Nature wins historic victory in the EU: EU Council adopts law to restore nature
After an exciting discussion, the EU Environment Council finally adopted the Nature Restoration Law (NRL) today, taking the last step towards making this long-awaited proposal law. This result is a great victory for nature, climate protection, citizens and the future of Europe.
On behalf of the Europe-wide #RestoreNatur coalition, natur&ëmwelt and Mouvement écologique carried out a symbolic action in front of the European Convention Center this morning and once again made an urgent appeal to the environment ministers to vote in favour of the NRL. The EU environment ministers from Luxembourg, Spain, Ireland, Lithuania, Romania and the Czech Republic explicitly informed the organisations that they would support the law. With success.
The member states have kept their promises and the law has been officially approved by a majority of 20 countries representing 66.07% of the population. This is thanks to the Austrian Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler, who stepped in at the last minute, changed the country’s previous position and secured the law.
The #RestoreNature coalition, consisting of the European partners of natur&ëmwelt and Mouvement écologique, BirdLife Europe, ClientEarth, EEB and WWF EU, comments: “Today’s vote is a great victory for European nature and citizens who have long been calling for urgent action to halt the alarming decline of nature. After years of intense campaigning and many ups and downs, we are overjoyed that this law is now a reality – this day will go down in history as a turning point for nature and society. Now we need all hands on deck: Member States must implement this legislation properly in their countries without delay, in close cooperation with all stakeholders. At the end of the day, nature can strike back, for the benefit of our climate, biodiversity and people!”
The law has had one of the stormiest journeys in the history of EU legislation. After surviving an unprecedented and absurd disinformation campaign aimed at killing the NRL in the European Parliament, it was on the verge of being rejected in the final step in the Environment Council. In the end, however, support for the law prevailed.
This result comes at the right time to present it at the upcoming UN Conference on Biological Diversity (CBD COP16) and to show that Europe is ready to take a leading role in tackling the climate and biodiversity crisis by committing to its global obligations. It is also a clear message to the new EU Parliament and Commission to put biodiversity at the top of their agenda.
This result was preceded by a massive public mobilisation. In recent years, over a million signatures and messages from citizens, repeated calls from more than 6,000 scientists, more than 100 companies, youth organisations and civil society from numerous sectors have been collected to defend the right and integrity of the EU Green Deal. In Luxembourg too! The success of the campaign shows that commitment pays off! As the #RestoreNature coalition, we would like to thank everyone who contributed to this result and made it possible.
Press contact :
- Roby Biwer, natur&ëmwelt : 621 378 529
- Blanche Weber, Mouvement écologique: 621 282 139
- Sofie Ruysschaert, Nature Restoration Policy Officer, BirdLife Europe
Ruysschaert@birdlife.org, +32 477 70 43 72 - Sabien Leemans, Senior Biodiversity Policy Officer, WWF EU
sleemans@wwf.eu, +32 486 80 04 37
17.06.2024