The European Union approves the Nature Restoration Law, the first law for the restoration of natural environments
Its name is Nature Restoration Law, and it is a regulation for the safeguard of the environment, which was finally approved on June 17th by the Ministers of Environment of EU Countries. It is an important piece of the Green Deal, that is to say, the European Plan for climate.
The document went through quite a hard route: it had been first proposed two years ago by the European Commission, but it underwent the resistance of many States as well as political parties. Eventually, the European Council did it, but with the vote against of Italy, Hungary, The Netherlands, Poland, Finland and Sweden, besides the abstention of Belgium. The approved law, which is by the way a milestone in the strategy for biodiversity, is therefore less “strict” with respect to the first proposal. Those who were against were worried above all for the too many restrictions on the farming sector, and, as a consequence, for the possible increase in food prices. Anyway, in case of serious consequences at community level for the food safety, the European Commission has the power to suspend the plan even for one year, as far as farming ecosystems are concerned.
What is the Nature Restoration Law and what is it about?
The new regulation takes care not only of the protection of natural areas – it aims also to restore all those already in a state of decay. Be it forests, marine ecosystems, urban and farming areas.
In order to fulfil this, a three-stages route has been planned, which should take a period of thirty-six years: within 2030 each member State should restore the 30% of each ecosystem; within 2040 the 60% should be reached; within 2050 the 90%.
Now, the Governments of member States will have to adopt their own restoration plans and they will have to report periodically to the European Commission about the progresses in achieving the goals.
