October 2, 2025: IRES Faculty Seminar with Dr. Juliet Lu

Talk summary:

When the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) was announced in 2023, leaders in Malaysia and Indonesia labelled it a sign of “regulatory imperialism.” The EUDR comes into effect this December (2025) and aims to reduce tropical deforestation caused by European consumption through demand-side sustainable supply chain measures. It requires importers to the EU to of 5 “forest risk commodities” – coffee, cocoa, rubber, palm oil, and wood – to ensure their compliance with due diligence, legality, and benchmarking requirements. This talk examines the EUDR’s initial reception in producer countries for one ‘forest risk commodity’ – rubber. By reviewing the chain of events through which rubber came to be prioritized, and comparing three sustainable rubber initiatives that served as precursors to the EUDR, it shows how power imbalances between producer and consumer countries are reproduced in emerging sustainable supply chain and corporate accountability initiatives.

Bio:

Juliet Lu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Forest Resources Management and the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia. She is a political ecologist focused on the implications of China’s growing investments in land and other resources in Southeast Asia and beyond. Dr. Lu’s research examines conflicts and governance issues around resource extraction and intensive land use. She focuses on transnational land investments, namely Chinese rubber plantations in Laos, the promotion of monoculture plantations at the expense of more biodiverse systems, and the rise of private sector sustainable governance initiatives worldwide.