Nature Restoration Law: restoring Europe's ecosystems & protecting biodiversity

Show notes

Our planet is experiencing a biodiversity crisis. And the problem across the EU is also severe, with more than 80% of habitats in the EU now in a bad or poor conservation status. To reverse this alarming trend, the European Commission has proposed the Nature Restoration Law, which aims to restore at least 20% of EU land and sea by 2030, and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050.

The proposed law sets specific nature recovery targets and timelines for achieving them. According to the draft law, EU countries would need to submit National Restoration Plans to show how they plan to deliver against the targets. Country plans would be based in their national circumstance. Jointly, these country plans would restore ecosystem services beneficial to human society across the EU and aid the recovery of sensitive habitats like peatlands, grasslands, dunes and wetlands.

With the proposal now on the negotiating table, the conversation of how to address nature’s decline is heating up. As the European Commission, EU member states and European Parliament debate the specifics, some economic actors are actively lining up against the plan.

In the latest “Green Deal – Big Deal?” podcast episode, the hosts Ricarda Faber and Aaron Best from Ecologic Institute speak with interview guests Humberto Delgado Rosa (Director for Biodiversity at the European Commission) and Sabien Leemans (Senior Biodiversity Policy Officer for WWF). We discuss the decline of nature in the EU, the reasons to protect biodiversity, and the current political debate that could decide the fate of the Nature Restoration Law and the species it seeks to protect.

Find out more about the "Green Deal - Bid Deal?" podcast and webinar series on our website or follow us on Instagram at @greendealbigdeal.