QThis time it’s the law for real: the Nature Restoration Law, already approved by the European Parliament last February, also received the green light from the EU Environment Council on Monday 17 June. After a long and tumultuous process, the most contested measure of Ursula von der Leyen’s Green deal will come into force in twenty days. The vote in favor of Austria was decisive, announced by the Minister of the Environment, the green Leonore Gewessler. Slovakia, after expressing some doubts, also supported the text. A majority was thus achieved in twenty out of twenty-seven states, representing 66% of the Union’s population. Italy was against it from start to finish, along with Hungary, Holland, Poland, Finland and Sweden. Belgium remained neutral.
The result is rewarding the commitment of the #RestoreNature coalition, made up of BirdLife Europe, ClientEarth, the European environmental bureau – Eeb and Wwf Europa, which accepted the invitation of civil society and the world of scientific research. With the new law, binding objectives will be set for the restoration of 20% of degraded terrestrial and marine ecosystems by 2030. To achieve these results, States must restore at least 30% of habitats, such as forests, grasslands, wetlands, rivers and lakes, from poor to good condition. And they must ensure that they do not deteriorate once restored.
The reaction of the environmentalist world
«It is the most ambitious nature program ever presented. A look towards the present and the future, in order to truly bringing nature back into our lives», is the comment of Danilo Selvaggi, director of Lipu Italia. «We are very satisfied with the approval of the law, a historic victory for European civil society which defends the environment and wants to build a balanced relationship between man and nature», he says Dante Caserta, head of Legal and Institutional Affairs of WWF Italy. «It is unfortunate that in a crucial step for the protection of nature in Europe, Giorgia Meloni’s government has sensationally missed its appointment with history, opposing itself ideologically and choosing the misinformation of the agro-industry lobbies against the interests of citizens. But now he will not be able to avoid implementing the regulation, defining a national plan with clear, concrete and binding objectives”. The commitment of environmental associations now is precisely to monitor the application process of the Nature Restoration Law by the Member States.
Among the countries most convincingly in favour, there was Ireland: the Minister for Climate and Environment Eamon Ryan, underlining the diplomatic action carried out to reach the final approval, stated: «The restoration of nature is in the interest of each of us. There is no food security if ecosystems are degraded. I believe that citizens absolutely agree in wanting to conserve rather than destroy the natural world, which enriches us all.”
With the entry into force of the law, the European Union will be able to play a leading role at a global level at the next UN Conference on Biodiversity, scheduled for the end of the year. Furthermore, for the #RestoreNature coalition the vote of the Environment Council «is also a very clear message in view of the next five years of the European Parliament and the Commission: biodiversity and climate are and must remain a strategic priority of the new legislature».
The opening photo is by Elisa Cozzarini
