What is the Nature Restoration Law?

Last July 12, the European Parliament approved the law on the restoration of nature: 336 votes in favor, 300 against and 13 abstentions. A historic vote and by no means a foregone conclusion for the law, which aims to restore 20 percent of the European Union's land and marine areas by 2030. The European Parliament then gave the green light for the negotiating mandate on the proposed regulation. The Nature Restoration Law is a key element in supporting the European Union's 2030 biodiversity strategy as part of the European Green Deal, which calls for binding targets to restore degraded ecosystems, particularly those with the greatest potential to capture and store carbon, and to prevent and reduce the impact of natural disasters. According to the EC, for every euro invested in restoration, between 8 and 38 euros will be returned in ecosystem services.

An hour-long vote in which the right called for the rejection of the law: with 324 votes in favor and 312 against (12 abstentions), the EPP offensive was blocked. After a series of amendments and appeals, the final vote was "yes" and the law was passed. In favor were most of the MEPs, the environmental associations of Europe and the youth of the green movements, but also 6,000 European scientists, several academics and more than 1 million citizens who had signed for the "yes" vote to win. Also in the audience was activist Greta Thunberg, who demonstrated in support of the directive in Strasbourg yesterday. The European People's Party (EPP), on the other hand, together with the other right-wing parties in the Parliament, had opposed the law. In fact, EPP group leader Manfred Weber had called for the proposal to be reworked and presented differently.

"The new law must contribute to achieving the EU's international commitments, in particular those set out in the UN's Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. MEPs support the European Commission's proposal to implement nature restoration measures covering at least 20 percent of all land and marine areas in the EU by 2030," the European Parliament said. The legislation will only be implemented after the Commission has provided data on the conditions needed to ensure food security in the long term and "after EU countries have quantified the areas to be restored to meet the targets for each habitat type". Within 12 months of the law's entry into force, the EU Commission will assess any gap between the financial needs for restoration and the available EU funding and explore solutions to close this gap.

As previously stated, 3Bee has always supported the Nature Restoration Law. We are the first company in the industry to actively protect biodiversity in line with the Nature Restoration Law. "Whether the law is passed or not, we will continue to be committed to the protection of biodiversity and the environment," said our CEO Niccolò Calandri last June 15th. And today we are happy that the European Parliament has adopted such an important law for the fight against climate change and for the biodiversity of our planet. It is an important victory that represents the first step towards a fundamental and necessary change: preserving biodiversity is a responsibility we owe to future generations and one that we cannot afford to neglect.