2023-11-10 06:00:00
The law contains binding goals and obligations that must ensure that at least 20 percent of nature on land and at sea is preserved by 2030. Another twenty years later, this should apply to all nature where recovery is needed. Existing nature reserves, the so-called Natura 2000 areas, will be given priority in the first few years.
The negotiators who reached an agreement on Thursday evening must still receive the approval of the member states and the EU parliament. That rarely goes wrong, but the Nature Restoration Act has previously provoked a lot of outspoken resistance. The Netherlands, for example, has so far refused to support the law, fearing that it would further complicate construction and farming. In the European Parliament, the European Christian Democrats, the largest group, turned against it, resulting in barely enough support.
The original proposal by then European Commissioner Frans Timmermans has been significantly watered down in order to find enough support. This applies, for example, to the prohibition on allowing nature to deteriorate. The negotiators have now agreed that EU countries will not be obliged to prevent deterioration, but only to make efforts to do so.
They also install an emergency brake. Nature restoration orders for farmland can be suspended for a year if, for example, the food supply is compromised due to unforeseen bad harvests. The impact of the law on European agriculture and the economy will in any case be re-examined in 2033.
It remains to be seen whether the Christian Democratic EPP now supports the compromise reached, which it calls “significantly modified”. “The EPP will now seriously examine the outcome of today’s negotiations,” the Christian Democrats said. The intention is for parliament and member states to vote on final approval before Christmas.
The vast majority of nature in Europe is in a bad state. This also hinders the fight against climate change and growing food. For example, because drying swamps release CO2 and because there are no longer bees to pollinate crops.
Also read:
As European Commissioner, Hoekstra is suddenly greener than green: ‘An ambitious climate policy is absolutely necessary’
As CDA leader, Hoekstra was against European emissions targets, and as a minister he was against a compensation fund for those affected by climate change. But as European Commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra will be completely in favor, it appears.
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