In a setback for environmental progress, EU nations, including Hungary and Italy, retract their support for crucial nature restoration legislation, putting its future in doubt.
The intended vote on nature restoration laws was canceled due to insufficient support, showcasing a divide among member states.
Virginijus Sinkevičius, the European environment commissioner, emphasizes the potential global reputational damage to the EU if the bill fails.
Upcoming elections and farmers' protests have further complicated the legislation's prospects, amidst calls for the EU to maintain its environmental ambitions.
Key quote:
“It would be enormously irresponsible to drop the entire European green agenda.”
— Teresa Ribera, Spain's environment minister
Why this matters:
This legislation seeks to cover a broad range of ecosystems, from agricultural lands and forests to freshwater bodies and marine environments. The goal is to restore these habitats to a condition that can sustain healthy populations of plants and animals while also contributing to human well-being and mitigating the impacts of climate change.
Every country in the world now has some type of climate law. But are these laws having any effect in the fight against climate change? Researchers at the London School of Economics and Political Science aimed to find out.
