March 25, 2014
In a recent article from the Guardian, 2006 Goldman Prize winner Silas Siakor called on the EU to take action against member states that have not yet implemented a law designed to curb illegal logging.
New research from the environmental group Client Earth reveals that only ten EU member states (Austria, Denmark, Croatia, Germany, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Portugal, Luxembourg, Slovenia and the UK) have implemented the timber regulation, while eight countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Ireland, Poland, Romania and Sweden) have drafted legislation but have yet to adopt it, and another eight (Estonia, Lithuania, Greece, Malta, Hungary, Slovakia, Spain and Italy) have done nothing.
“The EU needs to demonstrate that it is serious about addressing the problem and taking action against member states that do not fulfill their legal obligations,” Siakor said. “It will show that they are not only trying to ensure that non-state actors follow the regulations, but that they will make sure their own member states actually comply.”
Siakor was awarded the Goldman Prize in 2006 for taking great personal risks to release evidence that former Liberian President Charles Taylor used profits from illegal logging to pay for a brutal civil war. His efforts led to a United Nations Security Council ban on the export of Liberian timber.
