The sanction of the EU’s Nature Restoration Legislation yesterday, by the European Council, marks a pivotal milestone in the bloc’s effort to address environmental and climate catastrophes – the foremost challenges of our era intertwined with the perennial fights for equality, human rights and peace.
The law’s survival, credited to The Green Party representatives from Ireland, was dramatic, after initial opposition from Hungary threatened to derail it, despite the support of the European Parliament, a last-minute turn of events in favour from Austria finally secured the law.
Nonetheless, additional and urgent action is required if we are to counter and reverse environmental degradation which endangers the future of EU inhabitants. It’s paramount to secure the support, cooperation, and adherence of those managing our landscapes, both public and private, and our seas’ fish population. This demands enhanced communication and superior incentive provisions.
The legislation has already been significantly modified, with essential compulsory obligations now merely optional. The drive behind this was the opposition of numerous farmers’ and fishers’ organisations, fuelled by initiatives of far-right groups and misleading leadership of Manfred Weber from the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), promoting outrageous false claims about the law. Likewise, the recent European Parliament elections manifested an increased number of MEPs opposing or expressing scepticism towards the legislation.
Ironically, the segments touted to be most affected by the environmental issues which the legislation aims to rectify are farmers and fishers. Increasing frequency of extreme weather occurrences, such as droughts, wildfires and floods, intensifies direct landscape deterioration. Crop failure is on the rise, whilst excessive fishing and reckless trawling devastates the reproductive ability of marine species, threatening various industries.
It is essential that the constituent governments elucidate that the prime purpose of this legislation is not solely ‘preserving nature’- that can manage independently, but essentially, the preservation of humankind. Our long-term survival would be seriously jeopardised without the crucial services – from food to climate regulation, from pollination to flood safeguarding – provided by healthy landscapes.
It’s imperative to promptly embark on effectively communicating this to all parties involved, and ensure landowners, farmers and fishers are adequately incentivised to enforce this legislation.
Massive and difficult transformations are necessitated by everyone, city dwellers not exempted, to genuinely recuperate our terrain. Moreover, it is the responsibility of the government to initiate progress, by enhancing public land management far beyond their current efforts.