Yesterday, the EU Nature Restoration Law officially entered into force. Now, all 27 member states are required to restore at least 20 percent of the bloc’s land and sea areas by 2030, and all degraded ecosystems by 2050.
It’s the first such ecological restoration law of its scale, and it could reverse fortunes across a region where more than 80 percent of habitats are in poor condition.
“The Nature Restoration Regulation is the first legislation of this kind in the world,” says a spokesperson for the European Commission.
“With it, the EU is demonstrating that it is serious about meeting its international commitments and that it is ready to maintain its leadership role in the global fight against biodiversity loss and climate change.
“It will also enhance food security and contribute to meeting the Union’s overarching objectives concerning climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation and land degradation neutrality.”
But things could’ve easily turned out differently. After months of deadlock, it was a last-minute U-turn by Austria that swung the vote by the thinnest of margins.
In the face of unprecedented opposition, the #RestoreNature coalition – a group of civil society organizations including ClientEarth, WWF EU, BirdLife Europe and the European Environmental Bureau – was instrumental in getting the Nature Restoration Law over the line.
“This is a huge step for Europe,” says Fran Price, forest practice leader at WWF. “It’s a long-awaited law that is finally passed. Many people and groups have been working on this for many years.”
“This can provide a huge boost to nature in many parts of Europe,” she adds. “There’s a lot of degraded land in Europe, and this restoration law enables restoration activities to take place at a scale that matters.”
Ioannis Agapakis, a lawyer at ClientEarth, admits he feared that the law would never pass, such was the scale of the opposition.
“We did not expect that at all when the law was on the drawing board,” he reflects. “It wasn’t just opposition – it was disinformation and fake science.
“There were scare tactics within the parliament, with MEPs [Members of the European Parliament] being threatened not to vote in favor of the law.”
Opponents to the law said it threatened the farming, fisheries and forestry sectors, especially as it required the restoration of peatlands that had been drained for agriculture.
Meanwhile, supporters say it’ll help improve soil and water quality in the long run and build resilience against climate disasters.
Agapakis believes the law would never have passed without civil society support. “1.2 million people signed a petition supporting the law. There were demonstrations across Europe.
“So many businesses were speaking in favor of the law. There were so many lobbies – the renewables lobby, the wind lobby, and even hunters speaking out in favor of the law.” he added.
EU member states had originally planned to approve the Nature Restoration Law in March – until Hungary unexpectedly backed out at the last minute. By June, despite widespread public support, it seemed like a lost cause.
“We had a tie, and there has never been a tie in a committee vote in the parliament,” says Agapakis. “Up until the last minute, my impression was that we would not get the law because I had all the numbers in front of me.”
Then, at the eleventh hour, Austria’s environment minister, Leonore Gewessler, defied her coalition partners and voted in favor – giving the law the two-thirds majority in the European Council that it needed to pass.
Environmentalists across Europe have hailed the vote as a landmark victory, with the EU calling it “a major milestone for Europe’s resilience.”
Despite this unlikely triumph, the law has been significantly watered down since it was first proposed in 2022.
“The law looked very different in the beginning,” Agapakis recalls. “The [original] law would have really transformed our relationship to nature. This is not the case now.
“But that being said, the law still provides a very good framework for action at the national level. And for me, the next stage would not be to go back to the drawing board and try to develop new legislation. It would rather be to push member states to deliver on the law.”
The Nature Restoration Law sets legally binding targets for ecosystems, both land and marine, across the EU. It also includes measures to protect insect pollinators, plant trees and restore rivers.
“Member State authorities now need to ensure its full implementation by working together with experts, landowners, farmers, foresters, fishers and the public,” says an EU spokesperson.
“Most of our economic activities depend on healthy ecosystems, and the implementation of this law will bring substantial benefits to society.”
Agapakis points out that there are just over five years to go until 2030, when the first set of targets will be due. ClientEarth and other organizations are providing guidance to help member states ensure that they implement the law properly.
“One of the main challenges has to do with a lack of administrative capacity and understaffing inside member states,” he says.
“I think this is going to be an issue because this law requires the drafting of a complex and detailed plan. While technical know-how will need to be developed in member states, the clock is ticking.”
Nonetheless, Agapakis is hopeful that the law can serve as an example for the rest of the world and be adapted to the needs of other countries.
“We hope that the Nature Restoration Regulation can, at the very least, inspire more countries to take ecosystem restoration seriously,” he says.
“At best, parties could use its structure as a blueprint to develop their own legislative instruments, obviously while reflecting their own national circumstances and specificities.”
Price believes a key takeaway from this victory is the importance of building coalitions across civil society, the private sector and governments.
“Even at a time when politics are getting more contentious, we can still make a difference – and we should keep trying to get the right policy frameworks in place,” she says.
For Agapakis, the law will go a long way towards protecting biodiversity on a densely populated continent where land use is under constant pressure.
“We are such a crowded continent: you have agricultural expansion, city expansion and industrial infrastructure expansion, so we have an arena of competing interests.
“I feel that this law helps put biodiversity on an equal footing with all the other legitimate objectives that the Union wants to pursue.”
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