On 18 August 2024 the “Nature Restoration law” came into force, the EU law that for the first time establishes a road map for the protection and restoration of degraded areas
By 2050, the 27 countries will have to restore 100% of the damaged ecosystems
The EU Council approved the Nature Restoration Law, one of the Green Deal’s pillars, on June 17th. The Act officially entered into force on August 18, 2024.
This reform immediately sparked controversy and heated political debate, with seven of the 27 EU Member States, including Italy, voting against it.
The Objectives of the Biodiversity Restoration Act
The Nature Restoration Law aims not only to protect biodiversity but also to restore the nature of damaged ecosystems, both terrestrial and marine. Member States will therefore have to take measures to restore at least 20% of EU land and 20% of marine areas by 2030. By 2050, these same measures must be extended to all ecosystems that need to be restored. According to data provided by the EU Commission, the Restoration Law will help to the goal of restoring at least 25,000 km of free-flow rivers by 2030, reverse the decline in pollinator populations, improve biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems and biodiversities in forest ecosystem, and contribute to the commitment to plant at least 3 billion additional trees by 2030 at EU level.
In short, an instrument that will provide Member States with a road map to comply with international commitments on biodiversity under the Kunming-Montreal Global Framework.
Farmers’ Disputes
The first draft EU regulation on the restoration of nature has sparked many controversies, especially from farmers. Controversies have led to a “softening” of the text, which, in the version that entered into force on 18 August, loses (compared to the text two years ago) the Commission’s request to allocate 10% of agricultural land to interventions for biodiversity. The restoration of wetlands for farmers and landowners also goes from compulsory to voluntary, leaving the Member States the burden of identifying an economically beneficial strategy that encourages this type of intervention.
Two years for Member States to draw up the National Recovery Plan
Member States will have two years to submit their national recovery plan to Brussels. The Regulation will have to contain the measures envisaged to the three intermediate stages established by the EU Law, by 2030, 2040 and 2050. The National Plan must include the timetables for implementation, the necessary financial resources and the means of financing envisaged, as well as the expected benefits, in particular for adaptation and mitigation of climate change.
At the national level the MASE will be called to a game of balances to succeed in meeting the requirements also reconciling economic and social sustainability of the interventions, and avoiding burden on the stakeholders involved.
