EU Commission plays into hands of anti-nature lobbies, ignores citizens by delaying Nature Restoration Law

CCB • March 21, 2022

Today, the European Commission postponed its highly anticipated proposal for an EU Nature Restoration Law without setting a new publication date.

Over the weekend, more than 13,000 EU citizens, 166 environmental NGOs - including CCB - and a group of environmental ministers sent letters to the European Commission expressing their support of the law and asking for it not to be delayed, but their voices have been ignored.


Legally binding nature restoration targets are urgently needed to address the drastic decline of biodiversity in the EU, to help us mitigate the climate crisis and to build resilience in the face of climate change.

We call on the Commission to set a new date for the proposal to be launched within a month. This law has the opportunity to become a real game-changer against the climate and biodiversity crises, with tangible benefits for people and nature. It must be timely, ambitious and enforceable.


Sabien Leemans, Senior Biodiversity Policy Officer, WWF European Policy Office, said:

“We understand the extremely difficult context in which this proposal is being finalised – but not why the College of Commissioners was not even able to pencil in a new date. There is no reason to delay the law by months. This is jeopardising the EU’s response to the climate and biodiversity crises and puts the European Green Deal agenda into further question. It is unacceptable to leave people and nature in limbo.”


Anna Heslop, Wildlife and Habitats Lawyer, ClientEarth, said:
“The Commission’s proposal on nature restoration was meant to set a clear path to reach the EU’s biodiversity goals, and provide a strong negotiating position for the Global Biodiversity Framework currently being thrashed out. But those in charge have moved to delay this vital policy and row back on what they promised, risking the future protection of nature both at a global level and at home. The EU is trying to position itself as a global leader, while back at home it is seeking to dismantle the very policies on which that leadership is based.”


Ariel Brunner, Senior Head of Policy, BirdLife Europe, said:

“The farm and forestry lobbies will go to unbelievable lengths to protect their profit-making, nature-destructive practices. Stooping lower than ever before, they are now using the Russian war against Ukraine to support their own twisted agenda. The Commission must wake up and listen to science. Without large-scale nature restoration now, Europe will experience more floods, more droughts, and growing threats to the lives of citizens and the ability of farmers to produce food. If the Commission genuinely wants to deliver on their European Green Deal, the time is now.”   


Sergiy Moroz, Policy Manager for Water and Biodiversity, EEB, said: 

“Delaying the Nature Restoration Law proposal to an uncertain future flies in the face of science, the demands of citizens and the EU’s global climate and biodiversity commitments. Ignoring the ticking clock further passes the burden of the ecological crisis to younger generations and threatens the fundamental rights of everyone. The Commission must act now and come out with a solid restoration law proposal within a month at the very latest.“

NOTES
#RestoreNature´s website: https://www.restorenature.eu/en

CCB is looking for a Network Officer to join our team at the CCB International Secretariat

By CCB • April 9, 2025
Coalition Clean Baltic – CCB is a politically independent network, uniting 27 environmental non-profit organizations, as well as partners and experts from 11 countries surrounding the Baltic Sea. The main goal of CCB is to promote the protection and improvement of the environment and natural resources of the Baltic Sea region by encouraging new and constructive approaches and engaging people to become part of the solution instead of part of the problem. CCB Secretariat is based in Uppsala, Sweden.

Attacks on NGOs: 570+ Organisations Join Forces to Defend Civil Society

By CCB • April 7, 2025
European civil society organisations (CSOs) are currently facing an attack coming from certain Members of the European Parliament. Spearheaded by some MEPs from the European People’s Party (EPP) and by far-right groups, this attack resorts to misleading arguments to fabricate a scandal. This portrayal has been amplified through the media, with notable exceptions of articles that attempted to clarify this misleading narrative. European CSOs are crucial to ensure the voices of citizens from different parts of Europe are heard in the EU institutions. Attacks against civil society are unfortunately not new and are exacerbated by this harmful idea. Furthermore, for-profit corporate lobbying is through the roof when compared to non-profit advocacy. In 2024, the 50 corporations with the largest lobbying budgets collectively spent nearly €200 million on lobbying the EU alone (66% more than in 2015). Comparing this to the funding environmental NGOs receive under the LIFE programme - €15.6 million annually of a €700 million yearly budget - truly shows the weakness of this ‘scandal’. This is why over 570 civil society organisations from 40 countries, including all EU Member States, have joined forces to call on those in power to act now and ensure that civil society is adequately funded and enabled to share our crucial perspectives . In this statement, we address: The source of this false narrative; Inaccurate claims made about how CSOs obtain and use funding; Why it’s paramount that CSOs receive sufficient funding; The need for civil dialogue to enable CSOs participation. Democracy is about the right of citizens to be collectively heard for building an inclusive society and a shared European future; properly funded independent CSOs are a crucial tool for that. We call on decision-makers to ensure civil society organisations can thrive and play their role in interacting with policy-makers in order to have a more fully informed decision-making process. Read the full statement here . -END Civil Society Europe (CSE) is the coordination of civil society organisations at EU level. Through its membership, CSE unites EU-level membership-based organisations that reach out to millions of people active in or supported by not-for-profits and civil society organisations across the EU. CSE was created by several civil society organisations as a follow-up to the European Year of Citizens and was established as an international not-for-profit under Belgian law in 2016. Since then, it has become the point of reference for EU institutions on transversal issues concerning civil dialogue and civic space.