Former EU environment chief hits out at plans to delay anti-deforestation law

Credibility damaged' by proposed 12-month delay, which followed lobbying from governments and firms around the world

A former top environment official has said the EU's credibility on its climate commitments has been damaged by plans for a one-year delay to a law to combat deforestation that followed intense lobbying from companies and governments around the world.

Virginijus Sinkeviius, a Lithuanian MEP who was the environment commissioner until mid-July, said postponing the deforestation regulation would be a step backward in the fight against climate change".