Paraguay extends forest conservation law Asunción, Paraguay – The government of Paraguay has extended a law that seeks to curb deforestation rates in the Upper Parana Atlantic Forest. The "Zero Deforestation Law" — which came into force in December 2004 and would have expired at end 2006 — has been extended by two years.

To date, the law has helped cut deforestation rates in the Upper Parana Atlantic Forest by more than 85 per cent, from 88,000–170,000ha annually before implementation of the law, to a current level of approximately 16,700ha annually. Before the law came into force, Paraguay had the second highest deforestation rate in the world. The Upper Parana Atlantic Forest is part of the Atlantic Forest, one of the world’s most ecologically important regions.

Brussels, Belgium – The European Commission’s proposals today for a “new industrial revolution” in Europe’s supply and use of energy are inadequate and must be dramatically strengthened if the EU is to lead the world in heading off the devastating environmental and economic impacts of climate change, says WWF. The EC has proposed a target to reduce the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent by 2020 from 1990 levels. WWF says that a unilateral EU target of 30 per cent by 2020, in addition to support to developing countries for reducing their emissions, is the only hope we have of avoiding dangerous climate change by staying below a 2°C rise in global average temperatures.

WWF is looking to Germany, holder of the EU Presidency for the next six months, and other countries that like Germany are already backing the higher 30 per cent greenhouse gas reduction target (including the UK, Sweden and France) to fight for EU global leadership on climate change and strengthen the proposal at the European Council in March. "What the EC calls a new industrial revolution conceals the fact that what we are talking about is massive changes in the way the entire economy works," said Stephan Singer, Head of WWF's European Climate and Energy Unit.