.
The move comes as logging companies have begun to ramp up their logging activities in parts in Europe and around the world.
A number of countries, notably the United States, have been pressing for a national moratorium on timber exports to help reduce deforestation and protect forest ecosystems.
According to the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), European countries have lost around 5 million hectares of forest since 2000.
The EIA has warned that climate change is the main reason for the decline.
Its executive director, Jane Goodall, has said that “a moratorium on deforestation in Europe could help us to restore biodiversity and reduce deforestation”.
The EIU’s executive director said the European Parliament motion is “part of a concerted global effort to prevent the catastrophic consequences of climate change”.
Goodall said the EIU is “deeply concerned” by the situation in Europe.
“The ESI has been working to help secure a moratorium and to protect the integrity of forests around the globe, and we’re determined to continue our work to protect and protect forests from logging,” she said.
The motion was voted down by the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) party, which has a majority in the European parliament.
The Conservative Party has called for a nationwide moratorium on forestry exports, arguing that logging is destroying forests and the environment in Europe as a whole.
Its MEP, Jeroen Oersman, said the vote shows “that our efforts are failing to protect forests and nature in Europe”.
The vote came after MEPs in France and Italy voted to block the European Union from implementing the Paris Agreement on climate change.
The agreement, which aims to limit warming of the planet by cutting greenhouse gas emissions, will be the subject of a referendum in November 2018 in which the United Nations says it could lead to the extinction of large parts of Europe’s forest.
In addition to the UK, the European People’s Party (EPP) has also voted against the treaty.