European Parliament adopts nature restoration law

Subject: Environment

Section: Int conventions

Context:

On February 27, 2024, the European Parliament adopted the EU’s first law aimed at restoring degraded ecosystems across its 27 member states.

About ‘EU Deforestation law (EU- DR):

The legislation mandates restoring at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030, with a goal to restore all ecosystems in need by 2050.
Specific targets include restoring 30% of drained peatland by 2030, increasing to 50% by 2050.
For agricultural ecosystems, EU countries must improve in two of three indicators related to biodiversity and also take measures to increase the common farmland bird index.
Exceptional circumstances may allow for the suspension of agricultural ecosystem targets to ensure sufficient food production.
The law also sets goals for forest ecosystems, including planting three billion trees, restoring 25,000 km of rivers to a free-flowing state, and maintaining urban green spaces and tree canopy cover.
The adoption followed a vote with 329 in favor, 275 against, and 24 abstentions. This law, first introduced by the European Commission on June 22, 2022, faced initial challenges, including rejection by the ENVI committee in June 2023, but has now moved to the European Council for adoption before becoming effective.

Source: DTE