Innovation Alliance for Training Programmes for Deforestation-Free Supply Chains in Europe (EMMA4EU)

Deforestation is the primarily result of the expansion of agricultural land for forest risk commodities (FRCs) such as cattle, wood, palm oil, soy, cocoa, coffee and rubber. These FRCs play a significant role in driving deforestation in tropical countries and the European Union (EU). The EU is the second-largest importer of commodity-driven deforestation and is responsible for 16% of the global embedded deforestation and substantially contributing to climate change.

To address this issue and meet climate targets, it's crucial to ensure sustainable FRC supply chains. To overcome these challenges, the European Commission adopted the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which bans the imports to and exports from the EU of FRC produced on deforested or degraded land after 31st December 2020.

The road to a future free of deforestation is also complicated by the incomplete treatment of themes connected to deforestation in national education and training curricula. The EMMA4EU project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission, seeks to close these gaps by bringing together numerous stakeholders to create an EU alliance that will develop innovative training solutions to create a new profession: the Deforestation Free Supply Chain (DFSC) Manager.

These newly trained professionals will be equipped with digital, environmental, and interdisciplinary skills to support sustainable FRC supply chains, implement the EU Deforestation Regulation, advance a more environmentally friendly circular economy, and work towards climate neutrality by 2050.