Nithyakalyani Narayanan. V
According to an official statement, the European Parliament passed the first European Union (EU) statute on February 27, 2024, to restore damaged ecosystems throughout the 27-nation political and economic union. According to the statement, the new law establishes a goal for the EU to restore all ecosystems that require restoration by 2050 and at least 20% of its land and sea regions by 2030.
By 2030, 40% by 2040, and 50% by 2050, EU nations are required by law to recover at least 30% of drained peatland.
EU nations will need to improve two out of three indicators—the store of organic carbon in cropland mineral soil, the percentage of agricultural land with high-diversity landscape characteristics, and the grassland butterfly index—in order to increase biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems. According to the statement, since birds are a reliable indicator of the general health of biodiversity, steps must also be taken to raise the common farmland bird index.
The law states that targets for agricultural ecosystems may be postponed in extraordinary cases if they significantly decrease the amount of land required to produce enough food for EU consumption.
In addition, the regulation calls for the planting of three billion more trees and a favourable trend in a number of forest ecosystem indicators.
EU countries are required to ensure that there is no net reduction in the total national area of urban green space and urban tree canopy cover and to restore at least 25,000 km of rivers to free-flowing status.
The adoption of the measure was submitted to a vote. A total of 329 votes were cast in favour, 275 against, and 24 abstained.
On July 12, 2023, the European Parliament voted in support of passing the bill, with 300 votes against and 13 abstentions.
On June 22, 2022, the European Commission introduced the legislation. On June 27, 2023, the Committee on Environment, Food Safety and Public Health (ENVI) rejected a revised version of the law, resulting in a standoff.
The European Council must now approve the legislation before it can be published in the EU Official Journal and go into effect 20 days later.