With the EU introducing bans and trade restrictions for iron & steel from Russia, it begs the question: what are we doing about the massive imports of wood which are financing the war? 🪵
A thread on why I demand an EU ban of all timber & wood imports from Russia & Belarus👇
A thread on why I demand an EU ban of all timber & wood imports from Russia & Belarus👇
1/6 In 2021, the EU imported a staggering US$3.28 billion 💰in wood and wooden furniture from Russia = that’s about a quarter of Russia’s wood exports worldwide! And Russia is using the money it makes from this to help finance the aggression against Ukraine.
2/6 Already now, much of our wood-related imports from Russia are linked to illegal deforestation ❗️🌳🔥 The fact that the proceeds are being used to finance this horrible conflict make it even more urgent that we put a stop to this.
3/6 While many EU companies have dropped some Russian timber & wood suppliers, not all of them have. And while the EU *has* already banned the import of wood from Belarus, it has not banned all timber (i.e. raw materials & wooden furniture).
4/6 To address this we need to urgently ban EU imports of all Russian & Belarussian timber and wood, including furniture. EU sanctions should not stop at only iron and steel. Let’s fight this outrageous war and illegal deforestation in one strike by using our economic means!
5/6 For more information, I highly recommend this article 👇newstatesman.com/business/susta…
6/6 And of course, check out the statement by Ukrainian, Belarusian, EU, UK and US civil society organisations who first demanded this ban and who ask for our support to make it happen 👉 fern.org/fileadmin/uplo…
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
