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LVM Discusses the Impact of the European Climate Policy on Forestry in Latvia

To discuss the European climate policy and its impact on the forestry sector, in February Toms Reiziņš, Member of the Board of JSC “Latvia's State Forests” (LVM) and Daiga Grīnfelde, Head of Corporate Relations, met in Brussels with representatives of the European Institute of Corporate Governance – Head Elaine McPartlane and Executive Director prof. Marco Becht, as well as Piotr Borkowski, Executive Director of EUSTAFOR (European Association of State Forest Managers).

To mitigate climate change, the European Commission has adopted a package of proposals, which provides that the European Union's climate, energy, transport, and tax policy should reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 % as compared to the 1990 level by the year 2030. Currently, a series of proposals for changes in the regulatory environment and the introduction of new initiatives are being prepared; however, the planned measures lack a practical impact assessment, and at the same time they are already affecting the development planning of JSC “Latvia's State Forests”.

During the meeting, EUSTAFOR Executive Director Piotr Borkowski shared his experience in representing forestry interests in the Council of Europe, and he admitted that this task was full of challenges, requiring endurance and perseverance.

Toms Reiziņš, LVM Board Member: “During the negotiations, we agreed that people should continuously be informed about the forest industry and we should explain the impact of the implementation of every decision made in the context of the green deal, not only the benefits, but also its economic impact. By introducing sustainability measures, while not respecting geographical and national interests, we can lose the competitiveness of the forest industry on a global scale, and this is something that we have been working on for decades.”

The European Institute of Corporate Governance is an international scientific non-profit organization that provides a platform for knowledge, debate and dialogue between academics, legislators, and business practitioners, focusing on issues of corporate governance and sustainability and assisting in the implementation of best practices. In November 2022, LVM joined the European Corporate Governance Institute, thus becoming part of the European Corporate Governance family.