Today, the members of the Environment Committee of the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Nature Restoration Law as agreed in the trilogue negotiations, approving the final text with 53 to 28 votes. The proposal is now only one step away from the European Parliament’s side of the co-decision process to become reality: adoption in plenary.

Initially designed to implement measures to restore at least 20% of the EU’s nature on land, rivers, and seas by 2030, the law travelled a troublesome path to get to this point. Earlier this year, the proposal unexpectedly became the target of an aggressive disinformation and scaremongering campaign led by Manfred Weber’s EPP group. 

During its plenary vote in July, the European Parliament had considerably watered down the draft law, making it the weakest position compared to the Commission’s proposal and the Council’s general approach. In the following trilogue negotiations, compromises were made to accommodate all parties involved in the agreement that was reached on 9 November. This outcome of today reflects the joint work and the many concessions that were made during the negotiations to reach the trilogue deal.

The only missing step from the EU Parliament’s side is now a final rubber-stamp vote in plenary, expected to take place in early 2024. To conclude the legislative process, the Council will also need to give one last formal approval, which, given that the text already got a green light from the EU Member States last week, will be a formality.

This vote is also the result of several months of unparalleled mobilisation in support of the first-ever EU law to restore ecosystems: more than 6,000 scientists, 100+ businesses, over 200 NGOs, numerous climate activists and over a million signatures and messages from citizens demanding a strong Nature Restoration Law urged and are still urging decision-makers to deliver this much-needed law.

"The lawmakers actions are a bit closer to the end, but for nature it has not even begun yet. This law is badly needed and we can now soon focus on implementing both protection and restoration measures as legally binding actions", commented Nils Höglund, CCB Fisheries Policy Officer.

The #RestoreNature coalition, consisting of BirdLife Europe, ClientEarth, EEB, and WWF EU says: “It is encouraging to see how the support for the law has grown since an agreement was struck; the Environment Committee has now shown its clear commitment to get this law ready before the next European elections. However, it is still disappointing to see some MEPs not willing to protect Europe and its citizens from the devastating impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss. It is now up to the Parliament’s full house to follow suit and vote ‘yes’ on the Nature Restoration Law.”

ENDS. 

Notes for editors: 

[1] The Nature Restoration Law has received support from EU Member States, the wind energy and solar industry, scientists, the progressive farming community, European hunters, financial institutions, European mayors, an increasing number of companies and business associations and European youth. Almost 1,200,000 signatures and messages for an ambitious Nature Restoration Law have been collected through various campaigns, which were launched by the #RestoreNature coalition (incl. Avaaz), WeMove, etc. 

[2] For more information about the Nature Restoration Law, please visit, www.restorenature.eu or www.ccb.se/restorenature-campaign