Project in a nutshell
Welcome to the EMMA4EU project, an initiative co-funded by the European Commission’s Erasmus+ Programme.
The project aims to tackle the issue of deforestation-driven climate change and biodiversity loss in tropical countries.
In just five minutes of reading, you can learn all the essential details about the project!
Why is deforestation a problem?
Tropical forests regulate the world’s climate, provide water resources and biodiversity, and support livelihoods. This is why deforestation and degradation are among the leading causes of climate change and biodiversity loss. The primary reason behind deforestation and degradation is the expansion of agricultural land to produce forest-risk commodities (FRCs) such as soy, palm oil, beef and leather, wood, cocoa, coffee, and rubber.
The European Union (EU) contributes to this issue as it is the second-largest importer of FRCs, accounting for 16% of global embedded deforestation. The EU recently approved the Deforestation-Free Products Regulation (EUDR) to tackle this issue, highlighting the need for a broader, more cohesive approach.
The EMMA4EU project aims to meet this need by developing innovative approaches to education and training on reducing deforestation risk in supply chains. The project, co-funded by the European Commission, was launched in June 2023 with a three-year mission to fill the gaps in knowledge and skills necessary to comply with the EUDR.
It will do this by bridging different disciplines and sectors in forestry, agriculture and business & commerce and connecting their key actors through an alliance. This will enable knowledge exchange and create a new profession: the Deforestation-Free Supply Chains Manager.
What does 'EMMA4EU' mean?
The EMMA4EU acronym comes from the project’s full title: Innovation Alliance for Training Programmes for deforestation-free supply chains in Europe. This description holds together the project’s main goals and takes inspiration from the method EMMA, developed by the coordinating partner, Etifor.
In this acronym, each letter stands for a specific action: Explore the value chain, Map the impacts, Mitigate risks and Advance and regenerate ecosystems.
EMMA4EU's Approach
The challenges faced in addressing deforestation include:
- A need for more transparency within supply chains
- Limited effectiveness of existing regulatory mechanisms,
- Gaps in education coverage on this topic.
EMMA4EU brings together a diverse alliance including higher education institutions, vocational training organisations, businesses, public institutions , and NGOs.
The project will focus its activities on three thematic areas:
Compliance
Technology
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
EMMA4EU will:
- Address sustainability questions in EU supply chains, responding to regulatory demands for more sustainable practices.
- Enhance knowledge exchange among universities and vocational schools in agriculture, forestry, business, and commerce.
- Build a strong alliance to create a space for EU and non-EU actors to exchange knowledge and experiences and share opportunities.
- Improve employment opportunities by co-creating new professional profiles and curricula for Deforestation-Free Supply Chain Managers.
- Contribute to the EU Green Deal and support the EU 2050 climate targets
Join this journey towards a future free of deforestation.
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