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Nature Restoration Law

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Regulation 2024/1991
European Union regulation
Text with EEA relevance
TitleNature Restoration Law
Made byEuropean Parliament and the Council
Journal referenceOJ L, 2024/1991, 29.7.2024
History
Entry into force18 August 2024
Other legislation
AmendsRegulation (EU) 2022/869
Current legislation

The Nature Restoration Law is a regulation of the European Union to protect the EU environments and restore its nature to a good ecological state through renaturation. The law is a core element of the European Green Deal and the EU Biodiversity Strategy and makes the targets set therein for the "restoration of nature" binding.[1] EU member states will have to develop their national restoration plans by 2026.[2] They will have to restore at least 30% of habitats in poor condition by 2030, 60% by 2040, and 90% by 2050.[3][4][5]

The regulation is a response to Europe's declining natural environments, with more than 80% of habitats in poor condition.[1] Its goals include protecting the functioning of ecosystem services, climate change mitigation, resilience and autonomy by preventing natural disasters and reducing risks to food security,[1] and restoring damaged ecosystems.[2]

The regulation was proposed by the European Commission on 22 June 2022.[6] The law was adopted in the Council of the European Union on 17 June 2024[11] and was published in the EU's Official Journal on 29 July 2024, thus coming into force on 18 August 2024 (20th day after publication).[12]

History

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After the Council of the European Union agreed on a revised proposal in June 2023, the trilogue negotiations between the commission, Council and EU Parliament began. On 12 July, after many debates, the Parliament voted in favor.[13][14] An agreement on a compromise was reached by the European Parliament and the Council on 9 November 2023.[15][more detail needed] The EU Parliament voted in favor of the final draft law on 27 February 2024.[1]

Before the vote in the Council of the EU with the environment ministers, which was initially scheduled for 25 March 2024, the representatives of eight EU member states withdrew their consent: Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands and Hungary were now against it, while Austria, Belgium, Finland, and Poland announced their abstention. The vote was then taken off the agenda.[16][17] After Austria controversially announced its approval, the vote took place in the Council on 17 June 2024, and the law was adopted.[11]

The Austrian environment minister Leonore Gewessler played a pivotal role in its final passage in the Council of the EU. Despite significant opposition and political controversy, she announced her support for the law in June, citing her inability to reconcile letting the opportunity pass without having tried everything. This decision, however, placed her in a contentious legal grey area due to opposition from Austria's federal states and her coalition partners, the centre-right Austrian People's Party (ÖVP).[18] Gewessler had previously been unable to support the law due to unanimous opposition from Austria's nine states, but Vienna and Carinthia withdrew opposition following changes to the proposed law without explicitly shifting the unanimous stance.[19] With the law's passage in the Council, it will come into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal of the EU.[12]

A map of main rivers in Europe
An assessment of European freshwater biodiversity recovery and declines[20]

The final text[more detail needed] reduced requirements for the farming sector.[5]

Voting result in the European Parliament on 27 February 2024

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The European Parliament adopted the agreement reached with the Member States by 329 votes to 275, with 24 abstentions.[21] The individual political groups in the European Parliament voted like so:[22]

Party Pro (votes) Con (votes) Abstentions
ECR 3 60 1
EPP 25 115 10
Greens/EFA 69 — 2
ID — 50 —
The Left 28 3 —
Renew Europe 60 30 6
S&D 117 4 3
Non-attached 27 13 2

Reception

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The regulation was endorsed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature,[23] scientists, who wrote an open letter in support that addressed critics' arguments,[24][25][26][27] and the European Academies' Science Advisory Council[28] among others.

Two organizations[more detail needed] that represent the farming and fisheries sectors have criticized the policy as an unimplementable legislation in 2023 that endangers farmers' and fishers' livelihoods.[25] In another open letter by academics, biodiversity researchers requested policies like the Nature Restoration Law are built alongside farmers to empower them to make agriculture more environmentally friendly.[29][30]

