Another step closer to restoring nature and biodiversity in Europe
Author: Miguel Antony M Chevalier
Date:
The Renew Europe Group welcomes today's endorsement in ENVI committee of the provisional agreement reached with the Council presidency on the Nature Restoration Law. One day before the United Nations Climate Change Conference starts in Dubai, we have taken another step forward to combating climate disruption by adopting a European regulation aimed at restoring nature and biodiversity at large scale in the EU, the first of its kind worldwide.
With 80% of EU habitats in bad condition, this Nature Restoration law, which is a key pillar of the Green Deal, provides that Member States will need to put concrete measures in place with the aim to recover 20% of all land and sea areas by 2030, and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050. This agreement makes the EU the first region to translate its international commitments of the UN Kunming-Montreal agreement - ratified by 196 countries - into a binding legal framework, with clear targets and deadlines for Member States.
Renew Europe also welcomes that the regulation foresees specific requirements for Member States to tackle the decline of pollinators by 2030 and will move towards planting 3 billion trees in the EU. This regulation lays a solid basis for safeguarding nature and biodiversity for future generations.
MEP Maria Soraya RODRIGUEZ RAMOS (Ciudadanos, Spain), Renew Europe shadow rapporteur says:
“Today we have a good legal basis for further work. This law ensures not only the health of our ecosystems and our citizens, but also puts Europe on the path to sustainable economic growth. This is the other major pillar of the European Green Deal, and we must be clear: we will not reach our climate targets if we do not address the biodiversity crisis. Maybe we do not have an agreement with the level of ambition that some of us wanted, but we do have the first law to tackle the big challenge ahead of us: the fight against climate change and its flip side of the coin, the deterioration and loss of biodiversity in the EU.”