Jutta Paulus MEP: “The world’s first law on nature restoration is as good as finalised!”

Jutta Paulus MEP: “The world’s first law on nature restoration is as good as finalised.!

The final trialogue negotiations between the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Member States on the EU Nature Restoration Law have just ended.

The adopted negotiation result still has to be finally confirmed by the European Parliament and the Council of the Member States. The European Parliament’s Environment Committee will vote on the compromise on 29th November and the plenary is expected to vote in January 2024.

Jutta Paulus MEP

“The world’s first law on nature restoration is as good as finalised. With the outcome of the negotiations between the EU Parliament, the Commission and the Member States, the EU is travelling to the World Climate Conference in Dubai with an important building block for mitigating the climate crisis and adapting to climate change. The compromise on the Nature Restoration Law is a good basis for finally counteracting the extinction of species in Europe.

“Peatlands as natural allies against the climate crisis are to be rewetted and protected. Despite exceptions to the ban on degradation or the use of individual indicators, the overarching objectives and all ecosystems defined as worthy of protection remain part of the new law.

“I will work to ensure that the cross-party and cross-institutional negotiation result is adopted by a majority in the European Parliament,” – Jutta Paulus MEP, environmental expert and negotiator on the EU renaturation law.

Negotiators from the European Parliament and the Council reached a provisional political agreement on the EU nature restoration law.

They agreed on an EU target to restore at least 20% of land and 20% of sea areas by 2030 and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050.

To reach these targets, EU member states must restore at least 30% of habitat types covered by the new law to a good condition by 2030, increasing to 60% by 2040, and 90% by 2050.

Member states will have to adopt, through an open, transparent and inclusive process, national restoration plans detailing how they intend to achieve these targets.

In line with Parliament’s position, EU countries should give priority to areas located in Natura 2000 sites until 2030. The co-legislators also agreed that once an area has achieved a good condition, EU countries shall aim to ensure it does not significantly deteriorate.

The member states will have to put in place measures with the aim to achieve a positive trend in several indicators in forest ecosystems. At the same time, an additional three billion trees must also be planted in the EU and at least 25 000 km of rivers must be restored into free-flowing rivers.

EU countries shall also ensure that by 2030 there is no net loss in the total national area of urban green space, and of urban tree canopy cover in urban ecosystem areas compared to 2021. After 2030 they must further increase this, with progress measured every six years.

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