Nature Restoration Law in danger

30 June 2023

SAFE urges all MEPs to vote in favour during the plenary of July

Europe’s law to restore nature is in the balance, following a vote in the European Parliament’s environment committee reports Euractiv on Tuesday 27 June. This has opened up the possibility for it to be definitively rejected by lawmakers during a whole Parliament vote in July.

The law, which aims at restoring Europe’s failing ecosystems, including forests, agricultural land and marine habitats, has faced fierce opposition from right-wing parties, particularly the European People’s Party.

Now it faces a vote to reject it in the Parliament’s July plenary, with no obvious majority to support it, but equally, no clear majority to vote it down.

This news comes at the wrong time, as there is a huge need for restoring Europe’s ecosystems, with 81% of habitats in a poor or bad state. This risks causing biodiversity loss, rising carbon emissions and increased vulnerability to climate change.

For instance, Europe’s forests are in need of restoration to strengthen them against fires and other shocks caused by global warming as well as boosting their carbon capture potential and ability to shelter biodiversity.

“If the Parliament cannot adopt this law, it may end up not only as a colossal EU failure, but even a global embarrassment,” said Guy Pe’er, a conservation and biodiversity scientist at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research.

Meanwhile, Noor Yafai, Europe director at The Nature Conservancy, said the vote was a blow for the EU’s climate change efforts. “It symbolises a looming threat that the European Parliament’s international leadership on environmental issues, which grew tall and blossomed with the Green Deal, could now be about to wilt away,” she added.

She emphasised that it was concerning that the vote “has fallen victim to an audacious disinformation campaign” ignoring science, businesses and civil society calls to urgently restore nature in light of climate change impacts. These are already being felt, including in Europe’s forests, which have already seen huge fires and pest problems.