EU member states are expected to transition their energy supply to renewable sources. Biomass, and specifically wood pellets, has become the main source of renewable energy in the EU. In Estonia, the pellet industry, which heats the homes of thousands of Europeans, also drives deforestation in protected natural areas. Large-scale felling has disastrous consequences for both country’s biodiversity and block’s climate ambitions.
Join us to learn how the team behind the investigation combined different investigative methodologies - open source geospatial tools, close collaboration with scientists, on the ground reporting - to track the pellets from forest to furnace, follow the industry’s profits and map the deforestation and biodiversity loss in Estonia.
Money for Burn investigation was shortlisted for
the European Press Prize.
Read their investigation
HERE.