Rural communities, which are the most affected by energy poverty, pay the full price for heating and cooking firewood, while urban residents are offered gas and electricity subsidies by the government, a report by World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature Romania shows.

"In the dead of winter, the authorities accentuate social inequality and refuse to help the more than 2.5 million households that use wood for heating and which represent 85 percent of the rural area communities. Instead, they practice a double standard, i.e. they grant subsidies to a category of the population while ignoring the other, although both face the same problem. This has to stop," the authors of the report argue, explaining that the solution is for firewood to be conditionally subsidized.

"The authorities fall short of helping exactly those who are the most affected by energy poverty. The recent decision to start the 'Stove scrappage' program is very good, but not enough. What are they forced to do to survive? Buy wood underhand and have it brought home by a 'benevolent' supplier. Each muddles through on their own, each fends for themselves. Who loses? People who were not lucky enough to have a modern energy infrastructure on their street. The forest, because illegal exploitation is thus encouraged. The forest bioeconomy, because quality wood ends up being used as firewood. And the Romanian state, because it does not collect taxes if the wood goes untaxed and because it generates policies that fuel the erosion of the rule of law state," the cited source said.

According to the report, the government attempted last year to solve the firewood issue by capping the price, which triggered an avalanche of negative secondary effects such as the development of the black market, the increase in exports and soaring prices.

"The solution is different: just as they subsidize gas and electricity bills, the authorities should also subsidize the purchase of firewood. In addition, people should be able to use the 'heating aid' disbursed to the disadvantaged population for the purchase of subsidized wood, not the expensive one, as is the case now. The subsidy should only be valid against the tax receipt proving that the buyer acquired the firewood legally. In this way, the state would be able to tackle the black market without creating market distortions, because the subsidized wood would be cheaper than the illegal one," the authors of the report also show.

In addition, wood and wood-derived products for home heating should be subsidized conditionally, so as to encourage the use of dry/dried wood or briquettes/pellets.

"This way, we invest in a forestry infrastructure that can contribute to increasing energy efficiency, to decarbonization and to reducing air pollution. Furthermore, the state would be able to recover part of the money through taxation and would reduce illegal exploitation, which finds its outlet mainly as firewood. Such a state aid scheme would generate a win-win situation," WWF Romania representatives said.

The World Wide Fund for Nature Romania, part of WWF International, is one of the most important environmental organizations. The organization's priority conservation areas are: Maramures, Transylvania, the South-West Carpathians, the Apuseni Mountains, the Danube Floodplain and Delta.

The World Wide Fund for Nature is the largest environmental protection organization in the world and has been present for over 60 years in more then 100 countries on 6 continents. AGERPRES (RO - author: Nicoleta Banciulea, editor: Oana Tilica; EN - editor: Simona Klodnischi)