The EU must have restoration measures in place by 2030 covering at least 20% of its land and sea areas, say MEPs.
Following a debate on Tuesday, Parliament today adopted its position on the EU nature restoration law with 336 votes in favour, 300 against and 13 abstentions. A vote to reject the Commission’s proposal did not pass (312 votes to 324 and 12 abstentions).
MEPs underline that restoring the ecosystem is key to combating climate change and biodiversity loss, and reduces risks to food security. They stress that the draft law does not impose the creation of new protected areas in the EU nor block new renewable energy infrastructure as they added a new article underlining that such installations are overwhelmingly in the public interest.
Nature restoration targets for 2030
Parliament highlights that the new law must contribute to reaching the EU’s international commitments, in particular the UN Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity framework. MEPs support the Commission’s proposal to put restoration measures in place by 2030 covering at least 20% of all land and sea areas in the EU.
Parliament says that the law shall only apply when the Commission has provided data on the necessary conditions to guarantee long-term food security and when EU countries have quantified the area that needs to be restored to reach the restoration targets for each habitat type. Parliament also foresees a possibility to postpone the targets under exceptional socioeconomic consequences.
Within 12 months of this Regulation entering into force, the Commission would have to assess any gap between restoration financial needs and available EU funding and look into solutions to bridge such a gap, in particular through a dedicated EU instrument.
Source: europarl.europa.eu