MEPs have been accused of whipping up “a culture war against nature” after the fisheries and agriculture committees voted against the EU’s biodiversity restoration law.
Last June, the European Commission revealed proposals for legally binding targets for member states to restore wildlife on land, in rivers and the sea. The nature restoration law was announced alongside separate legislation proposing a crackdown on chemical pesticides with the aim of reversing the catastrophic loss of wildlife on the continent.
But there is growing concern that the laws could be abandoned entirely amid opposition from agricultural, fishing and forestry lobbying groups, and some member states. On Tuesday, the European parliament’s agriculture committee voted to reject the nature restoration legislation, and the fisheries committee followed suit on Wednesday.
The nature restoration law is a key part of the European green deal that is crucial to meeting international climate and biodiversity commitments. On Monday , the commission vice-president Frans Timmermans said there would not be another proposal.
The law aims to reverse the decline of pollinating insects while restoring forests, marine areas and other ecosystems key to food production to improve Europe’s resilience to climatic shocks as the planet warms. It was a key part of the EU’s negotiating position at Cop15 in Montreal last year, where the world agreed to protect 30% of the planet for nature.
The centre-right European People’s party (EPP) has called for the nature restoration and pesticide proposals to be scrapped entirely, with liberal MEPs also divided on the issue. MEPs from both groups voted against the nature proposals this week, provoking anger from NGOs.
Sabien Leemans, a senior biodiversity policy officer at WWF Europe, said: “With this rejection, the majority of MEPs in the agri committee are failing all citizens, including farmers. At times when Italy is devastated by flooding and Spain is experiencing severe droughts, this denial of what is happening in Europe is unacceptable.
“The science is clear that nature restoration will increase our resilience to such extreme weather events and support long-term food security. Meanwhile, the agri committee is rejecting the legal proposal to restore nature. It is a totally irresponsible attitude that puts everyone’s livelihoods at risk, first and foremost the ones of farmers.”
In an interview with the Guardian last week, the EU’s environment commissioner said rejecting the law would send a dangerous signal to the world and undermine climate and biodiversity targets.
Ariel Brunner, a regional director at BirdLife Europe, said: “Politicians are whipping up a culture war against nature, instead of facing up to reality. Without an urgent and massive nature restoration effort, we will simply not survive the climate and biodiversity crisis.
“Drought and floods will wipe out lives and livelihoods, with farmers and rural communities in the frontline. Without urban greening, many cities will become unlivable. The attempt to kill the restoration law is immoral and irresponsible.”
Next month, EU environment ministers will meet in Brussels to agree a common position on the proposals.
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