EU will propose new law to make nature restoration legally binding in the EU

CCB • Mar 23, 2021

Nature as we know it is heading towards extinction. And it’s because of human activity. Logging, intensive agriculture and overfishing have pushed one million animal and plant species to the point where they’re hanging by a thread. The European Commission will propose a new law to make nature restoration legally binding for EU countries. But as it stands, there is no definition of what this will actually mean.

Right now, the Commission is asking the public to give their opinion on what nature restoration across the EU should look like, which is open for feedback until the 5th of April 2021.

BirdLife Europe, the European Environmental Bureau and WWF European Policy Office, have now launched #RestoreNature – a campaign demanding to restore nature across Europe now. [1] The message to the European Commission is simple: Only through meaningful, transformative change at land and sea can we bring back the biodiversity we desperately need. It will help us to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis, and prevent the future spread of diseases.

Through the #RestoreNature campaign citizens from both within and outside the EU can demand that the EU develops a good law that can help reverse the fate of nature in Europe, and beyond and start giving land, sea and water back to nature.

This EU law can be a real game-changer for people and nature, but only if it is grounded in science. Failing that, it risks ending up an empty green-washing tool.

This is about the survival of our precious wetlands, peatlands, grasslands, forests, floodplains, rivers, and oceans. But it is also about our climate, our health, and the survival of humankind. Protecting what is left is needed but won’t cut it. We also need to bring nature back. We must #RestoreNature now. Our survival depends on it.

CCB joined the campaign [2] on its social media pages: “We are in the midst of a sixth mass extinction with species disappearing at more than 100 times the natural rate, right before our own eyes, with disastrous consequences for our climate, our health, and our wellbeing”.

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Nature Restoration Law supported by 75% of citizens in countries not backing the law

By CCB • 16 May, 2024
EU Member States not supporting the Nature Restoration Law are at odds with public opinion. This is the result of a poll conducted in the Netherlands, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Poland, and Sweden, which shows that three out of four citizens are in favour of the legislation, as pressure mounts on Member States to adopt the long-awaited law. The Nature Restoration Law, an EU response to the interlinked climate and biodiversity crises, has been in a stalemate since March when it lost the necessary majority from Member States, following Hungary’s last-minute U-turn. Now, a new survey - which was conducted by Savanta with 6190 respondents across the six Member States - reveals that the majority of people in countries not supporting the law believe that nature and biodiversity decline will have negative long-term effects on people, farming and the economy and that it must be tackled urgently by restoring ecosystems. The Nature Restoration Law received the biggest support in Italy with 85% of citizens backing it, followed by Hungary with 83%, and Poland with 72%. While in Finland and in Sweden, respectively 70% and 69% of the people supports it. Only 6% of those surveyed disagreed that the law should be adopted. The full results can be consulted here .

Global Plastics Treaty negotiations in Ottawa - INC4

By CCB • 24 Apr, 2024
On April, 21 the 4 th session of Intergovernmental Negotiations Committee to develop a global plastics treaty has started in Ottawa, Canada. Coalition Clean Baltic along with some of its Members, including SSNC, ASC/CES, and Ecopartnerstvo is taking part in INC-4.
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