[News Terms] EU 'Nature Restoration Law' for Future Generations

The 'Nature Restoration Law' is a legislative proposal put forward by the European Union (EU) Commission to set legally binding targets for restoring degraded land and damaged ecosystems. It aims to restore terrestrial and marine environments by 2030 and to restore all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050, focusing on biodiversity and ecosystem recovery.

To achieve this, EU member states must restore 30% of habitats covered by the law to a good condition, increasing this to 60% by 2040 and 90% by 2050. Specifically, by 2030, the goals include restoring 20% of land and sea areas, converting 10% of agricultural land within the EU to grassland, reducing chemical pesticide use by 50%, and reversing the decline in honeybee populations.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, is holding a press conference on the "2023 EU Enlargement Package" on the 8th (local time) in Brussels, Belgium.
[Photo by EPA Brussels/ Yonhap News]

The EU Commission projected that for every 1 euro invested in nature restoration, benefits worth 8 to 38 euros would be gained through enhanced food security and health, as well as recovery from ecosystem and climate damage.

On the 10th (local time), the EU Parliament announced via a press release that the Parliament and the Council had reached an agreement on the EU 'Nature Restoration Law.'

The EU Commission unveiled the draft of this law in June last year, but the European People's Party (EPP), the largest political group in the EU Parliament with a right-leaning stance, has actively opposed the legislation, arguing that its implementation could lead to price surges and supply chain disruptions due to reduced food production.

In June, the Environment Committee of the European Parliament voted down the Nature Restoration Law negotiation proposal, putting the bill at risk of being discarded. At that time, CEOs of 50 European companies, including IKEA, Nestl?, and H&M, expressed their support for the law, releasing an open letter stating that "nature protection is key for a well-functioning economy."

Despite setbacks such as the rejection by the Agriculture and Fisheries Committee in May and failing to secure majority support in the Environment Committee in June, the Nature Restoration Law narrowly passed in the plenary session in July, a month later. It was then passed to trilateral negotiations among the Parliament, the Council, and the Commission, where after about four months of intense debate, the agreement was reached on this day.

For the law to be finalized, adoption procedures by the European Parliament and the Council remain. Since the law has already been agreed upon, this is considered a formal step. Once this procedure is completed, the law will be published in the EU Official Journal and will come into effect 20 days later.

Pascal Canfin, Chair of the European Parliament's Environment Committee, expressed pride in the agreement, calling it "a historic result that sets ambitious and actionable rules for everyone." Teresa Ribera, Spain's Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU in the second half of the year, said, "It will help restore biodiversity levels across all member states, preserve nature for future generations, and fight climate change."