Green light from the European Parliament to the law on nature

The European Parliament – with 336 votes in favour, 300 against and 13 abstentions – has given the green light to the Restoration Law, the law which provides for the restoration of biodiversity opposed by a part of the People’s Party, by the right and by farmers’ associations and supported by Socialists, from the Greens, from the Lefts and from most of the Liberals. Shortly before, the same Parliament had rejected the request for rejection of the law made by the EPP and right-wing groups.

Applause and hugs and a few shouts in the left wing of the Strasbourg hemicycle after the rejection of the motion of rejection presented by the Populars against the law on the restoration of nature. A rejection that triggered the exultation of the benches where Socialists, Greens and leftists sit. Impassive in the guest gallery Greta Thunberg, overlooking the hemicycle to follow the complicated voting operations. Immediately after the announcement of the vote, a long liberating applause erupted from the benches of the left wing of the hemicycle which slightly delayed the start of the marathon on the vote on the amendments to the text.

“We rejected the EPP’s boycott of the nature restoration law. The majority of MEPs were not deceived by the EPP’s half-truths. Manfred Weber’s misleading tactics have failed. Parliament must seize this opportunity to defend nature and biodiversity”. This is the comment of the group of Socialists and Democrats after the vote.

The Biodiversity Restoration Act

The law provides binding targets for member states to restore 20% of land and marine areas in order to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2030 with nature restoration measures and subsequently extend the same concept to all ecosystems that need restoration by 2050. A goal to ensure food security, climate resilience and health and well-being for the population, fauna and flora. Among the most important passages of the Nature Restoration Law are the desire to reduce chemical pesticides by 50% by 2030, the increase in protected areas, efforts to save pollinators, but also the idea of ​​guaranteeing no loss of urban green spaces within 2030 and plan for a 5% increase by 2050.

Not only that, there is “a minimum of 10% tree cover in each city”, the re-humidification of dried up peatlands that help us absorb carbon, various actions to increase biodiversity in agricultural land, the restoration of habitats in seabed or the removal of river barriers to free 25 thousand kilometers of rivers in order to prevent disasters during floods. Each member state will have to develop national rehabilitation plans with precise reporting of what has been done. The EU, for its part, puts around 100 billion euros on the plate, partly destined for the restoration of nature and estimates that investments for the recovery of the environment, for every euro spent, will bring between 8 and 38 euros in benefits.