The European Commission yesterday was to propose legally binding targets to restore nature across the EU in an attempt to recover plunging wildlife populations and repair degraded habitats.
EU Commissioner for the Environment Virginijus Sinkevicius told reporters that the proposal would require EU countries to collectively restore nature to 20 percent of EU land by 2030, and meet individual targets for some habitats and species.
“Nothing can replace ecosystem services that the oceans provide, our soils or our forests,” Sinkevicius said in an interview.
The EU has put its climate change targets in law, but not yet those to protect nature.
The law would lay down binding goals to increase farmland bird populations, reverse the decline of pollinators and restore 25,000km of rivers to flow along their natural courses by 2030.
Countries would have to produce national plans to contribute to the EU-wide aims.
Intensive farming, forestry and urbanization are fueling the degradation of natural habitats.
Most of Europe’s protected habitats and species have a negative conservation status, and one-third of bee and butterfly species have declining populations.
The EU proposal, which has been delayed twice, needs approval from the European Parliament and EU countries — some of which have sought to delay or roll back sustainable farming measures, citing the impact of the war in Ukraine on global food supply.
Sinkevicius said that the global food crisis was caused entirely by Russia blocking the export of millions of tonnes of Ukrainian grain, while failure to stop the degradation of nature would ultimately diminish Europe’s farming abilities.
“If we lose soil fertility, if soil erosion and degradation continue, that is going to be a major impact on our agricultural output,” he said.
Soil erosion already costs Europe about 1.2 billion euros (US$1.3 billion) a year in lost agricultural production.
Laura Hildt, policy officer at the European Environmental Bureau non-profit, called the law a “huge opportunity” to address wildlife loss and climate change, but said only substantial nature restoration should count toward the targets.
“It’s great to have an overarching target, but that needs to be filled with the right measures rather than with a whole bunch of weak things that aren’t likely to bring about change,” Hildt said.
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