“Drax lobbied Canada for intervention on EU forest protection measures”
Energy company Drax lobbied Canadian officials for their intervention as the UK group sought changes to EU rules that could prevent the bloc from burning wood biomass sourced from forests in British Columbia.

The UK biomass plant owner wrote to officials in British Columbia, in a letter seen by the Financial Times, to warn EU rules covering the use of biomass such as wood pellets for energy risked restricting supply chains by effectively banning material from old-growth and primary forests. Drax also sells wood pellets to companies in the bloc.

In the letter sent last year, Drax warned the new EU law definitions and categorisation of old growth and primary forest areas were “not aligned” with local and regional laws and criteria around harvesting practices in BC…

Campaigners say the EU rules introduce important protections for old-growth and undisturbed forests, which can play an important role in storing carbon and hosting other plants and wildlife…

In a statement to the FT, Drax said it “recognises the importance of sustainably sourced biomass, and we work to ensure our pellets are legally harvested and meet the strict sustainability requirements of the UK, US, and Canadian governments, as well as those of the EU”…