Biodiversity
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EU countries rubberstamp Nature Restoration Law after months of deadlock
Est. 2minA majority of EU member states gave the final green light to the Nature Restoration Law on Monday (17 June) during a Council meeting in Luxembourg, marking the last step for one of the Green Deal's most controversial files.
![Presenting her decision to support the Nature Restoration Law, Austrian Minister for the Environment, Leonore Gewessler told a press conference in Vienna on 16 June "When I take my nieces for a walk in 20 or 30 years' time, I want to show them the beauty of this country."](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.euractiv.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/shutterstock_2130572681-800x450.jpg)
Knife-edge support for Nature Restoration Law, ahead of crucial Council meeting on Monday morning
Est. 2minEnvironment Minister Leonore Gewessler announced that Austria would support the Nature Restoration Law, on Sunday (16 June), in the following day’s meeting with her 26 EU counterparts, opening the possibility that the contested text may be approved into European law
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National ministers will discuss Nature Restoration Law next Monday, vote not certain
Est. 1minOfficials from the 27 national governments decided in Brussels this morning that the contested Nature Restoration Law would be discussed by ministers at Monday’s (17 June) Environmental Council - but not voted upon.
![Irish Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications signed a letter with 10 of his European counterparts, calling for the Environment Council to pass the Nature Restoration Law on 17 June.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.euractiv.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/shutterstock_2130572789-800x450.jpg)
Supporters rally for Nature Restoration Law, but no sign of movement in Council
Est. 3minYesterday (Tuesday 14 May) environment ministers from 11 national governments wrote to their counterparts across the EU, urging them to adopt the law at the next Environmental Council meeting on 17 June.
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‘A huge, huge, huge mistake’ Teresa Ribera warns against rejecting Nature Restoration Law
Est. 4minSpanish Vice-President and Ecological Transition Minister urged EU countries to save the beleaguered Nature Restoration Law, in an exclusive interview with Euractiv in Brussels on Friday 12 April.
![Opposition to the Nature Restoration Law has hardened in Warsaw, Helsinki and Brussels in recent weeks](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.euractiv.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/04/Nature-restoration-law-12-800x450.png)
EU Council position hardens against Nature Restoration Law
Est. 3minPoland and Finland have resisted pressure to support the divisive Nature Restoration Law and instead switched to becoming explicit opponents, seriously limiting the Belgian EU Council Presidency’s options for moving the file forward.
![Virginijus SINKEVIČIUS (European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, EUROPEAN COMMISSION)](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.euractiv.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/0e710856-37bf-46ba-81c1-22600eb84f35-resized-e1711435039950-800x450.jpg)
Environment ministers rally to save nature restoration law – but Hungary remains defiant
Est. 3min14 countries including Germany, France and Spain called for a quick adoption of the EU’s flagship nature protection policy during today’s (Monday 25 March) Environmental Council meeting in Brussels. But opponents of the law - including Hungary who joined their ranks last week - remained defiant.
![The nature restoration law aims to preserve 30% of Europe’s land and sea for biodiversity](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.euractiv.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/shutterstock_2172899579-800x450.jpg)
Nature restoration law fails to secure support at critical member states meeting
Est. 1minHungary’s last minute decision to withdraw support for the proposal means that the law’s future is uncertain. A planned vote during Monday’s (25 March) meeting of national environmental ministers is now postponed.
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As the political biodiversity push falters, legal enforcement continues
Est. 5minOn Wednesday 13 March, the European Commission published the latest list of infringement proceedings against Member States. Most of the alleged failures to implement EU environmental law concern the bloc’s biodiversity rules.
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Europe must do more to adapt to climate change, says EU environment agency
Est. 4minEurope needs to take immediate action to address the rapidly increasing climate challenges, the EU's environment agency said in its first European Climate Risk Assessment (EUCRA), published on Monday (11 March), which identified 36 major risks.
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Contested Nature Restoration Law passes EU Parliament, despite last-minute revolt
Est. 5minA coalition of centre-right, far-right and national conservative EU lawmakers have failed to vote down the EU’s controversial nature restoration law amid a surge of farmers’ protests and European elections looming.
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Industrial site near Brussels shows microplastic pollution in action
Est. 5minAs the European Parliament works on a revision of the regulation on microplastics, EU lawmakers and NGOs travelled outside Brussels to see for themselves the scale and impact of plastic pellet pollution on site.
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New biodiversity policies demanded for EU’s green, prosperous growth
Est. 5minAmbitious new nature and biodiversity policies are needed, say environmental stakeholders. Activists are calling for the European Commission’s proposed Nature Restoration Law to set strong biodiversity targets, just as the Green Deal set robust climate targets.
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NGOs slam France’s plans to adopt EU method for measuring pesticides risk
Est. 5minFrance will put on hold the rollout of its national plant protection reduction plan and may adopt an EU measurement indicator to measure a molecule toxicity factor despite criticism from NGOs.
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EU threatens Portugal with sanctions over conservation failings
Est. 2minThe EU Commission started legal proceedings against Portugal at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Wednesday in two individual cases for its alleged failure to comply with a ruling on the conservation of sites considered Special Areas of Conservation and threatened sanctions.
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EU Commission chief to withdraw the contested pesticide regulation
Est. 4minIn a major blow to the EU's Green Deal and Farm to Fork framework, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Tuesday (6 February) that she will withdraw the Sustainable Use Regulation (SUR), which sought to halve pesticide use by 2030.
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The case for separate targets in the EU’s 2040 climate strategy
Est. 5minAs EU policymakers prepare to announce the specifics of the 2040 target, there is a clear risk the EU’s climate ambition could be undermined through a poor design, write Eadbhard Pernot, Mark Preston Aragones and Fabiola De Simone.
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Europe’s rivers at risk due to hydropower plants, human interference
Est. 5minWhile only around a third of the world’s rivers “remain free flowing,” according to campaign group International Rivers, the situation is worse in Europe, where the number of ‘wild’ or free-flowing rivers can likely be counted on both hands.
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French biodiversity minister assesses 2023 progress on key measures
Est. 5minIn an interview with Euractiv, French Secretary of State for Biodiversity Sarah El Haïry reflected on the EU's progress this year, following the COP28 summit in Dubai, the adoption of France's national biodiversity strategy as well as the EU's pesticides directive and nature restoration law.
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Nature Restoration Law adopted in trilogue, but still a long way to go
Est. 5minThe Nature Restoration Law, which was approved during talks between the European Parliament and the Council, comes a little late in view of the ecological calamity raging on our doorstep, but at least it's there, writes Jutta Paulus.
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Indonesia, Malaysia seek more time to implement EU anti-deforestation law
Est. 8minWhile big producers of palm oil, cocoa or coffee are ready to implement EU’s newly adopted anti-deforestation regulation, governments in Malaysia and Indonesia say more time is needed for small producers to meet the EU's bureaucratic requirements.
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Why an EU nature restoration law is badly needed
Est. 5minFocusing restoration efforts on degraded forests can deliver accelerated climate and biodiversity benefits because these areas retain elements of their natural ecology and can recover quickly, write Janice Weatherley-Singh and Tim Rayden.
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Top EU court finds Berlin failed to protect nature
Est. 3minMore than a decade after EU-wide nature reserves were created to protect the continent’s most vulnerable species, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) found on Thursday (21 September) that Germany failed to adequately protect them.
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High seas treaty moves closer to reality with first signatures
Est. 4minNearly 70 countries at the United Nations on Wednesday (20 September) signed a first-ever treaty on protecting the international high seas, raising hopes that it will come into force soon and protect threatened ecosystems vital to the planet.