Nature Restoration Law on a knife edge as crucial vote looms

The Irish government is leading calls for the approval of the Nature Restoration Law (NRL), which was adopted by the European Parliament but requires a majority vote at the Environment Council meeting on 17 June to become law. Eleven EU member states have so far signed up to the Ireland-led call to adopt the NRL and to urge other member states to do the same.

Irish minister for the Environment and Climate Eamon Ryan, along with his government colleague, minister for Nature and Heritage Malcolm Noonan, wrote an initial letter to fellow ministers across the EU. In it, they highlighted that it was “vital that member states show leadership and unity on the law to restore Europe’s already degraded nature, and to respect the views of millions of citizens, scientists and industries right across the union who have engaged with the issue at an unprecedented level.”

The states that have signed up to approve the NRL to date are Germany, France, Spain, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Slovenia, Estonia and Cyprus, as well as Ireland.

According to the Irish government, the 11 states have agreed that restoring the EU’s lands and seas is essential to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change and to safeguard European food security. It said failure to approve the law would mean the EU resiling on its previous commitment to be a global leader in nature restoration. In addition, backtracking on agreed negotiations and compromises would jeopardise Europe’s democratic institutions and call into question the entire EU policy-making and decision-making processes, said the Irish letter.

The next step now is to write to the other 16 member state ministers and the European Commission. In addition, it is understood that a range of NGOs across the EU will come together to campaign on the critical importance of the law for the protection of Europe’s land and sea.

Ryan said: “Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world and is facing unprecedented impacts from the intertwined nature and climate crises. Restoring ecosystems is essential to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change, and to safeguard European food security. We must act urgently and decisively to conclude the political process. Failure to do so would be a carte blanche to destroy nature and would fundamentally undermine public faith in the EU’s political leadership at home and internationally.”

Noonan added: “Europe made a commitment to be a global leader in nature restoration and to adhere to the ambition set out in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which was adopted by 196 countries, including the EU and member states, in December 2022. Failure to uphold this is unconscionable. We will have to go to the UN Biodiversity Conference in October later this year and say we are resiling from our international promises to protect our lands and seas. Worse, we will seriously undermine efforts across the EU to restore our damaged and degraded ecosystems. People depend on nature for much more than we realise. This isn’t just about protecting the natural world, it’s about protecting civilisation and life as we know it.”

The Irish government explained that the Nature Restoration Law has been on a knife edge for over a year. After a period of intense debate and negotiation across multiple presidencies, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament were able to reach a provisional political agreement in November 2023, which was adopted by the Parliament in February 2024.

“However, there has been backtracking on previously agreed compromises and there is now no qualified majority for the carefully negotiated provisional agreement on the Nature Restoration Law,” said the Irish government. “The Environment Council meeting on 17 June is the critical endpoint where a majority vote in favour is needed to ensure that the law is adopted and nature can be protected and restored.”