In July 2023, European People's Party (EPP) leader Manfred Weber tried to block the Nature Restoration Law, saying it would destroy farmers' livelihoods and threaten food security.[31]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "The EU #NatureRestoration Law". environment.ec.europa.eu. 12 July 2024. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  2. ^ a b "State of the Union: EU top jobs and Nature Restoration law". euronews. 21 June 2024. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  3. ^ "Nature restoration: Parliament adopts law to restore 20% of EU's land and sea | News | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. 27 February 2024. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  4. ^ "Nature restoration". Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Manzanaro, Sofia Sanchez (17 June 2024). "EU countries rubberstamp Nature Restoration Law after months of deadlock". www.euractiv.com. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Nature restoration law - European Commission". environment.ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  7. ^ "Österreich gab bei Ja zu Renaturierungsgesetz den Ausschlag, Nehammer kündigt Nichtigkeitsklage an". DER STANDARD (in Austrian German). Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  8. ^ "EU ministers approve contested Nature Restoration Law – DW – 06/17/2024". dw.com. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  9. ^ Petrequin, Samuel (17 June 2024). "EU approves landmark nature restoration plan despite months of protests by farmers". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  10. ^ "Nature restoration law: Council gives final green light". Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  11. ^ a b [7][8][9][5][10]
  12. ^ a b "2022/0195(COD)". Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  13. ^ Magee, Caolán (12 July 2023). "Europe agrees landmark nature and climate deal after tense negotiations". CNN. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  14. ^ "Texts adopted - Nature restoration - Wednesday, 12 July 2023". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  15. ^ "Commission welcomes agreement between European Parliament and Council on Nature Restoration Law". European Commission - European Commission. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  16. ^ O'Carroll, Lisa (25 March 2024). "EU nature restoration laws face collapse as member states withdraw support". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  17. ^ "Future of Nature Restoration Law uncertain amid further delay". euronews. 22 March 2024. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  18. ^ Niranjan, Ajit (17 June 2024). "EU passes law to restore 20% of bloc's land and sea by end of decade". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  19. ^ Ajit Niranjan (17 June 2024). "EU passes law to restore 20% of bloc's land and sea by end of decade". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  20. ^ Haase, Peter; Bowler, Diana E.; Baker, Nathan J.; et al. (August 2023). "The recovery of European freshwater biodiversity has come to a halt". Nature. 620 (7974): 582–588. Bibcode:2023Natur.620..582H. doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06400-1. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 10432276.
  21. ^ "Parlament: Ja zur Renaturierung von 20 % der Land- und Meeresflächen der EU | Aktuelles | Europäisches Parlament". www.europarl.europa.eu (in German). 27 February 2024. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  22. ^ "Protokoll; Ergebnis der namentlichen Abstimmungen - Anlage" (PDF). Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  23. ^ "The EU adopts its new Nature Restoration Law - News | IUCN". www.iucn.org. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  24. ^ Pe'er, Guy; Kachler, Jana; Herzon, Irina; Hering, Daniel; Arponen, Anni; Bosco, Laura; Bruelheide, Helge; Friedrichs-Manthey, Martin; Hagedorn, Gregor; Hansjürgens, Bernd; Ladouceur, Emma; Lakner, Sebastian; Liquete, Camino; Quaas, Martin; Robuchon, Marine; Saavedra, Deli; Selva, Nuria; Settele, Josef; Sirami, Clélia; Van Dam, Nicole M.; Wittmer, Heidi; Wubs, E.R. Jasper; Bonn, Aletta (2023). "Scientists support the EU's Green Deal and reject the unjustified argumentation against the Sustainable Use Regulation and the Nature Restoration Law". doi:10.5281/zenodo.8128624. The call was led by 23 scientists and signed by 6000 scientists across EU Member States and 30 additional countries.
  25. ^ a b "Scientists urge European Parliament to vote for nature restoration law". Science.org. 10 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  26. ^ "SCIENTISTS IN SUPPORT FOR AN AMBITIOUS EU NATURE RESTORATION LAW – Institute of Fisheries Management". ifm.org.uk. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  27. ^ Hering, Daniel; Schürings, Christian; Wenskus, Franziska; Blackstock, Kirsty; Borja, Angel; Birk, Sebastian; Bullock, Craig; Carvalho, Laurence; Dagher-Kharrat, Magda Bou; Lakner, Sebastian; Lovrić, Nataša; McGuinness, Shane; Nabuurs, Gert-Jan; Sánchez-Arcilla, Agustín; Settele, Josef; Pe’er, Guy (15 December 2023). "Securing success for the Nature Restoration Law". Science. 382 (6676): 1248–1250. Bibcode:2023Sci...382.1248H. doi:10.1126/science.adk1658. ISSN 0036-8075.
  28. ^ "EU Nature Restoration Law 2024". Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften Leopoldina. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  29. ^ Greenfield, Patrick (26 April 2024). "New EU nature law will fail without farmers, scientists warn". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  30. ^ "We need nature to save our agriculture". Crowther Lab. 18 April 2024. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  31. ^ "EU conservatives' anti-Green Deal push falls short". Politico. 12 July 2023.
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