Read on Twitter
In February, in a tiny German village, @PiretReiljan told a group of journalists that forests in her native Estonia are cut down and exported to Western countries to burn in former coal plants as renewable fuel. Today our investigation is live @Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/14/carbon-neutrality-is-a-fairy-tale-how-the-race-for-renewables-is-burning-europes-forests
The full, 10,000 word interactive takes a hard look at the impact of Europe's coal power plants switching to burning wood on an industrial scale in the name of EU renewable energy policies – especially the impact on Estonia's forests https://www.vpro.nl/argos/lees/onderwerpen/money-to-burn/interactive.html
Our team @JoieCatherine @PiretReiljan @paul_toetzke @SophieBlok @tiesgijzel @sinnormas and @benheubl has worked on stories spanning nine newsrooms and eight countries https://www.vpro.nl/argos/lees/onderwerpen/money-to-burn/en.html
Using satellite data we were able to identify forests that had been cut down in areas protected under the EU's Natura 2000 regulation. Then we went to Estonia in November to report on the ground https://vimeo.com/486021454?fbclid=IwAR01pBFCm8msWsnXdm6SOlJqj8bU0vmJ2kdq5ZCStCk_yrIMhHsMOsUJlUs
Our work has already been cited in parliamentary debates in Estonia and the Netherlands and at EC meetings by politicians and campaigners who say we simply don’t have time to burn trees – like these ones we saw at an Estonian pellet factory – if we are going to meet climate goals
Cross-border investigations are a relatively new field. Our project wouldn't have happened without funding from #IJ4EU, the faith and courage of @VPRO and @journalismarena, especially @Hackette7 who mentored me as I co-ordinated the whole thing.
