EU renaturation law passed by a narrow margin!

After a fierce political exchange of blows, the EU Parliament yesterday adopted its position on the far-reaching environmental law to restore nature, the "Nature Restoration Law" (NRL for short). 336 MEPs voted in favor of the so-called restoration law, 300 against and 13 abstained. The law is a key part of the comprehensive "Green Deal" climate protection package, which aims to make the EU climate-neutral by 2050.

The Green Deal and the Renaturation Act

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (EPP) announced the European Green Deal at the start of her term of office in 2019. The aim is for Europe to become the world's first climate-neutral continent by 2050, and saving nature always goes hand in hand with climate protection. The circular economy, fewer pesticides and clean energy therefore play just as important a role in the Green Deal as the preservation and restoration of ecosystems. Some of the objectives of the Green Deal have now been adopted with the vote in the EU Parliament on the renaturation law.

The renaturation law is supported not only by environmental organizations, scientists and consumer advocates, but also by large companies such as IKEA, H&M, Unilever and Nestlé.

According to the EU Commission's plans, at least 20 percent of the EU's land and marine areas are to be subject to so-called restoration measures by 2030. This not only applies to nature conservation areas, but also includes measures in managed areas such as forests, fields and cities.

Specifically, this involves, for example

• • Reforestation of forests,
  • the greening of cities
  • Freeing rivers from human blockages
  • Renaturation of moors that have been drained
  • a strong reduction and complete ban on pesticides in "sensitive areas"
  • Reduction of monocultures

Degraded ecosystems

More than 80 percent of habitats in the EU are in a poor state. According to Fridays For Future Austria, the renaturation of degraded ecosystems is essential in order to store carbon, be resistant to extreme weather conditions and slow down the mass extinction of animal and plant species.

In Austria, for example

• • more than 80 percent of FFH-protected species and habitats are not in a favorable conservation status.
  • At 12 hectares per day, land consumption is almost five times higher than the "sustainability target" of 2.5 hectares per day.
  • Only 14 percent of domestic rivers are still in good ecological condition,
  • 90 percent of the original moorland area has already been destroyed.

"Binding targets and measures are therefore urgently needed across Europe. Overall, this will not only benefit the environment, but also the economy, agriculture and our entire society," says WWF biodiversity spokesperson Joschka Brangs.

Fake news

Nevertheless, conservative MEPs under Manfred Weber's (CSU) EPP, with the support of some liberals, have launched a disinformation campaign in recent weeks and months to delay, prevent and weaken the commitments to restore nature in Europe. The climate activistsfrom Fridays For Future Austria suspect that the calculation behind this is to position themselves as a protest party against the Green Deal in view of the upcoming EU elections in 2024. More than 6,000 scientistshave refuted the EPP's fake news arguments.

This is a bittersweet victory

"This is a bittersweet victory, but it is OUR bittersweet victory," notes Daniel Shams of Fridays For Future Austria, who was on the ground in Strasbourg. "The road to the weakened EU nature protection law was rocky, with Trump-level political discourse from conservatives, right-wingers and some liberals.

The fact that Parliament is going into trilogue with the weakest proposal of all says a lot about how populist and short-sighted the majority of elected representatives are behaving. This weak version cannot be the end result of a bill that is literally a matter of safety and survival for countless people. We will continue to fight for a much stronger law than this!" emphasizes Shams.

A milestone

"Even if the proposed legislation has been weakened, this is a milestone. Restoring nature is one of the most important tasks of our generation. Now the Council, Parliament and Commission must agree on a final and ambitious text so that the restoration of nature can begin," says Brangs.

"The European People's Party's attack on the protection of the environment and nature has failed," commented the environmental protection organization Global 2000. "By approving the EU renaturation law, the European Parliament has clearly rejected the European People's Party's disinformation campaign based on misrepresentations and 'fake news'."

Criticism from the Minister of Agriculture

Austria's Minister of Agriculture criticized the law on Ö1 Morgenjournal as "excessive" and "unrealistic". "What about the owners? This is practically tantamount to expropriation," said Totschnig. "How much land is actually relevant at the end of the day would have to be negotiated with the European Commission once it is clear what the draft looks like." He called for "feasible laws" in the interview.

Further-reaching measures, for example against soil sealing

Although an important law has been passed at EU level, the federal and state governments in Austria should not be satisfied with this. "In Austria in particular, large, totally sealed surfaces (huge parking lots) should be improved immediately so that there must at least be areas between concrete or asphalt surfaces where water can seep away (gravel surfaces or stone paving). Likewise, in times like these, "heat areas" should no longer be permitted. In addition, the planting and CARE of trees in sufficient numbers must become mandatory," says MMag. Drin. Madeleine Petrovic, President of the Vienna Animal Protection Association (Tierschutz Austria).

Our pro.earth.conclusion:

Following this narrow stage victory for the NRL, the individual EU member states must now draw up and implement a catalog of measures. It therefore remains to be seen to what extent the states will take effective measures and in what timeframe. We will monitor this and report on it. We are pleased about the law, but also see - like many environmental organizations - that the watering down is problematic.