It came as little surprise that the EU Parliament chose to delay and weaken the EU Deforestation Regulation on Thursday, November 14th. Unresolved questions about the legal framework, issues with digital service provisions for operators, and a lack of international coordination have cast a shadow over what could have been a landmark achievement of the Green Deal. Nevertheless, we at the RRI believed that it could become a meaningful driver for change across industries linked to deforestation, especially since it aligned so well with our approach to rubber supply chains.
But now that the EUDR has been pushed back and some of its rules relaxed, it is up to companies again to decide for themselves whether or not they want to address deforestation in their supply chains seriously. We have long ago decided to do just that, committing ourselves to maintaining transparent, deforestation-free and biodiversity-friendly supply chains.
So the past year was all about preparation to provide proof and assurance that the RRI supply chain is not founded on recently deforested land. As our cooperative members have been cultivating rubber on their land for at least seven years (which is way before the cutoff date) and we have been gathering information on land title deeds and GPS data since the inception of our initiative, our challenges in the process were minor. After finding a provider for satellite imagery, we were all set.
This leaves us waiting for December 30th 2025 when the EUDR will finally become obligatory. And in the meantime we will continue as usual, sourcing rubber from mature agroforests trying to create benefits for farmers and nature alike. 🌿
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